The Commission’s next big overhaul?

Summary

Brussels Playbook Podcast — Episode Summary

Episode Title: The Commission’s next big overhaul?
Date: May 13, 2026
Host: Zoya Sheftalovich
Co-host: Ian Wishart
Podcast: Brussels Playbook Podcast by POLITICO

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on widespread "restructuring anxiety" in Brussels, as the European Commission mulls a potentially dramatic overhaul of one of its oldest and most powerful departments, DG REGIO, which hands out hundreds of billions in regional funding. Hosts Zoya and Ian break down what’s at stake, the timeline for a decision, and the political currents shaping the debate. They also examine German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's freefall in the polls, Germany’s economic woes, and the European Commission’s push to make cross-border train travel easier. Listener suggestions and EU influencer discussions round out the show with lighter banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. DG REGIO Restructuring: A Commission Shake-Up?

[00:27–07:12]

• The Scoop:
  POLITICO’s Gerardo Fortuna breaks word that the European Commission might overhaul or even abolish DG REGIO, the department overseeing regional development funds.

  • Quote: “One of the Commission's biggest and oldest departments might be heading for the bin.” — Zoya (01:17)

• What’s Driving the Change?

  • Critique that DG REGIO is “old,” “bloated,” and unresponsive, simply “hand[ing] out checks to member states” (Zoya, 02:03).
  • Favorable comparison to DG REFORM (created post-COVID to handle recovery funds) which is seen as “more streamlined, much more efficient…very nimble, young, it's got really good processes in place” — Zoya (02:51).

• Potential Scenarios Discussed:

  • Merging DG REGIO with DG REFORM, applying stricter conditions and modern management.
  • Formation of a mega "DG Invest" overseeing all EU financial disbursements.
  • Quote: “They might have, underneath that umbrella, literally all of the money that the Commission hands out…” — Zoya (03:23)

• Backlash from Regions and Staff:

  • Regional bodies fear marginalization and loss of direct funding.
  • Cohesion funding is vital to “equalize the living standards of poor regions with those of rich ones” — Zoya (04:11).
  • “The less well off countries will fight against this.” — Ian (05:07)

• Timing and the EU Budget:

  • The rethink is tied to early discussions on the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the 2028–2034 long-term budget.
  • “A decision might be made within the next year.” — Zoya (05:32)

• Political Stakes:

  • Debate over centralizing spending power at the Commission versus direct disbursement to member states.
  • “This is a bit of a Commission power grab.” — Zoya (06:23)

• Listener Engagement:

  • Invitation for feedback from inside the Commission. Anonymity promised.
  • “Would be quite nice to hear from people, particularly people working in the European Commission…” — Ian (06:54)

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2. The Friedrich Merz Slump: Germany’s Coalition Crisis

[07:12–11:36]

• Merz’s First Year as Chancellor:

  • “Feels like 10 years” — Zoya (07:36).
  • 86% public dissatisfaction with the coalition. Only 24% believe Merz can revive the economy. A meager 14% think he communicates well (07:41–08:05).

• Personality and Style:

  • Merz is seen as “prickly,” overly candid, not adapting from business to politics.
  • “He doesn't do politics very well…he can be quite candid and say what's on his mind. And that kind of worked quite well when he was in business, but perhaps doesn't work quite so well when he's a politician…” — Ian (08:05)

• Economic Headwinds:

  • Rising unemployment (highest since 2020, at 6.4% / over 3M jobless), falling industrial output, sluggish growth forecast (just 0.5% for 2026).
  • Quote: “Industrial production…fell again in March and the government cut its 2026 growth forecast again to just 0.5%.” — Zoya (08:34)

• Public Perception:

  • Merz struggles to communicate tangible improvements:
    • “He was asked that once and his answer was, ‘We help save NATO.’ That doesn't really talk to the person in the street.” — Ian (10:00)

• Notable Moments:

  • Merz was booed at the German Trade Union Confederation. Clashed with citizens at town halls.
    • “Mertz kind of snapped back at her and made him look really awful.” — Zoya (10:23)

• Political Fallout:

  • Far-right AfD now polls ahead of Merz’s conservatives nationally and dominates in Saxony Anhalt (41%).
  • “The big winner, of course, is Alternative for Deutschland…the far right party, which seems to have its polling going up and up and up.” — Ian (10:54)

• Broader Trend:

  • Voter impatience and fragmentation across Europe.
    • “People just don't have patience to see the improvements they want.” — Ian (11:16)
    • “Particularly when you've got parties at the fringes that are offering quick solutions and easy answers.” — Zoya (11:36)

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3. EU’s Rail Travel Revolution: One Ticket to Rule Them All?

