POLITICO's EU Confidential POLITICO Europe

We bring you reaction from around Europe to the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden, and get you up to speed on the outcome of the CDU leadership race in Germany. Our special guest is American Academy in Berlin President Daniel Benjamin.

We have your guide to the candidates vying to lead Germany's governing CDU party. We debate how social media platforms are handling the fallout from the storming of the U.S. Capitol. And we talk to British author Simon Anholt about his formula for what it takes to be a "good country."

We look back on the big news of the holiday period and forward to the stories we expect to shape 2021 in another bumper podcast panel edition of EU Confidential.

It's a bumper end-of-year review edition! But don't worry if 2020 is the year you're already trying to forget — we want to reflect on key moments and themes, rather than relive the trauma.

In their final meeting of 2020, EU leaders made key decisions on the bloc's long-term budget and recovery fund, emissions targets, and foreign affairs. We delayed this week's episode to bring you a must-listen analysis of what happened and what it all means. We also have an interview with Spain's Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya.

One year on from Ursula von der Leyen taking office as Commission president, we take stock of how she has performed. And Manfred Weber, leader of the largest group in the European Parliament, shares his thoughts on her first year in office.