Nobody touch the farm budget — our 100th episode, live from Brussels

Summary

Brussels Playbook Podcast – 100th Episode Special

Episode Title: Nobody touch the farm budget — our 100th episode, live from Brussels
Date: July 1, 2026
Host: Zoya Sheftalovich (POLITICO’s chief EU correspondent)
Notable Guests: Ian Wishart, Nicholas Vinocur, Catherine Carson
Location: Live episode with an audience from the Brussels EU policy community

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Episode Overview

This milestone 100th episode was recorded live in Brussels with a special in-person audience of EU policymakers, journalists, and insiders. The hosts take a look at critical EU topics driving the agenda—from the fraught negotiations over the next seven-year EU budget (with a particular focus on farm subsidies), to high-level diplomatic trips by Ursula von der Leyen in the Caucasus, and some lighter EU consumer policy changes.

The episode is conversational and engaging, offering both behind-the-scenes anecdotes and expert reporting.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The EU Budget Battle and Ireland’s Upcoming Presidency

Timestamps: 02:59 – 09:05

• Context: Ireland is set to take over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, inheriting tricky negotiations over the union’s next multiannual budget (upwards of €2 trillion for 2028–2035).
• Budget Tensions:
  • Two main camps:
    • "Friends of Cohesion": Prioritize spending on agriculture and infrastructure in less developed ("poorer") regions.
    • "Friends of Modernization": A rebranded version of the "Frugals," advocate redirecting funds to competitive sectors and innovation.
  • The farm budget, especially direct payments to farmers, is the flashpoint.
  • Irish Minister Thomas Byrne stresses Ireland's commitment to being an “honest broker” (06:06), but the country is itself under pressure from its large farming population.
• Member States Divided:
  • Southern and Eastern countries like Spain push to protect traditional agricultural funding.
  • Northern states (Germany, Netherlands, Sweden) are calling for significant cuts or shifts in priorities.

Notable Quotes:

• “The Irish are prepared to be unpopular.” — Zoya Sheftalovich (03:26)
• “Trying to bridge those two divides by the end of the year is going to be really tough.” — Ian Wishart (07:08)
• “The key question now is really the vision of Europe that we’re going to see.” — Zoya Sheftalovich (04:24)
• “If you want to argue that farmers should have such a large share of the EU budget, then you’ve got to frame this as, how is this ensuring that Europe has security?” — Zoya Sheftalovich (07:09)

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2. Brussels Bubble Banter: How the Presidency Fits the Moment

Timestamps: 08:09 – 08:51

• Lighthearted reflections on how the rotating presidency often lands on the “most appropriate or inappropriate country at the right time” (Ian Wishart, 08:09).
  • Greece during the eurozone debt crisis, Italy during the migrant crisis, and so on.
• Zoya jokes about the randomness of it all: “Or maybe it just shows us that this is all a simulation.” (08:59)

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3. EU Diplomacy in the Southern Caucasus: Von der Leyen’s Outreach

Timestamps: 09:19 – 15:41

• Ursula von der Leyen’s Trip:
  • Starts in Azerbaijan (meetings with President Aliyev) and continues to Armenia (talks with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan).
  • Part of a larger EU effort to draw countries traditionally under Russian influence closer to the West, especially in light of changing security dynamics since Russian peacekeepers withdrew from Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023.
• Armenia’s Westward Turn:
  • Armenia, after feeling abandoned by Russia, is receptive to EU overtures.
  • EU offering financial support—a €34 million package and duty-free access for Armenian food, flowers, and mineral water to the Single Market (15:12).
• Energy Diplomacy:
  • Azerbaijan now supplies around 5% of EU gas (11:41).
  • The coveted "Middle Corridor": a future overland trade route from Central Asia to Europe, bypassing Russia and Iran.

Notable Quotes:

• “This is part of a bigger diplomatic outreach… courting countries that have traditionally been in the Russian sphere of influence.” — Nicholas Vinocur (10:00)
• “We can’t replace Russia overnight, but we can help soften the blow…” — Nicholas Vinocur on EU support to Armenia (15:12)
• “The EU’s sort of diplomacy these days—willing to overlook human rights in favor of our practical needs.” — Nicholas Vinocur (11:04)
• “The message to Moscow is pretty clear: we are going to help our friends. And this is kind of our neighborhood now.” — Zoya Sheftalovich (16:12)

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4. Who’s Really in Charge of EU Foreign Policy?

