Brussels Edition: A telling muddle

Follow Us Get the newsletter Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg's daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union. The European Commission will try to do its bit today to help revive the tourism industry across the continent, as countries loosen pandemic-induced lockdowns. But with health policy still firmly a national responsibility, the EU executive can only hope that its recommendations on everything from the opening of borders to the use of mobile-phone tracing applications are given more than just short shrift. Judging from the fate of the Commission's "roadmap" for lifting restrictions, the likeliest scenario is that member states will largely ignore today's guidelines and each do their own thing. The muddle shows how far the EU is from being a superstate — or even a reasonably developed federal one. — Nikos Chrysoloras and Jonathan Stearns What's Happening Italian Test | The economic shock of the coronavirus has brought back memories of monetary mayhem in the euro area and re-established old fault lines. Read our deep dive into the state of Italian finances — the battleground where EU's future will be decided. EU Survival | Speaking of EU's future, many observers think it's going to be very short. But prophets of doom have been wrong before. Here's our take on the debate about whether the pandemic constitutes an existential threat. Virus Update | Germany and Spain reported new increases in the number of coronavirus cases, while a group of top scientists said the U.K. government must do more to suppress the disease. Here's the latest. Swedish U-Turn | Sweden will adjust a key corner of its strategy for dealing with Covid-19, after the death rate at care homes spiraled out of control. Critics argue that many of those fatalities could have been avoided if the authorities had taken more steps to protect the most vulnerable demographic. In Case You Missed It Bank Assessment | Europe's biggest banks expressed different views on how the economy will fare in the fallout from the coronavirus, making for widely varying expectations of how much of their loan books will go bad. Here's how lenders see things unfolding. Homeopathic Ruling | Germany's constitutional court wasn't making a huge demand on the ECB when it questioned its asset purchase program, according to the judge who drafted the opinion. "The message to the ECB is actually homeopathic," to make it understand that it's not the Master of the Universe, the member of the German tribunal said. Dividends Crackdown | European regulators are cracking down on complex dividend-tax transactions after years of trades cost national treasuries tens of billions of euros and sparked probes into some of the region's top banks. Silla Brush and Donal Griffin have the details.  Airline Bailouts | The German government and Lufthansa are inching closer to a bailout deal as opposition to the terms from within Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition recedes. Among demands by European regulators is that the government dispose of its stake again after no more than six years. Medical Exports | Following two months where nations imposed 150 trade-related restrictions on exports of critical medical goods, some countries are slowly beginning to roll them back. What made governments change their mind? Bryce Baschuk has some answers.  Chart of the Day French economic activity improved only slightly in the later stages of the virus lockdown and won't snap back to normal levels in May despite the lifting of many restrictions, a Bank of France survey showed. The central bank's cautious assessment of the economy's capacity to rebound underscores concern about the lasting damage of confinement measures.​​​​​​​ Today's Agenda All times CET. 11 a.m. Eurostat to publish industrial production reading for March 11 a.m. EU lower court rules in challenges by EasyJet, Germanwings and Volotea against a 2016 European Commission decision that public support by Italy's Sardinia region to some airlines at local airports gave them an unfair advantage 1 p.m. German Chancellor Merkel gives statement and participates in Q&A in lower house of parliament European Commission will present its guidelines on how we're supposed to organize our holidays this summer; also including how to make vouchers for canceled flights more attractive Video conference of EU agriculture ministers Eurogroup President Centeno speaks at parliamentary hearing in Lisbon Like the Brussels Edition? 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