MEPs Jonás Fernández (S&D) and Antonio López-Istúriz (EPP) joined 'Agenda Pública' in Brussels to look back on a political year marked by a Commission under question, greater fragmentation in Parliament, and international instability. Despite their differences, these two parliamentarians agreed on the principal challenges now facing Europe, including pressure from extreme factions and the difficulty in moving forward on integration, competitiveness, and defense.

"The genocide in Gaza is a collective crime facilitated by the states that support Israel." With this quote from the UN report as a starting point, Hana Jalloul, Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, analyzes the role of the European Union in the fragile peace agreement in Gaza and the ethical challenges of its external action.

European and Moroccan politics converge in what has been called ‘the Moroccan dossier’: a strategic test of Spain’s ability to act as an autonomous player in southern Europe. Internal political polarization between the PSOE, the PP, and Vox is preventing the formation of a consistent foreign policy – precisely when Europe needs leadership in North Africa, given France’s departure from the Sahel.

Derek Guy (@dieworkwear) is one of the most respected voices when it comes to fashion. His knowledge of men’s clothing has made him a reference for politicians, businesspeople, and athletes, about whose style he often comments and offers advice online. Among the figures he most admires is King Felipe VI, whom he says has "restrained and consistent taste." In a conversation with 'Agenda Pública' reporter Jorge de Diego, Guy talks about his success on social media, housing, and how to build a wardrobe on minimum wage.

"All for war, but without war." That's how Antonio Legaz, defense and intelligence analyst at Indra, describes Washington’s strategy toward Venezuela: an "unnamed intervention" that combines maximum pressure, covert operations, and internal attrition. "Trump can honestly say he’s not planning a war," Legaz writes, "because he’s doing everything except what international law formally recognizes as an armed conflict."

"If Europe wants to break the vicious circle—failure in housing → mistrust → fragmentation → political incapacity → further failure in housing—it needs to combine three ingredients," warns Marc López Plana in his weekly European Compass. "A broad political consensus on housing as a right. Stable majorities and long-term commitments," he concludes.

Marc López Plana, editor and director of 'Agenda Pública', analyzes how Giorgia Meloni has achieved what Alberto Núñez Feijóo aspires to: uniting the right without fractures, holding the center while containing radicalism, and exercising strong leadership. "Meloni has turned pragmatism into her best strategy for power," writes López Plana.

Foreign Affairs Minister José Manuel Albares speaks with Marc López Plana, editor and director of 'Agenda Pública', about Spain’s international projection and the role of foreign policy in the domestic debate. "Trump has a genuine interest in achieving peace in Ukraine and Gaza", the minister states in this interview.

"Spain has gone from distrusting banks to debating them every day," remarks Marc López Plana, editor and director of 'Agenda Pública'. BBVA’s recent bid to forcibly acquire Sabadell has reconfigured not just the financial map, but the symbolic one: banking is again at the center of a national conversation in which economics, politics, and European identity intersect.

"The European Union is the necessary anchor for the economic and political project of the PP," argues Marc López Plana, editor and director of 'Agenda Pública', in this analysis of political player Alberto Núñez Feijóo. "I’m a progressive citizen seeking to comprehend – above the daily noise of Spanish politics – a figure who could become the next President of the Government," says López Plana, "from the conviction that understanding Feijóo may also be a way of understanding an essential part of Spain."

Following the recent peace agreement, a cessation of bombardment in Gaza, and the return of the hostages to Israel, Member of the European Parliament Adrián Vázquez Lázara (PP) celebrates the "resurgence of the hope of someday achieving a just and lasting peace based on the coexistence of two states." He also points out that this conflict "requires a much greater degree of analysis than many have shown over these last two years."

In a conversation moderated by Marc López Plana Editor and Director of 'Agenda Pública', Jamil Anderlini, Regional Director 'POLITICO Europe', and Amanda Sloat, former security advisor in the Biden administration and professor at IE Madrid, discuss the current challenges facing Europe. The discussion, held at La Toja Forum, revolved around the rise of far-right parties, the implications of transatlantic political movements, the role of the United States and China in European and global politics, and Spain’s position in an increasingly complex international landscape.

Between the vitality of its margins and the paralysis of its center, the UN celebrates its 80th General Assembly in New York, caught between a lack of resources, Security Council deadlocks, the pressure of new challenges such as climate change and artificial intelligence, and the urgent need to modernize and decentralize its agencies. This is how Alexis Roig, a researcher at the United Nations University, sums up the current state of the UN, its future, and the possible reforms that could lead to a better-functioning organization.

Ursula von der Leyen has just survived the third motion of censure against her Commission. European correspondent Bernardo de Miguel gathers statements from several experts to analyse "the discredit the EU is exposed to" if the political situation is not brought under control. A year after starting her second term, von der Leyen has gone from “being compared to Jacques Delors” to seeing how Draghi is now regarded as "a sort of shadow president of the Commission" as a result of the German’s weakness.

French financial analyst Faÿçal Hafied, a specialist in industrial policies, deep tech technologies, and the defense sector, provides his insights for 'Agenda Pública' on "Indra’s planned acquisition of Escribano Mechanical & Engineering (EM&E)". He sheds light on both "the sovereign interest and the industrial synergies of the deal, sharing his own calculations, and proposes several financial structuring options aimed at mitigating the risks of independence, governance, and execution" surrounding this strategic operation.

