| What's happening? The European Union takes legal action against the U.K., threatens to withhold vaccine exports, and dampens hopes of an deal on financial services. Boris Johnson's grand plan for post-Brexit Britain involves, it turns out, a bigger nuclear weapons stockpile and a more activist approach to climate change. The prime minister's 100-page blueprint for diplomacy and defense, released this week, was billed as the most wide ranging rewrite of the U.K.'s international priorities since the Cold War. His insistence that Britain must be ready to increase trade with China faced criticism that his government is putting commercial deals ahead of security and human rights. The pound sank after the EU's decision to take legal action against the U.K. over London's unilateral decision to delay implementing a key part of the Brexit deal relating to Northern Ireland, as Ian Wishart reports. That calls into question of whether U.K. financial firms will be granted greater access to the bloc. Adding insult to injury, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatened to withhold vaccine exports to the U.K. by pulling an emergency trigger in the bloc's treaty — used only in the 1970s oil crisis — to allow authorities effectively to seize control of production and distribution. Warning that the EU will consider blocking supplies to countries with high jab rates, she singled out the U.K. as the No. 1 importer of shots.  The U.K.'s plan to review its financial rulebook may knock equivalence further downBrussels' agenda, a German member of the European Parliament told Silla Brush and Tom Metcalf. The aim of the review, announced last week by U.K. Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen in a Bloomberg interview, is to assess potential changes to market structure and transparency rules. Exporters were riled by the U.K. government's decision to postpone import checks on EU goods until January. Controls on products travelling to the continent have been in place since the start of the year. One trader told Joe Mayes: "I can't believe they could be so stupid to kill U.K. exports, but allow free rein into our country from the EU." The Road Haulage Association said the move risked weakening the U.K.'s negotiating leverage when asking for similar easements from Brussels. —Lizzy Burden As ever, if Brexit is affecting your business in a way we haven't reported, please get in touch. You can reach me at eburden6@bloomberg.net Chart of the Week The first official U.K. trade data since the end of the transition period showed British goods exports to the EU fell almost 41% in January from December, while imports from the bloc lost 29%. Former chief Brexit negotiator David Frost, who's now the minister in charge of the U.K.'s relations with the EU, said it was inevitable the first batch of figures would be "unusual." Economists, too, noted the abnormal effects of stockpiling, Covid-19 lockdowns and the residual effects of the pre-Christmas Dover chaos. We dug into all that data with our new U.K. trade tracker, which we'll update monthly. Don't MissWant to keep up?You can follow us @Brexit on Twitter, and listen to Bloomberg Westminster every weekday. Share Beyond Brexit: Colleagues, friends and family can sign up here. For full EU coverage, try the Brussels Edition. Get More From BloombergUnderstand what's driving trade and the global economy. Sign up to Supply Lines Track the latest global political news, analysis and dispatches. Subscribe to Balance of Power Daily insights on climate science, the environment, tech and finance. Get Bloomberg Green The sharpest opinions on business, politics, markets, tech and more. Read Bloomberg Opinion Daily Click here for the latest on the global vaccine rollout, sign up for our newsletter, and subscribe to our podcast. Subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and expert analysis. | 
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