Brussels Edition: In the dock

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 latest drama in the EU's bitter legal spat with AstraZeneca will unfold in a Belgian court today, where the bloc will ask judges to order the drugmaker to supply its member nations with millions more vaccine doses. AstraZeneca's supply contract with the EU came under scrutiny after the company delivered just 30 million doses in the first quarter — way below its original target and a shortfall that European governments blamed for the relatively slow start to their vaccination campaigns. While the EU has since turned to Pfizer and BioNTech for an additional 1.8 billion doses for the medium term, Astra deliveries are still crucial for the bloc to hit its target of vaccinating 70% of adults by July. The court is expected to rule on the EU's request in the next month, but regardless of the outcome, that self-imposed inoculation deadline is fast approaching. — Aoife White and Viktoria Dendrinou What's Happening Disinformation Question | Facebook, Google and others will be urged to rein in how they monetize false information through ads, when the EU publishes guidance today around a code of conduct to combat disinformation. The new protocol comes as tech giants continue to face scrutiny over misleading information in the wake of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot. More Curbs | France will likely decide today whether additional restrictions are needed at its border with the U.K. to fend off a coronavirus variant first identified in India, even as Britain is trying to make a case that extra curbs aren't necessary given the large share of its population that has been vaccinated. Tougher restrictions on U.K. arrivals could affect Eurostar's already-struggling operations, as well as airlines. No-Fly Zone | Although Belarus has become increasingly isolated internationally, the country remains an important fly-over territory for airliners, particularly since parts of neighboring Ukraine were deemed unsafe to traverse. Now European airlines have begun skirting around it, in a move that could deprive Belarus of as much as half of its annual air transit fees. Tax Deal | European governments are increasingly confident a deal will soon be struck with the U.S. on a minimum global corporate tax and related measures to make multinationals pay more to the countries they operate in. President Joe Biden's administration last week floated a global minimum tax of at least 15%. Scholz's Pitch | German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz plans to bank on private investors to provide most of the funds to eliminate Germany's carbon emissions and improve internet connections to support business. As a candidate for chancellor, Scholz is looking to appeal to traditional voters who are wary of excessive government borrowing as well as those more concerned about leading the transition to a zero-carbon economy. In Case You Missed It Vaccine Diplomacy | EU leaders yesterday committed to donating at least 100 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to developing countries by the end of the year and said they'll strive to increase global production as much of the world struggles with inoculation campaigns. While half of EU adults will have received their first dose of the vaccine this week, most parts of the world are lagging far behind. Jobs Recovery | Europe's labor market may recover more slowly from the pandemic than its economy, according to a study by Accenture. The region lost 3.5 million jobs in 2020 that will take until 2023 to be recreated, the consultancy said. The good news is that increased efforts to invest in digitalization and sustainability could add as many as 5.7 million jobs across Europe by 2030, according to the report.  Babis's Woes | Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis is replacing his fourth health minister since the start of the pandemic in a blow to his efforts to overcome a string of scandals and a plunge in popularity before October elections. The health crisis is just one the problems Babis needs to tackle: he faces a no-confidence motion as soon as next month, while an EU audit has found a conflict of interest over ties to his business empire.  Green Goals | EU leaders called on the bloc's regulator to propose rules on how to meet a stricter climate target for the next decade, leaving open the divisive issue of how to apportion the burden of emissions cuts. Their discussion set the scene for a package of measures that the Commission is due to propose in July to align the EU's economy with a stricter climate target for 2030. Dissident Warning | Exiled critics of Alexander Lukashenko have realized their adopted European homes aren't necessarily safe after the Belarus strongman forced a commercial jet to land in order to arrest a dissident journalist this week. Same goes for Vladimir Putin's critics in Europe. Meanwhile, we spoke to a Ryanair flight passenger who actually opted to stay there and telework from Minsk. Here's why. Chart of the Day Sovereign yields in the euro area have risen significantly over the last few weeks and contagion from the U.S. Treasury market is no longer to blame, according to research by Bloomberg Economics. Most of the increase in German borrowing costs reflects a pickup in domestic demand and expectations for that to continue. While that's good news, the rest of the news for the region is bad. Larger moves for less-frugal members of the monetary union appear related to bondholders demanding additional compensation for the increased risk of a fiscal crisis — an ominous development that's likely to catch the eye of the European Central Bank. Today's Agenda All times CET. 9 a.m. The Commission asks a Brussels court to demand AstraZeneca deliver promised vaccines or face fines Press conference by Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova and Commissioner Thierry Breton on strengthening the code of practice on disinformation EU agriculture ministers meet in Brussels to discuss reform of bloc's farm subsidies policy European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee will vote on the EU Digital Covid Certificate deal, ahead of the final adoption expected during the June plenary session Civil Liberties Committee will also debate the latest developments in Hungary and Poland concerning media freedom European Parliament's Conference of Presidents meets remotely with Prime Minister Janez Jansa to discuss priorities of the upcoming Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council Court in The Hague to make ruling that could force Shell to reduce its climate footprint. Like the Brussels Edition? Don't keep it to yourself. 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