Timestamps: 13:17 – 14:38

• Discussion on the blurring lines and overlap between senior EU officials (e.g., Ursula von der Leyen, Kaya Kallas, Joseph Borrell) on foreign policy.
• Joseph Borrell’s interview (out that day) characterizes the division of labor between the Commission and the diplomatic service (EEAS) as "a big mess… a big confrontation."
• Borrell accuses the Commission of “overstepping the boundaries” and treading on the territory of the foreign policy chief.

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5. EU Tax on Cheap Chinese Parcels — The “Temu Tax”

Timestamps: 16:34 – 18:50

• New EU Rule (July 1):
  • €3 levy on low-value parcels (under €150) from foreign e-commerce sites (Temu, Shein, AliExpress).
  • Applies per item and per material type.
• Rationale:
  • Tackle market distortion, ensure fair competition for EU businesses, address sustainability and safety concerns.
  • 90% of such parcels come from China, with 60% not meeting EU safety standards—a concern especially for toys and cosmetics.
• Scale: Nearly 6 billion such parcels entered the EU last year, up from 1.3 billion in 2022.
• Temporary … for Now: The tax is billed as a stopgap, but potentially open-ended.

Notable Quotes:

• “About 60% of those packages don’t actually meet EU safety standards. And it can be higher for things like toys, cosmetics, things that have a lot of plastic or chemicals in them. It’s a China angle, sustainability angle, a competition angle. It’s a perfect EU story.” — Catherine Carson (18:04)
• “There were almost 6 billion of these parcels that were sent in the last year, which is wild.” — Zoya Sheftalovich (18:36)

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6. Fun Segment: Favorite Lighthearted Story (EU Peacocks)

Timestamps: 19:13 – 19:47

• Each Thursday/Friday episode closes with a lighter story. Catherine Carson’s favorite: a story on Italian beach towns fighting a “plague” of oversexed peacocks following COVID, which became a humorous local policy feud.
• Lively banter about replicating peacock noises on stage.

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Intro & Audience Participation ("Buzzing Brussels"): 01:05 – 02:59
• Main Budget Negotiations Debate: 02:59 – 09:05
• EU Presidency Reflections: 08:09 – 08:51
• Von der Leyen in Caucasus/EU Foreign Policy: 09:19 – 16:12
• EU-China Parcel Tax: 16:34 – 18:50
• Favorite Light Story (Peacocks): 19:13 – 19:47
• Outro & Audience Q&A Set-up: 19:47 – End

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Notable Quotes

• “You don’t know anything. Actually, in all the history…” — Zoya Sheftalovich, joking with Ian Wishart (04:06)
• “Make us see the value of having this money in agriculture for defence.” — Zoya Sheftalovich (07:41)
• “This is part of a bigger diplomatic outreach... courting countries that have traditionally been in the Russian sphere of influence.” — Nicholas Vinocur (10:00)
• “About 60% of those packages don’t actually meet EU safety standards.” — Catherine Carson (18:04)
• “It’s a China angle, sustainability angle, a competition angle. It’s a perfect EU story.” — Catherine Carson (18:04)

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Tone & Atmosphere

The episode is celebratory and “buzzing” (as one audience member described), with playful teasing among presenters, audience engagement, and light-hearted callbacks to past highlights. The editorial voice remains clear, sharp, and reporting-driven—balancing EU insider analysis with wide accessibility.

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For Listeners in a Hurry

• Main News: Ireland leads a fraught EU budget battle—farm subsidies are at the core, with East/West, North/South divides sharper than ever.
• Foreign Policy: The EU intensifies outreach to Armenia and Azerbaijan, aiming to counter Russian influence and secure energy and trade routes.
• Consumer Policy: EU consumers buying from Chinese e-commerce giants face a new €3-per-item tax to protect local businesses and ensure safety.

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For further reading, the episode references an interview with Josep Borrell on EU foreign policy (POLITICO.eu, July 1, 2026).

Transcript

[A]

Today's episode is brought to you by Salesforce. Salesforce is the world's number one AI CRM, helping businesses and governments of every size connect with the people they serve. From sales to service to citizen engagement and mission support, Salesforce at Genyc AI works autonomously to power the world's most innovative companies, agencies and institutions, keeping humans in the driver's seat. Learn [e-mail] €.

[B]

Now it's time. 100 episodes in Brussels Playbook has become essential listening for anyone who wants to know what's really happening in the Brussels bubble and beyond. None of those 100 episodes would have been possible without the voices who bring Brussels Playbook to life. So please give a warm round of applause for Zoya Sheftilovich and her first co host of the evening, Ian Wishart.

