Can Anyone Stop the EU Commission? I MCC Brussels Podcast

The European Commission has mutated from a body of cooperation into a monster that even its own founders no longer recognise.Host Jacob Reynolds is joined by Carl Deconinck of the Brussels Signal and MCC Brussels’ Richard Schenk to discuss a week of institutional overreach in the European capital. They break down the flurry of proposals to rein in Ursula von der Leyen, the prospect of "climate lockdowns" as energy prices soar, and the plans for an eye-watering €2 trillion EU budget.Taming the Commission. The European Commission has mutated from a practical body of cooperation into an over-reaching, activist bureaucracy. With even the German CDU turning on their own nominee, we ask if Ursula von der Leyen’s "dictatorial" grip can ever be broken, or if the EU’s institutional DNA is permanently coded for sovereign destruction.The Energy Crunch & Climate Lockdowns. As geopolitical tensions flare, Brussels’ only answer to the energy crisis is: "do less." We dive into the ideological de-growth movement that has captured the EU, where "cheap energy" is defined as the energy you aren't allowed to use, and summer holidays are sacrificed at the altar of Net Zero.The €2 Trillion Budget Grab. Broke, desperate, and undemocratic, the EU is eyeing "own funds” - the power to levy taxes directly. From taxing plastic bags to funding a €400 million NGO "propaganda" army via the Agora programme, Brussels is moving to bypass national governments and treat the continent as its private fiefdom.