[11:55–14:03]

• What’s New:

  • The Commission is unveiling its “passenger mobility package” — a long-awaited plan for seamless cross-border ticketing.
  • “If you want to buy one ticket from one place to another, you should just be able to buy one ticket. You shouldn't have to buy 10 on different companies.” — Zoya (12:23)

• Why the Delay?

  • Fragmented market: different countries, companies (private/state), platforms, and proprietary IT systems.
  • “They have their own proprietary software. They don't want to have to pay a lot of money to standardize…it’s a big deal for them.” — Zoya (13:28)

• Significance:

  • Echoes the EU’s “roam like at home” success in telecoms.
  • Aims to incentivize greener rail travel and make cross-border journeys as smooth as domestic ones.
  • Quote: “It's kind of a sign of the EU helping you in your day to day life.” — Zoya (12:49)

• Anecdotes:

  • Ian’s memory of rail struggles:
    • “I remember 20 years ago, going railing and…queue up for another ticket. That should have changed by now.” — Ian (13:00)

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4. Influencers With EU Content: Listener Recommendations

[14:03–15:17]

• Previous Episode Discussion:

  • Zoya and Ian revisit their attitude toward TikTok and YouTube “influencers.”

• Listener Tips:

  • Rosary Haskovská (greenfluencer, Czechia)
  • Hugo Décrypte, Gaspard G (France, politics/history YouTubers)
  • EU Made Simple, TLDR News EU

• Notable Quotes:

  • “Influencers are terrible. We're the best.” — Zoya (15:11)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The vibe in Brussels today is restructuring anxiety.” — Zoya (00:27)
• “You can imagine therefore that the less well off countries will fight against this.” — Ian (05:07)
• “This is a bit of a Commission power grab…The Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the President, trying to bring more control…” — Zoya (06:23)
• “It feels like 10 years. Ian, do you remember Schultz? I remember Merkel.” — Zoya (07:36–07:41)
• “Industrial production…fell again in March and the government cut its 2026 growth forecast again to just 0.5%.” — Zoya (08:34)
• “The big winner, of course, is Alternative for Deutschland, the far right party, which seems to have its polling going up and up and up.” — Ian (10:54)
• “[Buying cross-border rail tickets] seems so simple and so obvious. It's almost like there's nothing to say about it. But it isn't, Ian…” — Zoya (12:44)
• “Influencers are terrible. We're the best.” — Zoya (15:11)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• DG REGIO overhaul and Commission restructuring: 00:27–07:12
• Friedrich Merz, Germany’s government & economic crisis: 07:12–11:36
• EU cross-border train ticketing package: 11:55–14:03
• EU influencers and listener recommendations: 14:03–15:17

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Tone:
Conversational, witty, deeply reported, with sharp but accessible explanations and direct engagement with EU political dynamics.

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For Listeners:
This episode is indispensable for anyone tracking the evolving power structures within the European Commission, the growing political volatility in Germany, and ongoing attempts to make the EU more practical for its citizens — from budgeting billions to the simple act of buying a train ticket.

Transcript

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[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Good morning. It's Wednesday, May 13, and this is the Brussels Playbook podcast. The vibe in Brussels today is restructuring anxiety.

[Ian Wishart]

Is that a vibe?

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

It is today, Ian, because one of the Commission's biggest and oldest departments might be heading for the bin. Also on the pod. Friedrich Mertz has been German Chancellor for a year now, and things are going from bad to worse. And the European Commission wants to make it easier to travel across Europe by train. That's exciting. I'm Zoya Shefdalovic and with me today is Ian Wishart. Hi, Ian.

[Ian Wishart]

Hi, Zoya. Did I see you on the picket line yesterday in the general strike in Belgium?

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

You saw me walking past the picket line on my way to work. Because you're a slave driver, Ian.

[Ian Wishart]

Yourself, Fish.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Well, listen, let's start with this super interesting story that Gerardo Fortuna, our colleague on the Brussels Playbook, has broken this morning. So one of the European Commission's oldest, richest, biggest, most powerful departments might be heading for a pretty significant overhaul, maybe even the trash can. That's DG Radio, Ian.

