This week, we unpack some of the transparency issues plaguing the EU’s top institutions, and our special guest is Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe on Europe’s economic outlook.
Host Suzanne Lynch is joined by POLITICO’s European Parliament reporter Eddy Wax in Strasbourg, to discuss the ongoing Qatargate scandal — including the arrest in the past few days of two more MEPs in connection with the police probe. POLITICO’s Sarah Wheaton in Brussels also weighs in on the proposal to create an EU-wide independent ethics body to address transparency concerns. Meanwhile, MEPs are resisting efforts to clean up the chamber, as Sarah reports in this recent article.
The podcast crew also debates the news that the European Commission is being sued for failing to release text messages between its president Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla when the Commission was negotiating with the drug company on coronavirus vaccine procurement.
And Suzanne sits down with Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe to discuss Europe’s economic outlook, how the bloc is coping with high inflation and the impact of the war in Ukraine.