[C]

Good morning. It's Wednesday, July 1st, and this is the Brussels Playbook podcast. Ian's already confused.

[D]

Yeah, what's going on?

[C]

Well, it's not yet Wednesday, July 1, is it? It's Tuesday, June 30, and we are doing something pretty special here in this room. We've got the whole gang here. We, we've got Sarah Wheaton, we have Nick Vinica, Katherine Carson, and we even have the true heroes of this podcast who censor me and make sure that we don't get sued. Dionystouris and Sagar Ringmar, our producers. They have their work cut out for them. Ian.

[D]

Well, I was going to say, usually we stop and they re edit it when I say billion instead of trillion or million million instead of billion. So if I get it wrong tonight, we just pretend I said the right one.

[C]

Yeah, exactly, folks, that's right. Now they're really finding out how the sausage is made. We've got 80 people from the Brussels bubble in the room. I feel like it's probably more than 80. We thought there'd be 80, but loads more of you showed up. Next time, we need a bigger venue. Who's in charge of this? Come on. Bigger venue. This is super, super special for us. And actually, because it's special and because we are running out of ideas on what the vibe today is, we're going to do something a little bit different. We were asking the folks, as they were on their way, our studio audience, to come up with some ideas for what they thought the vibe today was. And now we're going to find out what the vibe today is. All right, I'm going to pull a random card, any card. It's a lottery. I'm going to go from the middle. Oh, I love this one. This is quite special. Okay. The vibe in Brussels today is buzzing.

[D]

Wow.

[C]

This one is courtesy of Raresh. Thank you, Raresh, for this one. All right, W. How did he know

[D]

in advance that it was going to be buzzing?

[C]

He could tell. Yeah. All right, Ian, no more tomfoolery from you, please. All right, so Ireland taking over the presidency of the Council of the EU happens once every six months that a new country takes the helm.

[D]

Yeah, I remember the last Irish presidency, which makes me feel old. Well, but we're going to talk about, mainly about the EU budget, the seven year budget, which is probably going to overshadow everything else that the Irish presidency has to do.

[C]

It is. I was talking to Thomas Byrne, the Europe minister for Ireland, just earlier today, and he was acknowledging that they've got some tough work ahead of them. The Cypriot presidency, which is wrapping up, has had the first chunk of budget negotiations. This is now the real kind of big negotiations happening now where we're going to get real numbers. The Irish are prepared to be unpopular.

[D]

So this is sort of a 2 trillion euro budget, seven years kicks in, 2028. But they want to get it sorted by the end of the year between the member states. That's going to be quite a tall order, isn't it, given the arguments between them at the moment. You don't know anything. Actually, in all the history.

[C]

You could just stop. You don't know anything.

[D]

No, in all the history of the. You would say this is what we do. And we edit that bit out.

[C]

Keep it in, Keep it in.

[D]

I don't know anything that's been so controversial and in such a short time frame as this, as this negotiation before.

[C]

Yeah, and this one. I think the key question now is really the vision of Europe that we're going to see. And you've got two camps that have emerged and regular listeners to the podcast, which all of these folks in this room probably are. I hope they know that there are two camps. It's the Friends of Cohesion, who are the folks who like the spending as it was on agriculture, on bridges, on roads, on hospitals in those more. Less developed regions, the poorer regions.

[D]

Traditional way that EU money has been spent.

[C]

Exactly. And then you've got these Friends of Modernization, which is a rebranded version of the Frugals. Their argument is the money needs to be spent on new priorities, on competitiveness, on making Europe ensure that its economy, its industry is fit for the next however long, because currently it's in a lot of trouble and agriculture is the thing that we're going to talk about the most today, because that's probably the most controversial thing.

[D]

And the farmers are a really big lobby group, aren't they, throughout Europe?

[C]

They are, both literally and figuratively. I mean, the share of the economy is relatively small, but boy, are they visible when tractors are driving through the streets of Brussels and piles of potatoes are being left in their wake.

[D]

And a huge population of voters as well. And that's what the leaders are going to worry about most. I mean, even Ireland having the presidency. Ireland has something like 300,000 farmers. That's a huge constituency that the Irish have to make sure that they keep happy, which puts them in a really difficult position in the presidency because they're trying to get a deal that's agreeable to all 27 member states. But also they want to look after their own electorate too. That's not easy.

[C]

It is a difficult. I mean, that's the whole honest broker challenge that you've got when you're Ireland.

[D]

And did Thomas Byrne say anything about that today when you spoke to him?

