Radio Schuman

What is in line for the political career for the National Rally leader, Marine Le Pen? Today Radio Schuman digs in to the aftermath of the court barring Marine Le Pen from running for public office for five years with Euronews journalist Greg Leroy.Le Pen has condemned the ruling as politically motivated and stated that millions of French citizens are outraged. She vowed to appeal and requested that the proceedings conclude before the 2027 campaign. Until the appeal is resolved, she remains ineligible to run for office.Radio Schuman also looks at average salaries in Europe for police officers.Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Maïa de la Baume, with journalist and production assistant Eleonora Vasques, audio editing by David Brodheim. Music by Alexandre Jas.

Are non-alcoholic wines the key to sustaining the declining wine industry, or Is alcohol an essential characteristic of wine? Today Radio Schuman explores this topic with Euronews reporter Gerardo Fortuna.Last week, the European Commission launched a package to help the industry navigate changing societal tastes, manage its production and develop new opportunities, including tapping into the growing non-alcoholic market.It included three standardized denominations - ‘Alcohol-free’, ‘0.0%’ and ‘alcohol light’ as a means of making new wine varieties more attractive to customers.Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Maïa de la Baume, with audio editing by David Brodheim. Music by Alexandre Jas.

US tariffs and the EU's countermeasures would result in economic disruption ripping apart global value chains, the director of European auto trade group ACEA tells Radio Schuman on FridayUS President Donald Trump's announcement of a 25% tariff on imported cars and car parts came as a hard blow for European car makers, who export between 50% and 60% of their production to the US.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed her dismay over the sudden decision, saying that the tariffs would punish both European and American companies, signalling the bloc's intention to retaliate."I think the both sides will try to, would try to hurt each other where it hurts most," says Sigrid de Vries, the director general of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), describing what he thinks the short-term impact of the rift would look like. "It will rip apart global value chains," he added.Today's episode also looks at a discussion among ministers on the EU’s cohesion funds and at a survey revealing the best European countries for women's health.Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Maïa de la Baume, with audio editing by David Brodheim. Music by Alexandre Jas.

Recent developments in the Turkish political landscape hint the country’s shift to what critics may call an even more authoritarian ruleTurkey has witnessed waves of protests following the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a key political rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on corruption charges. With the arrest of more than a thousand demonstrators, critics fear a slide towards authoritarianism.On Monday last week, a European Commission spokesperson urged Turkey to “uphold democratic values,” However, neither commission president Ursula von der Leyen, nor her council counterpart, Antonio Costa has publicly addressed the issue.The underlying reason seems to be the EU's urgency of maintaining cooperation with Turkey, especially given its already tense ties with the United States.Radio Schuman also looks at another EU strategy unveiled today – on how the bloc intends to prepare itself for all emergencies, and also explore a list of the EU’s trade partners in iron and steel.

European defence industry demands more European investment, EU’s defence commissioner tells Radio Schuman The EU is exploring new and bold strategies to strengthen its defence sector. Relaxing strict fiscal rules to boost defence spending, accessing what is known as the SAFE instrument to raise capital, and expanding the European Investment Bank’s mandate to support military projects are some of the proposals to member states developed in the EU’s White Paper on Defence.At the EU summit in Brussels last week, the EU leaders discussed the commission’s proposal for the member states to allocate amounts as high as €800 billion in defence spending over the next four years to strengthen Europe's defence infrastructure.“When the war comes, you need to have your industry developed on high level in order to maintain, to repair and to produce new weapons,” says the EU’s defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius regarding the proposed increase in the defence budgets, “Now our industry really demands much more for European investment in order to develop our industry like a strategic asset.”Kubilius also doubted Europe's readiness for Eurobonds and emphasised developing military mobility infrastructure.Radio Schuman also looks at an important deadline today in the EU’s investigations into Apple, Meta and Alphabet on whether they violated the Digital Markets Act, and also at some experimental attempts to curb irregular migration through Artificial Intelligence.

FRONTEX’s role in returning rejected asylum-seekers should be monitored, especially in terms of the protection of fundamental rights, green MEP Tineke Strik tells Radio Schuman on Monday.Earlier this month, the European Commission presented a new regulation that would - if approved - enable EU countries to transfer rejected asylum seekers to distant countries where they have never been before.Although the law did not establish deportation centres or “return hubs”, it lays the groundwork for outsourcing the migration tasks to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency FRONTEX.“I think we first need to make sure that FRONTEX is dealing with fundamental rights in a proper way, in line with EU law. And only then we can see what role they can take if it comes to third countries,” says green MEP Tineke Strik, as the agency has been investigated in the past for human rights violations.Today, Radio Schuman also takes a look at a discussion among agriculture ministers on the new Commission's plans to change agriculture in Europe, and also at a compilation by Euronews culture on the things people miss the most from the March 2020 Covid lockdown.

Europe needs to upscale its support for Ukraine as Donald Trump continues to shift towards Moscow, but EU member states find it challenging to agree on a fresh military aid to Ukraine One of the main discussions at the EU summit on March 20 was on defence - particularly about what is known as the Kallas plan. The plan, based on the idea that larger countries would provide larger donations to finance military expenses, has encountered strong disagreements.  According to bruxelles2 editor Nicolas Gros-Verheyde, the primary reason for the dispute is the big jump on the proposed amounts of donations for several countries. "It is not an increase. It is the double of the triple (of the previous amounts)," says Gros-Verheyde regarding the proposed amounts for France, Spain and Italy. In today's episode Radio Schuman also takes a look at the historic vote today in the German upper House on a law that  exempts defence and security expenditures from Germany's debt rules. The episode also explores the happiest countries in Europe according to the latest World Happiness Report.