Last week the European Commission presented its Fit for 55 policy package, setting out its new policies and the reforms it will undertake to meet the EU's 2030 climate goals. These include the reform and expansion of the emissions trading scheme, the creation of a carbon border adjustment mechanism, the revision of renewable energy and energy efficiency directives and the tightening of vehicle emissions standards. In this week's CER podcast, senior research fellow Sam Lowe speaks to our research fellow Elisabetta Cornago, who shares her thoughts on what Fit for 55 could mean for EU and international climate action going forward. Music by Edward Hipkins Produced by Rosie Giorgi

Centre for European Reform

CER podcast: The EU's climate action plan for 2030: What's inside the Fit for 55 package?

In this week's podcast, our director of foreign policy Ian Bond speaks to CER research fellow Luigi Scazzieri and Georgina Wright of the Institut Montaigne in Paris. Luigi recently published a paper on EU-UK diplomatic co-operation, and in this episode he, Georgina and Ian consider the ways in which both parties can continue to work together in foreign and security policy, in the absence of a formal agreement. Music by Edward Hipkins Produced by Rosie Giorgi

CER podcast: How well will the UK's European diplomatic strategy work?

This week European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans spoke at a CER event on the EU’s new carbon border adjustment mechanism, the Commission’s plans for reform of the emissions trading scheme, and prospects for COP26. In this CER podcast episode, we provide you with an edited version of his remarks, with commentary from the CER’s John Springford and Elisabetta Cornago. They discuss how the reforms might work and the stumbling blocks the Commission faces. Music by Edward Hipkins Produced by Rosie Giorgi

CER podcast: Frans Timmermans on the EU and climate

This week's CER podcast looks ahead to Joe Biden's trip to Europe, where he will meet Boris Johnson and the Queen, before taking part in the G7, NATO and EU-US summits and later meeting Vladimir Putin. Our director of foreign policy Ian Bond speaks to Rosa Balfour, director of Carnegie Europe, and Andrea Kendall-Taylor, senior fellow and director of the transatlantic security program at the Center for a New American Security, to discuss the prospects for the transatlantic relationship under the Biden administration. Music by Edward Hipkins Produced by Rosie Giorgi

CER podcast: Joe Biden's bridge-building European tour

Political repression in Belarus has been evident for many years, with opposition leaders disappearing in the late 1990s and many other government critics being persecuted or detained since then; the brutal suppression of popular protests last summer after President Alexander Lukashenko's improbable re-election; and most recently, the forced diversion and landing of a plane travelling from Athens to Vilnius, which carried the Belarusian journalist and telegram blogger Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend, who have subsequently been arrested. In this week's CER podcast, our director of foreign policy, Ian Bond, speaks to Katia Glod, non-resident fellow at Washington's Centre for European Analysis, about the latest wave of repression and what the West can do to help. Music by Edward Hipkins Produced by Rosie Giorgi

CER podcast: Political repression in Belarus and what the West can do about it

In this week's CER podcast, Sam Lowe speaks our new research fellow, Elisabetta Cornago, who is based in Brussels and joins us having previously worked at the OECD and the International Energy Agency. They discuss her areas of expertise (energy and climate policy from an economics perspective), her recent CER publication on Europe's attempts to decarbonise road transport and how this could be possible in practice without causing socio-political backlash. Music by Edward Hipkins Produced by Rosie Giorgi

CER podcast: How can Europe decarbonise road transport without sparking backlash?

In this week's CER podcast, Camino Mortera-Martínez chats to our new research fellow Zach Meyers. Zach joins Camino from London to discuss one of Europe’s hottest topics: what to do with Big Tech. Zach also talks about his background as a competition lawyer with a focus on regulated markets, why he joined the CER and what he will be working on in the next few months (scoop: a lot of digital). Music by Edward Hipkins Produced by Rosie Giorgi

CER podcast: The EU’s plans for Big Tech

Seven years after Russia illegally annexed Crimea, conflict between Russia and Ukraine has resurged, with Putin deploying Russian regular forces along Ukraine's eastern border. In this podcast episode, the CER's director Charles Grant speaks to Ian Bond, our director of foreign policy, and Orysia Lutsevych, research fellow and manager of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House, about what Putin's endgame could be and how Ukraine and its Western allies should respond. Music by Edward Hipkins Produced by Rosie Giorgi

CER podcast: Russia and Ukraine: A worsening crisis?