[Ian Wishart]

Yeah, this is the department in the European Commission that dishes out a lot of the EU funds, actually hundreds of billions of euros to the various regions around Europe, but a lot of the poorer regions in particular, which is traditionally what EU subsidies has been used for. But it looks like there is some restructuring underway or certainly some ideas that it might be restructured.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Yeah, that's right. And we've been picking up this chatter for a while now that's kind of reached fever pitch. Basically there is this view among some in Brussels, and that view goes all the way to the top floor of the Berlamonte here, that the DG radio is kind of. It's old, it's bloated. People there aren't very responsive. Responsive or reactive to things. And that they kind of just hand out checks to member states to use how they wish.

[Ian Wishart]

And they're comparing it with how the Commission dished out the money for the COVID recovery fronts, which was done by a different department. But that I think was seen as much more streamlined, much more efficient. And that seems to be The. The reason that people are giving for. For this to happen.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

That's right. That's DG reform. That was the new department that was created in the wake of the COVID

[Ian Wishart]

pandemic that comes under the Sec gen, doesn't it?

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Yeah. And so it's very nimble. It's young, it's got really good processes in place as people see it, as its supporters see it. And it's a little bit more, shall we say, careful about how it hands out funds. And the other thing is that those funds can be held back for political reasons, because, as you say, it's run under the section.

[Ian Wishart]

Yeah. It's more to this than meets the eye. There's a lot of politics involved here, isn't there? You know, it's. This is sort of speaks to a wider sense of how mood is shifting, times are changing, politics are changing within the European Commission.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

That's right. That's right. And there's a few things being considered. So one idea is this idea of merging DG Regio and DG reform, and then it would become one with the DG reform rules and regulations on the way that it hands out money. There's also this idea of, like, maybe setting up this super department called DG Invest. That's what Gerardo has been hearing. And they might have, underneath that umbrella, literally all of the money that the Commission hands out to, like, regions and for various projects. So that would be pretty.

[Ian Wishart]

There'll be a lot of people unhappy about this. I mean, apart from the people who work in DG radio itself and have worked there for a long time. But the regions that a lot of the EU is pinned on and has been for decades, will see this very much as a watering down of their importance and significance. It will be worried about a lack of money coming their way.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Yeah. And they've already been complaining about this. We've been, again, hearing some complaints from people like in the Committee of the Regions and elsewhere, who are saying, look, when the Commission takes over like this, when it becomes political, when they merge various different pots of money into one, it means that cohesion, regions, et cetera, they might miss out. And the thing to remind people of, I mean, we've talked about it on this podcast before, the cohesion funding is super important because that's the funding that's meant to equalize the living standards of poor regions with those of rich ones.

[Ian Wishart]

I mean, you see it and, you know, brand new motorways being built, brand new bridges being built in. In areas of Europe, which has traditionally been quite Deprived?

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Yeah, total. And you also see it in schools and hospitals. So it really does touch people's lives. It's both when you look at the poorer regions within certain countries and also the poorer countries within the eu. So it is an important set of principles that exist.

[Ian Wishart]

And you can imagine therefore that the less well off countries will fight against this.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So this one is super interesting. Now, in terms of timing, what we're looking at is probably a decision being made really now. Ish.

[Ian Wishart]

I was really surprised at this. They're not going to wait, by the sounds of things, if this goes according to some people's plan, they're not going to wait until the next term of the European Commission necessarily, are they? Can come sooner than that.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

No. And it's because of the timing with the mff, the Multi Annual Financial Framework, that's for you and me, the EU's long term budget. Now, the current budget is due to expire at the end of 2027. The new one starts up in 28. But the thinking around how to spend the money, that's being done right now. There's decisions being made right now and as part of those decisions, the question will be where do we spend our money, where do we send it, which DGs stay, which ones go, which ones get merged? So it's really a decision that might be made within the next year.

[Ian Wishart]

You can also see it though, and maybe I'm talking from a level of certain ignorance here, but you can see it feeding into some of the debate around the mff. That's a seven year budget negotiations, you can see it feeding into that because a lot of that is where do we put priorities for funding? Do we put it into the regions or do we put it more into the hands of central government or directly from the European Commission?