[C]

Well, he actually hasn't. We've been. He said, look, we are going to be an honest broker. He pointed out actually that he did not end up going to a particular breakfast that was held by the Friends of Cohesion because he felt like that would be sort of picking a horse in the race in the lead up to the last European Council summit. But the fact is that the Cypriots who've handed over this negotiating box to the Irish, they've kind of protected quite a bit of the farm money. We know that the Cypriot proposal sets aside more than 293 billion for farmers income support.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

So that's pretty significant. And more than 40 billion could also be available for other agriculture related spending. So I mean, none of these figures are final, but they're huge figures.

[D]

You get countries like Spain who are saying we want to protect that traditional use of the EU budget. And then you get countries particularly like Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden particularly has come out really strongly saying there should be far greater cuts. Trying to bridge those two divides by the end of the year is going to be really tough.

[C]

It is. And there's people calling for far greater cuts, but also for a reprioritization of the budget. So saying, look, yes, it's good to have food security, but. But we should be looking at this debate in the context of this being a food security issue. So rather than saying we're just going to give a bunch of money to farmers and so be it, they're Saying, look, if you want to argue that farmers should have such a large share of the EU budget, then you've got to frame this as, how is this ensuring that Europe has security? Because obviously with the wars that are waging in the Middle east, in Ukraine,

[D]

you go and spend the money on defense.

[C]

They want to spend the money on defense. So the argument is, make a see the value of having this money in agriculture for defence. So that's kind of going to be an interesting one. I reckon that's going to be how when we're looking at this debate in September, in October, when the big budget clash is going to heat up again after the summer, I think that's how we're going to see the camp positioning themselves. We're going to see some people saying, this is not actually about protecting farmers for the sake of it. This is about protecting farmers so that Europe, if invaded, can ensure that it can feed its people.

[D]

I do like the quirks of the way the EU presidency works, though. It always seems like the most appropriate or inappropriate country gets the presidency at the right time. I remember Greece had the presidency when the eurozone debt crisis was at its peak and Italy had the presidency just when, you know, the discussion about migrants coming to southern Europe. And Cyprus, Luxembourg had the presidency when everything was really boring.

[C]

You can cut this one. Sorry. Luxembourg, for our Luxembourgish listeners. I think you're fun just because Ian doesn't see, you just don't know. But yeah, and Cyprus had the presidency when the Middle east war kind of boiled over and Iran was in the line of fire. And in fact, Cyprus itself had some.

[D]

But it also shows that it can be done. You know, countries are able to separate out domestic priorities from the honest broker role they have to play.

[C]

Yeah. Or maybe it just shows us that this is all a simulation.

[D]

This podcast definitely is.

[C]

All right, Ian, well, thank you so much.

[E]

That's it.

[C]

Get off. Nicholas Vinica.

[F]

That's me.

[C]

That's you, Nikki V. Our chief foreign affairs correspondent. Do you know, I just remembered that you and I reported from a European parliament plenary in May 2015, and that was the first time I met you.

[F]

I mean, I'm speechless.

[C]

It's fun today, isn't it?

[F]

Azerbaijan. But we're going to talk about our.

[C]

Let's just go down memory lane. Azerbaijan. Let's talk about Azerbaijan. So Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, she is in Azerbaijan. She's at the start of a two stop trip to the southern Caucasus and she's going to be meeting with Azerbaijani President Aliyev in Baku, and then she's going to Armenia for talks with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

[F]

Right. I mean, let's remember these two countries were at war not too long ago and have recently signed a peace agreement that was US brokered. But I think the thing here is that this is part of a bigger diplomatic outreach by Ursula von der Leyen, other figures in the EU institutions basically courting countries that have traditionally been in the Russian sphere of influence. And that's what she's doing in Azerbaijan

[C]

and also in Armenia, because, you know, Armenia is kind of. It's undertaking a bit of a turn westward at the moment. And this is. Comes out of this conflict because obviously this war. Armenia's key kind of protector in the Guna Karabakh were Russian forces that were stationed there when they started leaving their posts back in 2023. That's when things really kicked off. And Armenia is finding itself kind of out on a limb a bit and is looking for friends elsewhere now, because having seen that Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, may not be a reliable ally, it's now thinking, well, maybe it's time to revisit this EU malarkey.

[F]

Absolutely. And they've been turning. They've reelected a pro Western leader and the EU sees an opportunity there. But she's starting in Azerbaijan, where the leader has been in power since 2003, is a bit of an authoritarian, but has oil. But has oil. Right. So this is kind of the theme of the EU's sort of diplomacy these days, willing to overlook human rights or certainly deprioritize that in favor of our practical needs. And that's certainly the message in Azerbaijan. The main thing there is really about oil and energy and gas.

