May 27, 2026 · 24 min · 12 segments
Manfred Weber is one of the most powerful lawmakers in Brussels. Under his leadership, Europe’s top political family hired two consultants with close ties to Greece’s ruling party. Journalist Simon…
Simon Van DorpeGuest
Emma du ChatinierHostBefore we dive into the details of your story, uh, let's start with talking about this person, Manfred Weber.
Um, in your story, you even describe him as the most powerful politician in the EU.
Yeah, so Manfred Weber, although he's not the most famous, uh, EU politician, is definitely one of the, if not the most influential, um, political player in Brussels.
He's from the Christian Democrats, uh, in the south of Germany, in Bavaria, where they're called the CSU.
In 2014, he became the leader of the EPP group, so the Christian Democrats, um, or, um, conservative, uh, centr- center-right, uh, fraction in the parliament.
So they have 185 MEPs, which is more than one out of four MEPs is part of the EPP.
So they be- for instance, before big political summits in Brussels, they will host, um, uh, they will sit together and prepare those summits with all the heads of government, heads of state.
And so what is it about him that made him able to reach this level of influence? What, what does he have that makes him special?
I mean, obviously, it's someone who really knows the ins and outs of the Brussels political system super well.
That's a super important position because you distribute, uh, the positions, the jobs, um, who can lead an important file, who can chair a committee in the parliament.
Before we dive into the details of your story, uh, let's start with talking about this person, Manfred Weber.
Um, in your story, you even describe him as the most powerful politician in the EU.
Yeah, so Manfred Weber, although he's not the most famous, uh, EU politician, is definitely one of the, if not the most influential, um, political player in Brussels.
He's from the Christian Democrats, uh, in the south of Germany, in Bavaria, where they're called the CSU.
In 2014, he became the leader of the EPP group, so the Christian Democrats, um, or, um, conservative, uh, centr- center-right, uh, fraction in the parliament.
So they have 185 MEPs, which is more than one out of four MEPs is part of the EPP.
So they be- for instance, before big political summits in Brussels, they will host, um, uh, they will sit together and prepare those summits with all the heads of government, heads of state.
And so what is it about him that made him able to reach this level of influence? What, what does he have that makes him special?
I mean, obviously, it's someone who really knows the ins and outs of the Brussels political system super well.
That's a super important position because you distribute, uh, the positions, the jobs, um, who can lead an important file, who can chair a committee in the parliament.
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