Letter from Brussels is a 15-minute English-language podcast bringing you stories about the European Union’s capital city, and about the leaders transforming local communities across the Union. It's brought to you by the Renew Europe group in the European Committee of the Regions.
The Renew Europe CoR team interviews local leaders about European initiatives strengthening energy security through clean energy transitions.
23 Apr 2026TRANSCRIPT
How drones save lives in European skies
The Renew Europe CoR team explores how drones are saving lives and transforming European cities in this interview episode.
22 Jan 2026TRANSCRIPT
European unity through culture: transforming cities from the Arctic to Brussels - Jan 2026
Join us on a journey to Oulu in the Finnish Arctic, and to Molenbeek in Brussels to discover the transformative power of European Capital of Culture. Discover how culture in its broadest sense gives new life to abandoned physical spaces, creates new paths for people and local communities, and reveals the European dimension of citizens' identity.
Subscribe on YouTube to watch every podcast episode, or for the audio version subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
23 Sept 2025TRANSCRIPT
The Art of Deterrence
New format, new voices! We're relaunching the Letter from Brussels podcast, brought to you by the Renew Europe group in the European Committee of the Regions. The series returns with a new format and a broader range of voices, while continuing its original mission: to share stories from the European Union's capital and to highlight the local leaders transforming communities across the Union.The first new episode, The Art of Deterrence, takes listeners to the Latvian city of Liepāja, where Mayor Gunārs Ansiņš is leading efforts that will help strengthen Europe’s defence capabilities. With a major NATO port development project underway, Liepāja is becoming a strategic hub in the Baltic Sea - a reminder that resilience and security are shared European goals that begin in our towns and regions. By combining projects led by liberal and democrat subnational leaders with developments at the EU level, the Letter from Brussels podcast aims to bring you closer to the issues shaping Europe’s future. By bringing in policy experts and the leaders themselves, each month we’ll explore a different local story and connect it to the bigger European picture.
Subscribe on YouTube to watch every podcast episode, or for the audio version subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
29 Apr 2024TRANSCRIPT
Serving the city- april2024 Letter from Brussels 14
Why the increasing cost of housing is becoming a European problem; why the people of Saint-Omer in France were grateful to see the flags of the Netherlands, Slovakia and Czechia arriving in their town; how bureaucratic barriers along our Union’s internal borders still make life difficult for 130 million Europeans; the Mayor of Mariupol gives a timely reminder of what might happen elsewhere, if Europe doesn’t continue supporting Ukraine, and what had I done to make an elderly man of Brussels so angry? This Letter also features a special message from European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, and the voices of the Vice-President of the Hauts-de-France region François Decoster, the former mayor of the Estonian town of Rakvere Andres Jaadla, and the Deputy Mayor of the French city of Nice Magali Altounian.
14 Jan 2024TRANSCRIPT
The Tower and the Union - jan2024 Letter from Brussels 13
In this Letter:
what the climb up to a medieval tower in the Flemish city of Mechelen reveals;
what Jacques Delors said when the HQ of the European Committee of the Regions was named after him 17 years before he died;
the liberal city taking over the European Capital of Culture title in 2024;
the renovation of the vast site in Brussels that used to house the imperial postal service and Europe's largest railway station for goods;
the inspiring interpreter at the RenewPAC summit in Dakar, Senegal, and the urgent geopolitical need to develop a partnership between Europe and Africa at all levels of government and society;
how the Mayor of Mechelen is connecting his citizens with the European dimension of their identity, and how local leaders can help to boost voter turnout at the European elections of June 2024.
21 May 2023
The Puppets and the Scandal - may2023 Letter from Brussels 12
The Theatre of the indigenous Sami people in the Arctic city of Kiruna, and what it stands for in this area of vital economic interests for the EU;
The innovative School of Politics for Young People of the Finnish Arctic city of Oulu;
Why reconstruction of Ukrainian cities cannot wait till the war is over;
The 15th anniversary of the opening of a key street in the divided Cypriot city of Nicosia;
The plans to revamp the Cinquantenaire Park in Brussels ahead of Belgium's 200 years of independence; and
The scandal in a Brussels puppet theatre that had the audience shouting for the curtain to drop.
28 Feb 2023
The attack on the 20th convoy - feb2023 Letter from Brussels 11
The extraordinary scenes of President Zelenskyy's visit to the European Parliament.
How the city of Timisoara is going digital.
How EU regions and cities are helping the victims of the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.
Why wolves are causing a fierce debate about subsidiarity.
The message for Europe from a Ukrainian refugee.
The 80th anniversary of the attack by three young men from Brussels on a convoy taking Jewish deportees to Auschwitz.
20 Dec 2022
The year that changed the future - December 2022 Letter from Brussels 10
A special edition of Letter from Brussels, episode 10 brings you a few predictions for 2023 in key policy areas, including an analysis of the recent scandal which has rocked the EU, and a journey back to the Brussels of 1908 discovering how events in that year still echo in the present day.