[C]

Azerbaijan now supplies around 5% of the EU's gas. 10 EU member countries get their gas from Azerbaijan. So it's a pretty significant supplier. It's very useful for Europe. But the other thing that we need to talk about is the middle corridor. And that is the route, the crucial trade route that the EU wants access to.

[F]

Exactly. It's not from the Lord of the Rings. It's a new trade route that would bypass both Russia and Iran and is kind of an overland, kind of maps the Silk Road. In a way, it's very much, for now, a sort of figment of imagination. This is not one railway or one road. It's a series of investments that will sort of facilitate goods and energy, especially traveling straight through to Europe. Now, this is something that Commissioner Marta Koss has been overlooking to mobilize more than 2 billion euros to develop this thing.

[C]

And Marta Korst, she's the enlargement commissioner.

[F]

Right.

[C]

Just yesterday she was in Turkey with Ursula von der Leyen on this trip. And you talked about Kayakalis. Kayakallis. Sorry, my God, yes.

[F]

Her best friend.

[C]

Oh, well, of course, mine also. So, yeah, let's talk about that. I mean, Kaia Kassels in Turkey with Martikos, with Magnus Brunner. And Marta Kos is going straight from that trip to the Caucasus.

[F]

That's right. Kaya Kalist is doing that part of the trip and Kos is going into the Caucasus. And here we can see this sort of duplication in a way of EU diplomatic voices and roles that we've been writing about quite a bit this week with von der Leyen and Kallas both playing these sort of visiting different countries

[C]

in the same region.

[F]

In the same region at the same time.

[C]

But is it like a division of labor type thing or is it a stepping on toes thing?

[F]

Well, I mean, if you really drill down, you could say, well, Kallas is holding security and foreign policy discussions in Turkey and von der Leyen is drilling down on sort of policy initiatives. But in effect, this is external relations and diplomacy. And I think that's why we have a conversation about this, about who's really in charge of EU foreign policy these days.

[C]

And you've got a few more stories coming out. I mean, we've got a big interview that's coming out this morning, which our colleague Jacob Abracadsy has done, speaking to Callos predecessor Joseph Borrell.

[F]

Yeah, so we've been writing about this all week. We had a kind of Scene Setter piece talking about the institutional sort of divide between the Commission and the eas. Today we're checking in with Borrell, who had some strong words. He calls the situation there a big mess, a big confrontation. He says the Commission is overstepping the boundaries.

[C]

He's inside the eas. He's saying it's a big mess.

[F]

I think he's talking about the relationship between commission and EAs because he's usually very critical of the European Commission and Ursula von der Leyen and he is criticizing her, says that she's taking decisions that belong to the member states. That should be done by the foreign policy chief. Recommend you read Jacobo's story, which is out this morning.

[C]

Yeah, well, I skipped ahead a little bit earlier, but let's talk about the trip to Armenia after Azerbaijan. We talked about the fact that this is part of this attempt to lure Armenia out of the grasp of Moscow and into Brussels, kind of good books. And von der Leyen is going there with something quite concrete, which is some support and some alleviation to Armenia for its various markets and segments that have been affected by Russia being upset with the fact that this government has been turning more towards the west and cutting off trade. So she's got some interesting goodies in her bag.

[E]

Yeah.

[F]

And of course, Russia has been pushing back on this. It's restricted Armenia's access to various imports, it's punished them over energy. And what the EU is trying to do here is show, well, we can't replace Russia overnight, but we can help soften the blow with 34 million euro.

[C]

Right.

[F]

That's doesn't sound like that much. I don't know.

[E]

I want more.

[F]

Yeah, that sounds like about a day's consumption of oil, but it's certainly a gesture and it's all part of this sort of strategic building we're doing in these countries.

[C]

Yeah. And there is more. So she's also going to be offering, offering duty free access for some Armenian products to the EU single market. So that's for food, flowers, mineral water. I was reading about the flowers the other day, that there was just like a huge number of flowers that Russia would normally buy that were wilting in the heat wave, waiting for a buyer because the Russians decided they didn't want them anymore and the EU kind of went, oh, all right, we'll take those. In any case, look, the message to Moscow is pretty clear. It's that we are going to help our friends. And this is kind of our neighborhood now, so there's a bit of a fight for hearts and minds. Influence. Influence. Yeah, exactly. All right, Nick, thank you so much for joining me. Well, for our last story, I've got Catherine Carson with me. She's our senior finance reporter. Hey, Katie.

