FRANCE 24 secured an exclusive interview with Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, at the Paris Peace Forum. At this year's edition, there was fretting about violence that undermines the international order, but also a renewed call for global cooperation. Kallas, who has been in the job for about a year after being prime minister of Estonia, tells us that her "big goal is to make Europe a geopolitical power; that we would matter on the world stage."

The EU Council insists that the EU must leave next month's COP30 climate summit in Brazil with a clear path forward to keeping a lid on 1.5°C of warming. But is that target already out of reach? Our guest says that the world is actually on course for 2.9°C of warming, and that the international community is failing to live up to the promise of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement. Isabella Lövin is a prominent Green MEP, a former minister for the environment and climate in the Swedish government, a former minister for international development cooperation, and a former deputy prime minister of Sweden.

It was described as an unhappy marriage — and it ended in June. The four-party government in the Netherlands collapsed when far-right leader Geert Wilders pulled his PVV party out of the coalition, citing his partners’ inaction on migration and asylum issues. That breakdown led to snap parliamentary elections being called, which are due to take place on 29 October. Beyond the personalities and personal rivalries, the issues in the Dutch election reflect some of the major political battles unfolding across the EU — particularly on migration and the green transition. We debate what’s at stake with our guests.

At a jam-packed EU summit in Brussels on 23 October, dominated by the thorny issue of using frozen Russian assets, we caught up with the Deputy Minister for European Affairs of Cyprus, Marilena Raouna. Although Belgium was at the centre of haggling over how to turn the Russian assets into a “reparation loan” to help Ukraine, it is not the only country concerned by the issue. Cyprus has frozen €1.2 billion in Russian assets. Raouna emphasises that Cyprus has “completely turned the page” on Russian money flowing through the country and that supporting Ukraine will be a “top priority” when Cyprus assumes the rotating EU presidency in January 2026.

As political and economic turmoil continues in France, we speak to the influential former EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton. A former minister of economy and finance in the French government, Breton gives us his reading of the debt situation in France, as well as of France’s current standing in the European Union. We also talk about the obstacles to a more integrated EU defence industry – something that Breton was closely involved with in the European Commission during his tenure in 2019-2024.

Elections in Europe are a rollercoaster these days. EU elites were relieved when the pro-EU camp won the parliamentary vote in Moldova, but the Czech legislative election turned out quite differently. Andrej Babiš, a populist and self-proclaimed Trumpist, won the ballot, staging a comeback similar to his colleague in neighbouring Slovakia, Robert Fico. Babiš’s victory is clearly a boon to Eurosceptic forces since it was he who, together with Hungary's leader Viktor Orban, set up the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament. But does his win have an impact on the EU's help for Ukraine? And on dealing with a more assertive Kremlin, which seems to be testing Europe with drone incursions? We put these questions to two MEPs.

Moldovans have voted in what is arguably the country's most pivotal election since independence in 1991. Our guest says that there was "a big danger that pro-Russian forces might have drawn Moldova into Russia's war against Ukraine". But that danger was averted, and voters gave a clear thumbs-up to Moldova's European future and its desire to join the EU. We analyse the result of this parliamentary vote with Nicu Popescu, a former deputy prime minister and former foreign minister of Moldova.

Several new portfolios have been created in the current European Commission, to reflect the EU's changing priorities. One of those is a Commissioner for the Mediterranean. This is a crucial region for the EU, as the bloc grapples with difficult issues such as migration, climate and energy. The EU wants to pursue this southern pivot by signing a Pact for the Mediterranean with North African and Middle Eastern countries. Our guest is the EU's Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica. She is a Croatian centre-right politician and she held the Democracy and Demography portfolio in the first von der Leyen Commission, from 2019 to 2024. She has also been an MEP. 

We sit down with Valdis Dombrovskis, EU Commissioner for Economy and Productivity and a former prime minister of Latvia. He comments on the recent drone incursions into EU airspace. He also discusses France's budget deficit, which is around 5.4 percent of GDP, meaning it is well over the criteria set out in the EU's Stability Pact. 

We sit down with two MEPs to discuss France's ballooning debt and deficit, both of which are much higher than the limits set out in the EU's Stability Pact. France being the second-largest economy in the EU, its current political and economic instability could also have an impact on the other member states. So how concerned should Europe be? 