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Absolutely. And we'll see probably the same sort of criticism of this move as we see for other moves where I think member countries would probably say this is a bit of a commission power grab. The Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the President, trying to bring more control, more commission guardrails around spending. Member states will want that money directly because then they can direct the money wherever they go. But critics of that approach say, hey, that leads to sweetheart deals, that leads to inefficiencies. We should bring all of this under central control goodwill.

[Ian Wishart]

Zoya, we're sometimes quite light hearted when we ask people to WhatsApp us with opinions on various things, but I think actually this would be quite nice to hear from people, particularly people working in the European Commission about what they've heard, what they fear, what they think might be the future direction of things in the Commission. I think that would be quite an interesting thing for people to WhatsApp us on our number.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Absolutely. And anonymity guaranteed. Just tell us what you think, what you're hearing, and we will not use your names if you'd rather we didn't. Or we can use your names if you'd rather. Rather we do. All right, folks, second story. Germany's Friedrich Mertz. He's been in power for just a little bit over a year now.

[Ian Wishart]

Is that. Oh, it seems long cut.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

It feels like 10 years. Ian, do you remember Schultz?

[Ian Wishart]

I remember Merkel.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

So do I. Anyway, shall we get back on track? Ian? Let's get back to our friend Friedrich Mertz, his polling numbers. Ian, I don't think I've seen anything like this in Germany, maybe ever. 86% of people are unhappy with the current coalition government. According to the latest Deutschland trend survey, 24% think Mertz can turn the economy around. 14% think he communicates effectively.

[Ian Wishart]

Well, the thing is, I mean, looking at sort of the commentary around this, both in Germany and here in Brussels, and the people who know him and work with him, they all seem to say he doesn't do politics very well and he seems to be quite prickly and he seems to just not know when to keep quiet. And actually he can be quite candid and say what's on his mind. And that kind of worked quite well when he was in business, but perhaps doesn't work quite so well when he's a politician, let alone leader of a big country.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Yeah, absolutely. And, I mean, the situation in Germany is pretty stark. Things aren't looking good economically. We've all been talking about industrial decline in Germany, the fact that the car manufacturing industry isn't keeping up with rivals from China. I mean, unemployment in Germany at this point is the highest level it's been since 2020. It's 6.4% above 3 million people unemployed and industrial production. It fell again in March and the government cut its 2026 growth forecast again to just 0.5%.

[Ian Wishart]

The thing is, the previous Chancellor, Schultz really had a bad reputation and Mertz came in as sort of the big savior they thought was going to sort everything out. And it's. It's quite dramatic how quickly his star. There does seem to be parallels with Keir Starmer in the uk, where everybody thought, or a lot of people thought, that Labour would sort things out and Starmer would be the Next great thing. But within two years, he's now also seen the same as. Mertz is, like, not good at politics and actually not somebody who can save the country economically or politically. It does beg the question in these big countries, can anybody do the job anymore?

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Well, it is a great question, and I think Germany has been flailing for a good leader or a solid leader for a while now. Mertz has been trying to get the project back on the road. He's been doing the tour of Germany. I mean, he got booed yesterday at the German Trade Union Confederation Annual Congress. It was, like, repeatedly happening to him. It's really, really grim.

[Ian Wishart]

He's been doing a tour of the country, trying to sort of reset his chancellorship a year on. And he keeps getting asked things like, what has actually improved for Germany since you took office? And he doesn't seem to have much of an answer. He was asked that once and his answer was, we help save NATO. That doesn't really talk to people, talk to the person in the street. It seems that's not what people want to hear.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Look, there was a. An event in Saul's Weddle in eastern Germany where a woman with skin cancer said that her high health care costs were out of control and compared her living situation with politicians on high salaries. And Mertz kind of snapped back at her and made him look really awful.

[Ian Wishart]

And of course, he said that thing about how the US was being humiliated by Iran, and suddenly that ends his attempts at getting a good relationship, which had been quite successful with Donald Trump.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Yeah, and let's not forget, he said that to a group of school children. So.

[Ian Wishart]

And the big winner, of course, is Alternative for Deutschland, the far right party, which seems to have its polling going up and up and up.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Absolutely. I mean, at this point, they're polling above Mertz's conservatives, so that's kind of an interesting development. And there's a vote in September in Saxony anhalt, and the AFD is on 41%. Ian.

