Carola is still working from sunny but cold Turku in Finland, and Richard joins from rainy UK. They cover the fifth chapter of the guidelines, starting by making sense of the controversy around the commissioner titles, especially the commissioner for “Protecting our European Way of Life”, which of course was the subject of the last podcast episode. Getting entangled in the definitions of multilateralism, they managed to extract themselves simply to ensnare themselves back into a discussion around free trade. And what exactly should fair trade be in an era of green new deals, and can one use trade agreements to afford third countries to become more globally environmentally sustainable. Mercosur comes up, just as supply chains, WTO, chlorinated chicken, asbestos and GMO food labelling. And with UK rapidly moving towards the next Brexit deadline, Rich likens our relationship to the EU to being like a teacher and their most annoying kid at school. But the political guidelines feature the UK specifically and thus demonstrate the foreign policy and international relationship skills for which the EU is fast becoming famous. 

Main Source

• Ursula Von Der Leyen: Political guidelines for the next Commission (2019-2024) - "A Union that strives for more: My agenda for Europe" 16 July 2019  (English Version)