| Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg's daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union. It seems that EU leaders have come to Brussels mostly to blow off steam. They attacked Viktor Orban in chorus over Hungary's controversial anti-LGBTQ law, with Mark Rutte going as far as showing him the door to leave the club. Meanwhile, Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron are cross at Greece (and others) for waiving quarantine requirements for visitors who have received Chinese and Russian vaccines that aren't approved in the EU, and accepting tourists from countries such as the U.K., where the delta variant is rampant. But even as they point to the unfolding crisis in Portugal, it's unlikely the EU's tourism-dependent economies will let another summer to be lost. The question is whether the row will eventually escalate into measures that could limit free movement. And then Merkel herself faced a resolute rejection from fellow leaders in her request for a summit with Vladimir Putin. Not exactly the ideal finale before she leaves the political arena. — Nikos Chrysoloras and Katharina Rosskopf What's HappeningEconomy Talk | Today, leaders turn their attention to the state of the economy, which is showing signs of a robust rebound. With German elections having put any euro-area reforms on hold, the debate shouldn't be that dramatic, unless Mario Draghi or Emmanuel Macron choose to open a discussion about overhauling the bloc's fiscal rules, or making joint-debt issuance a permanent tool, in which case things may heat up. Continued Support | European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will join the leaders' discussion about the economy. ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel pledged that she and her colleagues will do everything needed to sustain the recovery. "The worst thing that can happen is that the support is ended prematurely. I can assure you that on the monetary-policy side, we'll do everything to avoid that," Schnabel said. Data Protection | The EU's "GDPR" privacy law suffers from ``massive flaws'' and endless infighting and needs an overhaul, one of the bloc's top regulators told us in an interview. The General Data Protection Regulation — put in motion with great fanfare three years ago — promised multibillion-euro fines for global companies and faster action to solve 21st century problems. But in reality, it's sparked clashes between watchdogs and delays to probes, said Johannes Caspar, who's about to step down as head of the Hamburg data protection commission after 12 years. Carbon Reform | The Commission is poised to propose a combination of tools to tighten the world's biggest carbon market — including a one-off reduction in the emissions cap — and sync it with the bloc's stricter climate goals for 2030. The deepest overhaul of the EU Emissions Trading System to date will be part of the Fit for 55 package to be proposed on July 14. Learn more about the planned changes. Missing Equivalence | The EU is unlikely to grant U.K.-based financial firms automatic market access in all areas post-Brexit, according to U.K. Brexit minister David Frost. The ability for London-based businesses to provide financial services into the EU is one of the remaining issues to be resolved in Britain's post-Brexit relationship with the bloc, and talks are ongoing. In Case You Missed It(Not) Meeting Putin | About a dozen EU members blocked the effort by Germany and France to hold a high-level meeting with Russia, saying they were either uncomfortable with the idea of rewarding Putin with a summit or with the last-minute nature of the proposal. Merkel wanted the EU to have its own Putin encounter after U.S. President Joe Biden met the Russian leader this month in Geneva, but the only proposal still active is the idea of having EU Council President Charles Michel meet Putin alongside Ursula von der Leyen, the Commission president. Sanctions Imposed | The EU imposed a sweeping set of sanctions against Belarus, targeting key economic sectors in its strongest response yet to last month's forced landing of a Ryanair flight and the arrest of a journalist in Minsk. The sanctions will restrict the trade of petroleum goods, tobacco-related products and potash. Exports of the soil nutrient potash and petroleum products are some of the main sources of foreign currency revenue for Belarus. Fiscal Shift | Armin Laschet, the front-runner to become Germany's next chancellor, signaled he might pursue a softer line on fiscal policy in the EU than Merkel, a noticeable change of tone from a week ago, when he called for a return to stability policies as defined by the Maastricht treaty. Vaccines Administered | By Sunday, 60% of the adult population in the EU will have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. The Commission expects deliveries of almost 500 million doses in the third quarter and almost 400 million in the final quarter of this year. The EU's target of inoculating at least 70% of all grown-ups in July is getting close. Vestager Critics | EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager responded to criticism she's been too lenient on big tech, pointing to Google's pledge to separate data before taking over health tracker Fitbit last year as a success for the bloc's deals regulator. Consumer and privacy advocates have lobbied for the EU to block the tech deal as it could allow Google to expand into health services. Chart of the Day Europe's two largest economies are on track for a strong upswing after contractions in the first quarter. A gauge of German business confidence climbed to the highest in more than two years in June, echoing a jump in France as the lifting of some pandemic restrictions allows services to resume activity. Today's AgendaAll times CET. - 10:20 a.m. Eurogroup President Donohoe interview on Bloomberg TV
- 6:45 p.m. Germany's Scholz, Spain's Sanchez statements before European Socialists meeting in Berlin
- EU Leaders conclude two-day summit in Brussels
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