Can COP26 save the planet?

The relationship between the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is at the heart of efforts to help Ukraine after Russia's 2022 invasion. How do the alliances work together and how can further cooperation help?   In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Rebecca Christie speaks with Oana Lungescu, who served as the longest serving NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Spokesperson and is now a Distinguished Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, and Guntram B. Wolff, Senior fellow at Bruegel,  to discuss NATO and the EU. How do they each contribute to Europe’s defence strategy? Where do they overlap and not? How will they work together to find the necessary financing to help Ukraine and coordinate defence procurement in the future? They also discuss the role of NATO members who are not part of the EU such as Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States under the current political climate.

How does the EU manage its increasingly vast number of digital laws? Bertin Martens, Kai Zenner and Rebecca Christie discuss how these rules are made, how they work together and how they fit in with the EU's goal of better regulation in this episode of The Sound of Economics. Relevant research: A dataset on EU legislation for the digital world, Bruegel dataset by Kai Zenner, J. Scott Marcus and Kamil Sekut

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan sits down with Alicia García-Herrero and Paul Triolo to discuss China’s innovation drive and how it compares with the US on key technologies, including semiconductors, green technology and biotech. They delve into how China climbed up the technology ladder, the impact of current geopolitical tensions and the outlook of US-China tech rivalry. This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus series of The Sound of Economics. ZhōngHuá Mundus is a newsletter by Bruegel, bringing you monthly analysis of China in the world, as seen from Europe. Sign up now to receive it in your mailbox!

Bruegel and the Financial Times partnered up to host a debate featuring representatives from EU political parties on EU economic issues, specifically competitiveness and growth, economic security and green transition. Rebecca Christie sits down with Bruegel Senior fellow Heather Grabbe, FT Europe correspondent Andy Bounds, also moderator of the debate, to unpack the views they gathered from the debate. What economic visions did the parties present? Are they impressed or convinced by some ideas? Listen to find out. ICYMI, watch the debate recording here!

Climate change is a rising threat to European financial stability, says European Stability Mechanism chief economist Rolf Strauch on this episode of The Sound of Economics. Together with Bruegel non-resident fellow Stavros Zenios and host Rebecca Christie, Strauch discusses how the EU can rally to protect itself from future shocks and keep its sovereign debt backstops ready to meet future needs. 

Science Po professor Jérôme Sgard discusses his new book on the debt crisis of the 1980s on this episode of The Sound of Economics, with host Rebecca Christie and award-winning book author and journalist Paul Blustein. They explore the shockwaves that hit developing countries during this period, starting with the quasi-default of Mexico in 1982, as well as the Brady bond debt relief plan that followed. This podcast addresses the global impact of this this crisis and the subsequent recovery, along with what we can learn going forward. 

In this episode of the sound of economics, Rebecca Christie invites Georg Zachmann and Christian Zinglersen to talk about the ambitious idea of creating a more integrated European electricity market. They discuss the drastic change in Europe’s energy outlook, as we switch from a world of fossil imports to mostly domestic electricity production. They address the benefits of a better-coordinated European energy system, as well as the need for improved communication between member states, harmonised market instruments, and joint investment in infrastructure to achieve greater efficiency and resilience. They lay out the complexity of this cross-sectoral challenge and stress that this needs strong political will and trust to move forward. Relevant publication and event:  Zachmann, G., C. Batlle, F. Beaude, C. Maurer, M. Morawiecka and F. Roques (2024) ‘Unity in power, power in unity: why the EU needs more integrated electricity markets’, Policy Brief 2024/03, Bruegel Why the EU needs more integrated electricity markets, Bruegel event, 28 February 2024

European Union leaders want to breathe new life into the Capital markets union, the decade-old project to reduce fragmentation and put finance to work for the single market. In this episode of the Sound of Economics, Rebecca Christie sits down with Thomas Wieser, former President of the Eurogroup Working Group and chair of the EU's 2019 High Level Group on financial architecture, and Nicolas Véron, Senior fellow at Bruegel and a veteran observer of the financial markets, to discuss how Europe can attract private investment and help fund the costly green and digital transition. Relevant publication: European capital markets union: make it or break it, Nicolas Véron, Bruegel first glance, March 2024

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan sits down with Alicia García-Herrero and Zichen Wang to talk about China’s Two Sessions, the Chinese government's annual plenary sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), held from 4–11 March 2024. They discuss the growth targets which were given during the sessions and what they might mean for the Chinese economy. This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus series of The Sound of Economics. ZhōngHuá Mundus is a newsletter by Bruegel, bringing you monthly analysis of China in the world, as seen from Europe. Sign up now to receive it in your mailbox! Relevant episode: Understanding local government debt in China, Bruegel podcast episode

Two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Union has held together rather than let the conflict divide it. Rebecca Christie discusses the EU’s shifts on trade, energy security and economic cooperation with André Sapir and Ben McWilliams. They discuss how the bloc weaned itself off Russian fossil fuels in record time, adjusted its relationship with China, and managed relations between Western Europe and countries in Central and Eastern Europe closer to the front.