We sat down with Theodoros Rousopoulos, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the continent’s oldest political body. The assembly, also known as PACE, is sometimes called the driving force of the whole organisation, bringing together parliamentary delegations from 46 member states. But is this parliamentary diplomacy successful in pushing back against the democratic backsliding that is evident within the Council of Europe itself? And what instruments does PACE have to deal with members that do not uphold the core values of human rights, democratic norms and the rule of law? 

As the academic year begins, many students will embark on what has become a rite of passage: studying abroad for part of their course. However, the Erasmus+ programme is not limited to university undergraduates and postgraduates. Since its expansion in 2014, apprentices, trainers, job-seekers, and others have also benefited from these international exchanges. Founded in 1987 as Erasmus, the scheme has supported the personal and professional growth of more than 16 million people. Currently, 33 countries participate fully in Erasmus+ activities, including all 27 EU member states. Yet, Erasmus+ faces challenges, particularly regarding social inclusion. We discuss these issues with our MEPs, who serve on the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT).

Amid the doom and gloom about France's political crisis and the public deficit, our guest maintains that the country is still economically attractive and still the second power in the European Union. Clément Beaune is France's High Commissioner for Strategy and Planning, a former secretary of state for European Affairs and a former minister-delegate for Europe in French governments. He supposes that the current political fragmentation will not disappear with elections in the years to come, and urges French political forces to find the kind of compromises that have enabled coalition governments to function in other European countries.

European political leaders tried to switch off for a few weeks in August, but they must have had a lot on their minds. Russian forces have advanced in the Donbas, in eastern Ukraine. A summit in Alaska between the Russian and American presidents set off alarm bells in Kyiv and in the EU. And members of European governments are smarting from a trade deal with US President Donald Trump that leaves a 15 percent tariff ceiling on most EU products coming into the US – this as the European Union wants to assert its competitiveness and its strategic weight in the world. We discuss all this and more with our guests.

As this political season draws to a close, we bring you a showcase of our interviews with Europe's movers and shakers. They broach the top issues that have dominated the agenda over the past year, from competitiveness and simplification to corporate responsibility; from disinformation to "Choose Europe" for research and innovation; and, of course, the big geopolitical topics such as Ukraine and the Trump presidency.

The coalition of Ursula von der Leyen in the European Parliament is holding up, but it is looking increasingly fragile. Centrist, Socialist and Green members of that coalition are deeply troubled by what they see as an alignment between the conservative European People's Party (EPP) and the far right. And they say they want the EU Commission president to get a grip on the EPP. The entire coalition did come together to see off a vote of no-confidence in von der Leyen on July 10. But that support came at a price. Party group leaders insist their backing of the Commission chief is not unconditional and that they want to see a change in policy direction. That is exactly the line taken by our guest, Valérie Hayer, who is the leader of the centrist Renew bloc in the EU Parliament and a French MEP since 2019.

The EU is aiming to double high-speed rail traffic by 2030 and triple it by 2050. But harmonising rail networks across the continent is easier said than done. While some cross-border routes have opened in 2025, other projects have been hampered by a lack of infrastructure or investment, as well as vested interests in the EU member states.

The Green Deal is often seen as the flagship project of the previous EU mandate. But after last year's European elections, in which right-wing parties performed well, the Green Deal was rebranded as the Clean Industrial Deal. There is now more emphasis on industrial revival and competitiveness.

It is estimated that around 44 percent of European citizens keep a pet. MEPs have now set out the first ever minimum standards in the EU for the breeding, housing and handling of cats and dogs. This is because a majority of owners buy their pets online, and traceability has become a big issue.

We host the EU Ombudswoman, former Portuguese politician Teresa Anjinho, who says she aims to make her office the "reference point for integrity issues". The office itself is called the EU Ombudsman, even though it has now been led by two women. It was established in the early 1990s as an independent institution that investigates complaints about poor administration by EU institutions and bodies. We discuss the priorities of her five-year mandate, which began this February, and the transparency issues surrounding scandals such as "Pfizergate", "Qatargate" and "Huaweigate".