In this week's CER podcast, Ian Bond, our Director of Foreign Policy, speaks to Abdoul Salam Bello, Alternate Executive Director at the World Bank and non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Africa Centre, and our 2020-21 Clara Marina O'Donnell fellow, Katherine Pye about the situation in the Sahel region of Africa. Katherine recently published a CER policy brief, 'The Sahel: Europe's forever war?', which considered the escalating conflict there and Europe's involvement in it. This podcast episode expands on her paper, and she and Abdoul Salam discuss the issues driving the various conflicts and what national and global institutions can do to address them. Music by Edward Hipkins Produced by Rosie Giorgi

CER podcast: Europe needs a new approach to the Sahel

In this week's CER podcast, our deputy director John Springford speaks to Jonathan Portes, Professor of Economics at King's College London and senior fellow at UK in a Changing Europe. They discuss the links between pre-COVID austerity and the UK's poor pandemic outcomes, the outlook for recovery and the future of migration now that the UK has left the EU. Music by Edward Hipkins Produced by Rosie Giorgi

CER podcast: Britain after the pandemic

In this week's podcast episode, our deputy director John Springford speaks to Tomáš Valášek, Member of Slovak Parliament and former CER foreign policy director, who recently resigned from his position as chair of the European affairs committee over Bratislava’s decision to purchase the Russian Sputnik vaccine. Our senior research fellow Camino Mortera-Martínez and chief economist Christian Odendahl bring their views from EU capitals. They discuss the EU's shortcomings in rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine, and the impact this is having on European solidarity and domestic politics in Slovakia, Spain and beyond. Music by Edward Hipkins Produced by Rosie Giorgi

CER podcast: The politics of vaccines in Europe

In the latest CER podcast, our Clara Marina O'Donnell fellow Katherine Pye speaks to Nathalie Tocci, Director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali and Special Advisor to EU High Representative Josep Borrell, and our research fellow Luigi Scazzieri. They discuss what Italy's new government, led by Mario Draghi, means for Italy and Europe. Music by Edward Hipkins Produced by Rosie Giorgi

CER podcast: What does Draghi's new government mean for Italy and Europe?

In the latest CER podcast episode, our chief economist Christian Odendahl is joined by Agnès Bénassy-Quéré, chief economist at the French Treasury, and our deputy director John Springford. They discuss the outlook for Europe's recovery and whether the EU recovery fund will stop it from petering out. Music by Edward Hipkins Produced by Rosie Giorgi

CER podcast: Roaring twenties? Prospects for the economic recovery

In this week's podcast episode, the CER's chief economist Christian Odendahl speaks to Laura Krause, Germany director of the social research start-up More in Common, as well as Sophia Besch, a senior research fellow at the CER. They discuss the recent election of new CDU party leader Armin Laschet and the forthcoming federal election in September, as well as what both events could have in store for German domestic and foreign policy in the future. Music by Edward Hipkins Produced by Rosie Giorgi

CER podcast: What next for post-Merkel Germany?

In the first CER podcast of 2021, CER Clara Marina O'Donnell fellow Katherine Pye speaks to the CER's director Charles Grant, senior research fellow and trade expert Sam Lowe and RUSI chair David Lidington. They discuss the substance of the UK-EU TCA which was concluded on Christmas Eve, what we can expect from the future UK-EU relationship. Music by Edward Hipkins Produced by Rosie Giorgi

CER podcast: The future UK-EU relationship

The Centre for European Reform is a think-tank devoted to making the European Union work better and strengthening its role in the world. The CER is pro-European but not uncritical.