[Ian Wishart]

And Mertz keeps saying, well, democracy takes time, reforms take time, coalition politics takes time. But people don't seem to be very patient these days, do they? You see that everywhere. It's not just there in Germany. You see it, as I said, in the uk, but also around Europe. People just don't have patience to see the improvements that they want to see.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Yeah. Particularly when you've got parties at the fringes that are offering quick solutions and easy answers. So certainly it's not looking good for Friedrich. Ian, when was the last time you did a big rail journey I frequently

[Ian Wishart]

do big rail journeys, actually.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

What was the last one?

[Ian Wishart]

I went to Germany on the train not so long ago. Yeah.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Went to Berlin, I went to Ukraine. That was my last big train trip.

[Ian Wishart]

You have mentioned that once or twice.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

So, yeah, 10, 20 times. I'm going to keep mentioning it. Well, for our last story today, the Commission is going to unveil its passenger mobility package later today.

[Ian Wishart]

More interesting than it sounds, as usual, it's about getting tickets across Europe.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Exactly.

[Ian Wishart]

Why is it so complicated?

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Oh, my God. Because there are so many companies in. They all have their own platforms, they're all proprietary, they don't go on anyway. They've got lots of different systems. And basically what the Commission is saying, enough's enough. If you want to buy one ticket from one place to another, you should just be able to buy one ticket. You shouldn't have to buy 10 on different companies.

[Ian Wishart]

It seems so simple and so obvious. It's almost like there's nothing to say about it.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

But it isn't, Ian, because this is another one of those things. So it's kind of a sign of the EU helping you in your day to day life. It's like what they did with global roaming, where you can use your phone in any EU country.

[Ian Wishart]

But I just don't understand why it's so complicated and why it's taken to 2026 to say, oh, you're taking a train journey from, I don't know, Paris to Athens. I want to buy a ticket all the way through. I remember 20 years ago, going railing and having to get off at Sofia, where I was changing trains and having to get out a massive pile of cash of Bulgarian currency, which was the Ruh Row Lev, and having to queue up for another ticket. That should have changed by now.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Yeah. And look, the Commission has been working on this plan for many, many years. They have had a proposal in the works and they've just never been able to actually even get a proposal out there because of how difficult it's been. And it's because all of the companies, some of them privately owned, some of them state owned, they have their own proprietary software. They don't want to have to pay a lot of money to standardize. It's a big deal for them. They've been pushing back, they've been campaigning to say this is too expensive, too difficult. The Commission is now saying we need to do something about this because we need to incentivize people to travel by rail.

[Ian Wishart]

Okay. And they're presenting something today so we can look forward to Seeing what that is.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

I'm very excited about it, Ian. I'm looking forward to my next train trip. Ian, you weren't here yesterday, but we were talking about influences. Your favorite topic.

[Ian Wishart]

Thank the Lord I wasn't here.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

We've been criticized for being a little mean to them, so I won't have your cheek, please.

[Ian Wishart]

Okay?

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Be nice.

[Ian Wishart]

I call you an influencer, Zoya.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Influencer of what? Jesus. Listen, I hope these influencers are more influential than I am. We got heaps of suggestions about influencers we could follow who are doing EU content. So Michaela from Czechia, she reckons she's the one who thinks we're a bit too dismissive. Sorry, Michaela, she recommends Rosary haska, Kova Haskov, SVA, she's a greenfluencer. Angie from France, she recommends YouTubers Hugo decrypt and Gaspard G, who go into deep dives on politics and history. And Eleanor from Germany and Ian from the us. Yeah, from the us they recommend EU Made simple, which are videos explaining complex EU things in a way that makes sense. And at TLDR News, eu, then we

[Ian Wishart]

risk sending people to other things rather than listening to us if we carry on at this rate.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Oh, you're right. Okay, everyone, ignore everything I've just said. Influencers are terrible. We're the best.

[Ian Wishart]

And listen to our podcast instead.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Subscribe like us. Rate us, review us. Tell your friends. Right, Ian, we're off tomorrow because it's a public holiday here, but the Brussels Playbook Weekender is coming to you on Friday.

[Ian Wishart]

Can't wait.

[Zoya Shefdalovic]

Yeah, it's a new name, new brand new, new music, very exciting stuff.