The US economy is paralysed by the inability to pass a budget: the federal government has "shut down." Desmond Lachman, an analyst at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), explains that a prolonged shutdown would "highlight Washington’s political polarisation and increase economic uncertainty." The consequences range from the political —due to the "lack of political will to address its debt problem"— to the economic, as the current budget deficit "would bring the public debt-to-GDP ratio to 128%, similar to that of Greece."

From the La Toja Forum, Spain’s Minister of Economy presents his vision of the challenges facing Spain and the European Union in a changing international context. Carlos Cuerpo analyzes the recent trade agreement with the United States, which he finds useful for reducing business uncertainty, but ultimately insufficient. He warns of the impact of a "China shock" on key sectors such as steel, defends Spain’s commitment to renewable energies as drivers of competitiveness and investment, and argues that immigration is essential to sustaining economic growth and should not be stigmatized.

"When I arrived in Brussels, I realised that we don't know enough about China," warned Jamil Anderlini, POLITICO Europe's regional director, at the La Toja Forum. Spain, often seen as 'China-friendly', hardly debates strategic ports or Huawei. Strategy or ignorance? Our editor and director, Marc López Plana, concludes in his European Compass column that if Spain fails to approach "its relationship with Beijing in an informed, conscious and strategic way, particular interests will prevail over those of the State."

The former Prime Minister of Israel, who is taking part this week in the La Toja Forum, calls for an end to the offensive on Gaza to guarantee the "immediate return of the hostages" and laments that, "in order to reach the murderers of Hamas, many innocent people have died." In a conversation with the vice president of 'Agenda Pública', Rodrigo Pinedo, he is critical of Netanyahu and emphasizes that "the only possible way" to achieve lasting peace is through a "comprehensive understanding on the two states."

"We are not heading toward a neatly divided world of a new Cold War," instead "many states are pursuing a strategy of multi-alignment," notes Thorsten Benner. The director of the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin analyzes the example of Saudi Arabia, which moves between Germany, the United States, China and Pakistan, to understand "an increasingly inhospitable world" through this "multi-alignment strategy."

This week, Spain will be an epicenter in the ongoing debate around U.S.–European relations. Marc López Plana, editor and director of 'Agenda Pública', remarks on the hypothesis he plans to advance when he moderates a session at the La Toja Forum with POLITICO Europe director Jamil Anderlini, Andalucía president Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, former EC vice-president Margaritis Schinas, and former Biden advisor Amanda Sloat. The topic will be ‘How to preserve the transtlantic alliance in the age of Trump’.

Journalist Ruth Ferrero speaks in 'Agenda Pública' with Teija Tiilikainen, director of the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats. Tiilikainen explains the centre’s main areas of action, highlighting "electoral interference, the widespread manipulation of the information space, instrumentalized migration, or attacks on critical infrastructure." Europe has already suffered such attacks, with the elections in Romania or the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline, and the centre’s role is to "prevent and better understand" these threats.

In what seem the final steps toward approval of a trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, Socialist MEP Javi López sees a chance to "demonstrate whether (the EU) can act as an autonomous player… or else resign itself to being a minor power." López, who serves as vice-president of the European Parliament, believes that the trade alliance – in which "Spain has played a key role" – will mean "resilience and reliability" for Europe and "opportunities and modernization" for Mercosur.

Bruno Retailleau is destined to be one of the big names in French and European politics in the coming years. According to Oxford political scientist Giovanni Capoccia, both he and his ideology are facing "the most momentous political change in liberal democracies." At a time when "ambiguity is not a government strategy," Retailleau "outlines three pillars for a renewed Western identity" which Capoccia analyzes rigorously.

Marc López Plana, editor and director of 'Agenda Pública', recounts a recent trip to Warsaw that coincided with incursions into Polish airspace by Russian attack drones; later that same week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met with Pedro Sánchez in Spain. "I was given to understand that we Spaniards believe that Russian missiles will never reach Madrid," López Plana recalls. "But if we fail to open and lead the debate on Spain’s defense, then others in Europe will do it for us."

New weekly feature from 'Agenda Pública': Publication director and editor Marc López Plana takes the pulse of Spain and Europe and examines the relationship between domestic and European politics – not merely two sides of the same coin, but two elements of an increasingly interrelated equation in which Spain, a key country for European stability, can play a decisive role.

'Agenda Pública' travels to Florence, home of the European University Institute (EUI), to talk to its president, Patrizia Nanz. The EUI is a leading European research center which, in Nanz's words, is equivalent to a "laboratory for Europe". At the same time, the president of the institution laments that "the European Union is in crisis" and "universities are under attack", while acknowledging that "reforms of political institutions" are necessary.

History professor at Bentley University, Cyrus Veeser, explains that tariffs "undermined cooperation and world peace" eight decades ago in the United States. At that time, Secretary of State Cordell Hull's influence made it possible to "significantly reduce tariffs" and "benefit both sides." This historical figure is contrasted with Donald Trump by the economic history expert, who warns that in the current situation, "conflict in the commercial sphere can lead to actual military conflict".

France faces historic fiscal adjustments amid economic resilience and pending a vote of confidence in Bayrou's government on September 8. "The government is aware that far-reaching reforms will be required to tackle the treasury's serious problem with tax collection," warns Miguel Ortiz Serrano, PhD in Economic History. Despite this, French society has "low tolerance for rising social inequality."

Retired General and former Commander of the U.S. Army in Europe Ben Hodges talks to 'Agenda Pública' about the future of NATO, Donald Trump, and the geopolitical situation. The war veteran, who will be present at the next edition of the La Toja Forum, asserts that the concept of European strategic autonomy is "a phrase without substance" and points out that "Trump wants to have the same power a vers Putin."