MCC Brussels Podcast

In this episode we talk about  the EU’s cynical anti-American deflection strategy, the regulatory "death-loop" strangling the European economy, the "Poland Playbook" being readied for the Hungarian elections, and the collapse of the Franco-German fighter jet project that turned Connor Allen into the most hated man on French Twitter. Host Jacob Reynolds is joined by MCC’s Agnieszka Kolek and lobbyist Connor Allen, to strip away the spin. 

The Anti-American Gambit: 
The "Brussels Bureaucracy" has found a new villain to hide its own sins: America. As evidence mounts of the EU's direct interference in national elections from Romania to Hungary, the Berlaymont is whipping up a feverish anti-American narrative to deflect from its own web of state-funded NGOs. Jacob Reynolds and his guests pull back the curtain on a censorship complex that claims to protect "European values" while actively sabotaging the democratic will of sovereign nations.

The Stagnation Station:
 While EU leaders retreat to castles to talk "productivity," the European economy is being suffocated. The refusal to address the fundamentals - crippling energy costs and a regulatory obsession - is driving our brightest minds to more hospitable shores. Without a major change of course, the only course is, sadly, decline for Europe. 

The Poland Playbook in Hungary 
The upcoming Hungarian election is being framed by a new, brutal strategy: the Poland Playbook. Having seen how swiftly institutions and media can be seized by "pro-EU" forces, the Brussels-backed opposition in Hungary is openly planning a day-one purge that does away with anything that is critical of the government.

The Fighter Jet Farce
Finally, we look at the  collapse of the Franco-German-Spanish fighter jet collaboration—a project that proves "European Strategic Autonomy" is a hollow myth. Our guest Connor Allen explains the reality behind his viral broadside against French protectionism, which has made him the most hated man on French Twitter.

This week, we dismantle a three-pronged assault on the European way of life: leftist politicians who plan to import a new electorate, the EU's sorry dependency on rivals, and plans to further restrict the internet. 

Host Jacob Reynolds, Head of Policy at MCC Brussels is joined by Angéline Furet MEP of the Patriots for Europe group and France’s Rassemblement National, alongside MCC Brussels Research Fellow Richard Schenk 

Replacing Citizens?
While the mainstream media dismisses the "Great Replacement" as a fringe conspiracy, the European radical left seem to be embracing it. Amid mass amnesties for illegal migrants in Spain, a prominent politician declares she wants to see traditional Spain "replaced", which was echoed in France by Jean-Luc Mélenchon in a speech on his plans for "creolisation". We separate the conspiracy theory from the reality: an elite uncomfortable with traditional working class voters and see migrants as a more pliable alternative. 

The Myth of "European Sovereignty": 
In the wake of Trump’s assertive national interest - highlighted by the Greenland debacle - Brussels has retreated into the fantasy of "European Sovereignty." But as our panel argues, sovereignty cannot be conjured in a committee room; it belongs to nations, not federations. We explore the dangerous absurdity of a "European Army" and the self-inflicted energy wounds of the Green Deal that have left the continent at the mercy of friends, enemies and competitors. 

The Digital Enclosure: 
The raid on X’s headquarters in France and the leaked files revealing EU-sanctioned censorship have revealed the true extend of European censorship. At the same time, under the guise of "protecting children" from the internet, the EU is moving toward mandatory bans on social media for young people (ironically, the same group they once hoped would vote for EU elites). Add in plans for EU digital IDs, further censorship, and the "Democracy Shield" - its a recipe for totalitarian control.

In this week’s episode, MCC Brussels tears into Brussels’ trade-deal frenzy from Mercosur to India, the capital’s 600-day political paralysis, and Trump’s Peace Board challenge to the tired old international order.

Jacob Reynolds, Head of Policy at MCC Brussels, is joined by Barbara Bonte, Vlaams Belang MEP in the Patriots for Europe group, and Agnieszka Kolek, Head of Cultural Engagement at MCC Brussels.

India is the deal dressed up as a geopolitical triumph, the “mother of all trade deals,” featuring export wins for big sectors and a momentous agreement on mobility (read: migration) tucked inside. The reality is that India’s most reliable export is people rather than steel or software. These mobility clauses aren't just a footnote to the document. They are the entire point.

Brussels 600 days no government decay: Brussels without a government for 600 days is not a charming constitutional oddity.. It is the natural byproduct of a system designed to obstruct, run by parties that would rather exclude rivals than actually govern. No budget means no planning, no investment, no serious repair. Everyday life is left to fray by politicians who have no answers.

The Peace Board is Trumpian in style, but not necessarily empty in substance. Post-war institutions are visibly exhausted: The UN moralises and achieves little. Europe spends and postures, but cannot decide what it wants beyond “more of the same”. Trump, for all his theatricality, forces a question the polite world avoids: what if the institutions built in a previous era are no longer fit for purpose.

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In this week’s episode Jacob Reynolds, with Richard Schenk and Carl Deconinck, cuts through the Davos charade, the EU’s flailing response to Trump and Greenland, and Brussels’ latest attempt to muzzle free speech via its crusade against X.

1) Davos / WEF: Davos used to be the annual summit of vague virtue-signalling and lavish self-regard. This year, it looks less like cosplay and more like crisis management. With the UN toothless and the old “dialogue forums” dead, Davos has become one of the few places rival blocs still talk . All the  while Europe’s leaders flail, delivering the same stale sermons about bureaucracy “reform” and Net Zero righteousness, as if it’s still 2019.

2) Greenland / tariffs / EU–US tension: Greenland is a bargaining chip in a colder, harder world. Trump’s tariff sabre-rattling exposes a deeper truth: the post–Cold War fantasy is over, and national interest is back.Brussels, trained to govern by press release and “values”, now looks like a sleepwalker. The result is diplomatic cringe instead of strategy.

3) X / Grok / illicit images / EU clampdowns: Yes, AI can be abused, including for non-consensual image manipulation. But the EU’s instinct is always the same: treat every new tool as an excuse to expand censorship and bureaucratic control. The EU’s long campaign against X suddenly has a convenient moral fig-leaf, while the EU AI Act and its wider regulatory reflex keep pushing innovation out of Europe. 

Follow MCC Brussels on social media:
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https://linkedin.com/company/mcc-brussels/

website:
https://brussels.mcc.hu

When the world gets serious, the Berlaymont gets nervous.
Greenland gets leaned on, farmers get sold out, and Hungary gets “managed” like a hostile province.
John O’Brien sits down with Richard Schenk and Agnieszka Kolek to say what Brussels will only ever imply.
Greenland and the Comfort Blanket of NATO
Greenland isn’t some far-off abstraction. It’s tied to an EU member state, plugged into NATO, and still had to announce—out loud—that it isn’t for sale. The moment pressure comes from inside the club, the Western security story starts wobbling. Europe outsourced its seriousness decades ago, then convinced itself conferences and communiqués were a substitute for capability. The Arctic doesn’t care about talking points.
Mercosur
Then Brussels turns to the budget and does what it always does when it wants money: it raids the countryside. The Mercosur deal lands like a boot on the neck of European farming, while the Commission tries to repackage the damage as “competitiveness”. 
The Hungary “Pause”
And in Hungary, the mask slips entirely—files “frozen” before an election so the Commission doesn’t accidentally look neutral. It’s not rule-of-law enforcement. It’s political choreography. And it’s exactly why more Europeans are starting to see the EU not as a guardian of democracy, but as a manager of outcomes.