[E]

Hey, girl.

[C]

Listen, do you do any online shopping?

[E]

You've seen my outfits in the office. So I want you to answer that question and I'm gonna be offended if you.

[C]

No, I'm going to say you probably shop online, but I'm guessing it's not at temu.

[E]

Exactly. Thank you. Perfect answer.

[C]

Well, the reason we raised TEMU is because starting from July 1, European consumers who are shopping on Temu or Shein or AliExpress, they might notice that things get a little bit more expensive because the EU is now levying a three euro tax on low value parcels.

[E]

Exactly. So the whole concept of this is that it's supposed to be about cheap, plentiful packages that are coming into the EU here, it means about under €150. And the duty applies depending on what type of item it is, depending on its, like, little tariff code type thing. So if you buy a T shirt made of one material, you pay €3 on that. If you buy a T shirt made of a different type of material in the same package, you pay another three. So then it's six.

[C]

I think we just lost everyone.

[E]

Maths, guys. Come on.

[C]

Oh, my God. Trust a finance reporter. Three plus three is six. All right, so that's what's happening. But what is the point of this? The political point of this is basically the EU is having to deal with. European businesses are having to deal with a bunch of competition from these Chinese e commerce giants, which are largely subsidized by the state, and people are just kind of buying them super, super cheap, and then EU industry can't compete. That's the argument. Also, some of these things are also not meeting safety standards.

[E]

Yeah, absolutely. So about 90% of these cheap packages come from China directly. The argument is that it's killing the high. People aren't going to the shops anymore. There's obviously sustainability concerns, and about 60% of those packages don't actually meet EU safety standards. And it can be higher for things like toys, cosmetics, things that have a lot of plastic or chemicals in them. So there's a China angle, sustainability angle, a competition angle. It's a. It's a perfect EU store.

[C]

Almost a triangle.

[E]

Absolutely. Although it's worth noting that this is supposed to be temporary, although we've seen plenty of things that are supposed to be temporary continue for a long time.

[C]

Yeah, but the thing that I like struck me was the fact that There were almost 6 billion of these parcels that were sent in the last year, which is wild.

[E]

It's gone up four times. So it used to be 1.3 billion when it's 22, and last year it was almost 6 billion.

[C]

How many were yours? 3 billion.

[E]

Probably like 4.7.

[C]

Okay, got it, got it, got it, got it. Well, listen, this is a super interesting conversation to have because it's in light of the conversations we've been having in general, but also it's one of our lighter, fun topics of conversation. People may have noticed that, you know, sometimes our third topic is a little bit light. What's your favorite fun one that we've done?

[E]

Okay, I'm biased because it has to be one that I was on the podcast, obviously. Randy Italian Peacocks, Giorgia Maloney's party's enmity against humping peacocks in a small Italian beach town because they proliferated after Covid. The mayoralty of the town was the opposition party from Melody and she was going on a. Her party was going on a crusade against. Against the peacocks because they were pooping everywhere.

[C]

Oh, and also I hear making noises that were unseemly.

[E]

I will not be doing the noise, Zoya.

[C]

Oh, come on.

[E]

Can you do the noise?

[C]

I wasn't there.

[E]

I felt like you'd do a good peacock.

[C]

I'm peacocking as we speak, but no, I can't. Maybe Ian. I reckon Ian looks like through the noise,

[D]

you all missed it.

[C]

He did it and it's not working. All right, well, Katie, thank you so much for joining us up on stage. We've appreciated you and appreciate everyone else. I quite liked the one about the notary exhibition in the European Parliament. Actually, that was my favorite one, folks. That's about it from us today. If you're in the room, it isn't because we're going to do a Q and A and you're going to hear about Ian Wishart's favorite fun thing. Oh, yeah, that's right. You're going to have your moment to do the peacock noise again. Those who are listening on the audio feed, please do like us. Subscribe if you haven't already. Rate us 5 stars. If we don't go up by 85 star ratings from all the people in this room, I'm going to be really disappointed. All right, folks, thank you so much for joining us.

[A]

A message from Salesforce. Across Europe, Salesforce is investing in the future of trusted AI, helping businesses and public sector organizations connect with customers and citizens in new ways. As the world's number one AI CRM, Salesforce powers companies to become agenic enterprises, a new model of work where humans and trusted AI agents drive success together. Learn [e-mail] Euro.