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Brussels Edition: How to get the vaccine first

Brussels Edition
Bloomberg

Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg's daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union.

Just how fast and high health policy has risen up the EU agenda will be on display today when governments tackle efforts to secure early access to a Covid-19 vaccine. The bloc's health ministers will hear from the European Commission about its push to strike advance purchase agreements with companies for between 300 million and 600 million doses. The Commission would dip into an emergency pot of 2.7 billion euros and shun deals with businesses that lack sufficient production capacity in the bloc. The ministers will also discuss a proposed new stand-alone EU health program of 9.4 billion euros over the next seven years.

Jonathan Stearns and Nikos Chrysoloras

What's Happening

Trump's Plan | As choreographer-in-chief, Donald Trump is dismaying European allies with his ploy to corral them into a summit framed against China. The G-7's European members are wary of ending up boxed into a corner, at a time when they're struggling to chart a course that both respects the transatlantic alliance and fosters trade ties with China for economies gutted by the coronavirus.

Money Talks | The EU's proposed 750 billion-euro recovery plan will finally be discussed by leaders next week in what's likely to be the first of several debates on the proposal. Finance ministers yesterday reiterated national red lines in a sign of testy talks ahead, even though deal will need to be struck soon if the bloc wants to bankroll its rebound and keep skeptics at bay.

Virus Update | Europe prepares to restart travel with the rest of the world in July, while the U.K.'s exit from the lockdown comes amid unprecedented jobs carnage and an outcry from scientists against the government. Meanwhile, Germany loves working from home.

Zombie Banks | The top European official in charge of handling failing banks told us governments shouldn't use taxpayer money to bail out lenders that were barely surviving before the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, European banks are close to receiving capital relief on their holdings of sovereign debt as lawmakers bolster a package of measures intended to protect the industry from coronavirus aftershocks.

Brexit Call | The U.K. plans to introduce a temporary light-touch customs regime at its border with the EU next year, whether there's a trade deal with the bloc or not. The new border policy emerged after Britain and the EU agreed to step up the pace of their trade negotiations. A call between the leaders of EU institutions and Boris Johnson on Monday could add some momentum following months of sometimes bad-tempered deadlock.

In Case You Missed It

Amazon Probe | Amazon faces a formal antitrust complaint from the EU, which could pave the way for massive fines or changes to the internet retailer's business model. Regulators are wrestling with how to act against online giants that may run a rigged game when they set the rules for a platform that also hosts rivals.

Snap Election | President Emmanuel Macron raised the possibility of triggering an early election in France, Le Figaro newspaper reported. While his office issued a vehement denial, rumors are still rife. The reason: There may be some logic to such a move. 

Estonian Crackdown | The country in the spotlight of Europe's biggest-ever dirty-money scandal is turning its attention from banks to crypto-currency firms. The latest push targets companies that exchange and help clients hold virtual currencies like Bitcoin, an industry that Estonia was among the first in the EU to license in late 2017.

TikTok Scrutiny | TikTok is facing broader scrutiny over its privacy policies, following a decision by the EU's data protection chiefs to coordinate potential investigations. The Chinese company has also been grappling with mounting questions from U.S. policy makers over whether it jeopardizes national security. It rejects the notion it's controlled by the Chinese government or that user data is at risk.

Chart of the Day

Italian industrial production fell sharply in April as the country continued to suffer from a near total lockdown put in place to counter the coronavirus pandemic. The reading showing the industrial carnage in the entire euro area is due this morning. 

Today's Agenda

All times CET.

  • 10:15 a.m. Video conference of EU ministers of health
  • 11 a.m. Eurostat to release April Industrial production reading
  • 12 p.m. EU's antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager at New Statesman event on tech policy
  • 1 p.m. National Bank of Belgium Governor Pierre Wunsch speaks in webinar
  • 4 p.m. The EU's Vera Jourova speaks at an online EPC event about lessons learned from the Covid-19 crisis for fighting disinformation
  • European Parliament's draft recommendations on the ongoing EU-U.K. negotiations are set to be approved by the Foreign Affairs and International Trade committees
  • Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic co-chairs with British Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove the EU-U.K. Joint Committee meeting under the Withdrawal Agreement

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