Podcast Summary: Brussels Playbook Podcast

Episode: “Testing Trump’s Board of Peace”

Date: February 19, 2026
Host: Zoya Shevdolovich, with Sarah Wheaton
Podcast: POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook Podcast

Overview

This episode explores three key developments in European politics:

1. The EU’s ambiguous participation in Donald Trump’s new “Board of Peace,” with a focus on Gaza and global peace efforts.
2. A push by nine EU countries for an EU fund to help women access abortion care across borders.
3. A new proposal to accelerate EU trade deals by overhauling translation procedures.

The conversation blends insider reporting with lively analysis, offering listeners a sharp window into high-stakes EU debates, policy balancing acts, and ongoing geopolitical shifts.

Main Discussion Points and Insights

1. EU and Trump’s “Board of Peace” on Gaza

[00:21–06:37]

The Board of Peace: Origins and EU Involvement

• Donald Trump recently proposed a “Board of Peace” at Davos, focused initially on Gaza (01:21).
• The setup is ambiguous — the EU is not joining as a member but sends Dubravka Šuica, Commissioner for the Mediterranean, as an observer (01:51).
• Trump himself chairs the board, flanked by “credible players” with “deep experience” in the Middle East, including Steve Witkoff (envoy), Jared Kushner, and the board’s High Representative for Gaza, Nikolai Mladinov — a Bulgarian diplomat and ex-MEP (02:16).

EU Hesitations

• The EU’s strategy is to “keep it a little ambiguous…doesn’t want to formally endorse the thing.” — Sarah [01:51]
• Major European leaders (including Ursula von der Leyen and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni) hesitate to legitimize the board, especially because Vladimir Putin is a main member (03:59).
  • “It might mean sitting next to Vladimir Putin while he’s waging full scale war on Ukraine.” — Zoya [04:00]
• France openly declined to join, prompting Trump to threaten “200% tariffs on French champagne” (04:20).
• Hungary (Viktor Orbán) and Bulgaria have signed on, with Orbán to attend in person (04:20).

Von der Leyen’s Balancing Act

• The EU’s presence is deliberately low-key:
  “She is not an executive vice president or even a vice president of the European Commission. She’s just the bog standard commissioner.” — Zoya on Dubravka Šuica’s appointment [04:55]
• Motivation: Don’t fully legitimize the Board but also don’t miss out on key decisions being made without EU input (05:00–06:10).
• “The EU is the largest humanitarian donor to Palestinians (1.65 billion euros since October 7, 2023).” — Sarah [05:55]
• The conundrum: “How long Europe can maintain this balance…while also not completely undermining the UN? Yeah, it’s going to be tricky.” — Sarah [06:20]

Notable Quotes

• “There is a real fear…by creating this alternate UN that Donald Trump will essentially destroy the real deal in New York.” — Zoya [03:22]
• “It’s because it’s kind of a funny setup, this Board of Peace. Firstly, the remit is not just for Gaza. Donald Trump himself said, look, we’re going to start with Gaza and then I’m going to be solving all of these other problems in the world.” — Zoya [02:52]

2. Cross-Border Abortion Access: Nine EU Countries Push for Change

[06:37–10:51]

The Letter and What’s at Stake

• Nine EU countries urge the Commission to explore a voluntary EU fund to help women access abortion care in other member states (06:37).
• Triggered by a “My Voice, My Choice” citizens initiative that met the million-signature threshold (06:37).
• The core ask: “the EU to give financial support to women who need to travel from one EU country to another in order to get an abortion” — Sarah [07:13].

Abortion Access Is Fragmented Across Europe

• Assumptions about easy access are misplaced; laws and practical access vary widely (07:27).
• In France and Italy: legal, but doctors can decline to perform abortions on moral grounds, leading to significant gaps (07:58).
• In Belgium: legal only up to 12 weeks; in the Netherlands, longer windows are available. One Belgian woman a week travels to the Netherlands for abortion due to time limits (07:58).
  • “If you think life begins at conception, you see abortion as killing babies…other people see it as an issue of bodily autonomy. This would be the EU absolutely putting their hand on the scale.” — Sarah [08:39]
• Although not harmonizing laws, the initiative seeks to “help those women for whom it can be such a barrier that they’re unable to get the care that they feel they need.” — Zoya [09:19]

Political and Social Tensions

• Surprising Polish support (despite strict domestic laws): “If you want to support people to leave Poland and go elsewhere…why not just make it easier to get an abortion in Poland?” — Zoya [09:36]
• Polish government is divided: PM Tusk’s coalition is pro-liberalization, but the president (from PiS) blocks reform — leading government to seek EU support for cross-border access (10:14).

Next Steps

• The letter addressed to Equality Commissioner Hajar Labib; Commission must respond by March (10:51).

Notable Quotes

• “It’s so eye opening, Sarah.” — Zoya [10:51]

3. Accelerating EU Trade Deals: The Translation Fix

[11:41–13:42]

The Problem

• Translation is a major bottleneck for completing and ratifying EU trade deals (“explosive, always in the Brussels bubble” — Sarah [11:41]).
• “If you just don’t bother to translate into all 24 European languages before finalizing a trade deal…you can cut down the timeline from 23 months to 13 months.” — Sarah [12:19]

The Solution

• Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič proposes an “English first” accelerated procedure (12:19).
• The plan: Do the legal work in English (possibly a few other major languages) first, then finalize translations in all official languages in parallel with ratification (13:15).
• The legal and linguistic complexities are significant, especially for lesser-spoken languages like Maltese or Irish Gaelic (12:31).
  • “This is the stuff of nightmares if you’re a budding interpreter making a mistake on something like that.” — Zoya [13:13]
• India and Indonesia trade deals are set as the test cases for the new procedure (13:35).

Notable Quotes

• “Anytime I can talk about translation, interpretation, languages, etcetera, is a good day for me.” — Zoya [11:47]

Additional Highlights

[10:51–11:41; 13:42–14:46]

• POLITICO features a speculative guide on Christine Lagarde’s ECB successor, and an interview with former President Petro Poroshenko (advice: “remember Putin was a KGB officer”).
• Upcoming: A dramatic interview on the EU Confidential podcast with EU’s ambassador to Ukraine, recorded as air raid sirens blared in Kyiv (13:49).
• Birthday shoutout for Esther de Lange, ex-MEP and new Chief of Staff to Agriculture Commissioner Christoph Hansen (14:28).

Memorable Moments and Quotes

• “It sounds very playbooky. Well done.” — Sarah [01:18], on Zoya’s sugar-fueled, sleep-starved hosting experience.
• “There is a real fear that by creating this alternate UN that Donald Trump will essentially destroy the real deal in New York.” — Zoya [03:22]
• “This is absolutely explosive because the EU…is not responsible for health policy. But also, I mean, this is the ultimate culture war issue.” — Sarah [08:20]
• “This is called this accelerated procedure. And basically the thinking is, we’re in a pretty tough geopolitical environment right now. We’ve got Donald Trump making and breaking trade deals left, right and center.” — Zoya [12:31]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:21] Main Theme Introduction
• [01:21–06:37] Trump’s “Board of Peace” and EU’s ambiguous involvement
• [06:37–10:51] Cross-border abortion access letter and EU cultural divides
• [11:41–13:42] Translation bottlenecks and proposed acceleration for EU trade deals

Tone and Style:
Conversational, analytical, candid, occasionally wry — true to the “Playbook” style.

For new listeners, this episode offers a succinct yet comprehensive guide to the day’s EU political controversies, balancing reporting and context with sharp on-the-ground observations and a dash of Brussels wit.