6 Jul 2022
The car that almost changed history - july2022 Letter from Brussels 9
The 9th Letter from Brussels takes you west to the middle of the Atlantic with the new President of the European Committee of the Regions; south to one of the EU’s land borders with Africa; and north to the Arctic, which has become of great interest to China. Plus, why the new female vice-presidents of Renew Europe in the CoR are political leaders you need to follow. And the story of the antique car in Brussels which could have helped change the course of climate history.
Pictures of the antique car and Sean's recent visit to the Brussels Autoworld Museum can be found at www.reneweurope-cor.eu/podcast (http://www.reneweurope-cor.eu/podcast)
17 May 2022
Ukrainian reconstruction and the Aleksandrov ship - may2022 Letter from Brussels 8
The 8th Letter from Brussels takes us to Odessa, Ukraine, to hear the story of the Borys Aleksandrov ship and its unusual naming ceremony. This episode also includes President Zelenskyy's inspired plan for reconstruction of Ukrainian cities, news about the city most recently awarded the title of European Capital of Culture, as well as news about the wider Renew Europe political family, and an insight into a EurActiv op-ed article by Renew Europe President François Decoster explaining what would happen if a mayor failed to visit a local school during its refurbishment and how this is relevant to the future of the European Union.
(Opening audio credit: EU Neighbours East, EU4EMBLAS video about the ship name change)
2 Feb 2022
The rocket and the rock - February 2022 Letter from Brussels 7
The extraordinary precision of Europe's spaceport launching the James Webb telescope; the Royal Belgian Observatory's connection with Webb and a mission in 2022 to crash into an asteroid; the urban rural divide is a challenge to democracy; what cities can do to help prevent a crash in the number of pollinators; the latest on the Conference on the Future of Europe; and the inspiring and courageous Mayor of Cologne who has won the first Pawel Adamowicz award.
7 Dec 2021
The hero and the roof - Dec2021 Letter from Brussels 6
"The hero and the roof" features French President Emmanuel Macron at the plenary of the European Committee of the Regions and his 3 objectives to strengthen the Union, proposals by the European liberal youth LYMEC for the European Year of Youth 2022, new approaches to eradicating homelessness, and the Brussels heroes challenging people to spend a night sleeping outdoors.
19 Oct 2021
The crime & the lone crusader - October 2021 Letter from Brussels 5
"The Crime & the Lone Crusader" carries highlights of a highly tense debate in the October plenary of the CoR, led by Fianna Fáil's Kate Feeney against homophobic amendments by Viktor Orban's Fidesz members, as well as new proposals by MR's Alexia Bertrand to empower consumers to make climate friendly choices when shopping, and the story of the lone crusader who fought against architectural crimes in Brussels in 1950 and 1964, and who was behind one of the most successful museums of the Belgian and EU capital.
14 Sept 2021
The skeletons, the musicians, & two great cities - Sept2021 Letter from Brussels 4
A special extended edition on the occasion of the 2021 World Mayor Awards, profiling two winning mayors, François Decoster of Saint-Omer and Matus Vallo of Bratislava. Packed full of amazing and amusing stories about them as well as of Brussels, find out why there is a change of colour in the pavement of a historic Brussels street, who wrote a letter to a celebrity 18th century composer, and how an unstoppable soprano was stopped by an empty opera house.
6 Jul 2021
The Marchioness & the League - July2021 Letter from Brussels 3
Third Letter from Brussels telling the story of a pioneering Belgian woman who was well ahead of her time in the protection of biodiversity, plus the value of language learning, the nominations for the Adamowicz award, LGBTIQ Freedom cities, the future of urban mobility, the threat of rural depopulation, and local youth shaping climate adaptation.
11 May 2021
Robert Schuman & Nat Neujean - May2021 Letter from Brussels 2
Second Letter from Brussels revealing the little known story of the artist who sculpted Robert Schuman's bust, a tribute to Hans van Baalen, plus the amazing story of Cathérine Chabaud and her initiative to protect the oceans, as well as proposals to ensure energy security in Europe, the challenges for digital education, and a simple and effective way to connect Europe with its citizens.
23 Mar 2021
Einstein and the priest - March2021 Letter from Brussels 1
Highlights of the debates with EU leaders on the future of Europe, integration of migrants, preventing violent extremism, defending the rights of LGBTIQ citizens in Poland, building local integrity systems, and a fascinating little known story about the Parc Leopold in Brussels.
Inside a recent episode
Clean energy = energy security = happy people
Published 4 Aug 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] When demand for heat is low, the excess energy is stored in the tank and when the demand rises the heat is released back into the district to heat the networks and keep the houses warm and of course this is a very interesting solution because you're not relying on additional fossil fuels you just have the heat constantly stored in this enormous foremost as we call it And the reason I chose this story is because I think it's a very good example of how it doesn't necessarily need to be difficult to switch to renewable energy. This story is a very good example of how sometimes the solutions and the resources are already there. […]
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