Crypto News: Brussels Edition: NATO's Ukraine dodge

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

NATO foreign ministers will gather in Bucharest. It's the same site where 14 years ago leaders agreed to a controversial compromise about Ukraine's aspirations to join the military alliance that some say paved the way for the current conflict. Today, ministers will discuss more air-defense systems and other support for Kyiv, but there won't be any meaningful progress on the pledge to let the country join the alliance. A Ukrainian government official argued that the country has the biggest army in Europe and "practically the only army which has experience in conducting a war of such scale and intensity." But allies will treat Ukraine's renewed request with caution at the two-day meeting and are set to reiterate that while the alliance's door remains open, now is not the time for Ukraine to join, we've been told.

— Jillian Deutsch

Tough Calculation | EU countries have been struggling to find a level at which they can agree to cap Russian crude prices, leaving buyers in limbo before the group's sanctions come into effect on Dec. 5. China, India and Turkey have meanwhile emerged as the biggest buyers of displaced Russian supplies.

Industrial Failure | Investment in German and EU industrial projects such as battery-cell factories will be unfeasible if the region's policy makers fail to control ballooning energy prices in the long-term, said Thomas Schaefer, the head of Volkswagen's namesake car brand. An industrial-policy plan by the French and German economy ministers last week "falls short in crucial areas," he said.

Plastic Packaging | From coffee pods to single-use plastic bottles, the EU will set out measures this week to clean up the packaging industry in an effort to reduce waste, according to a draft we've seen. EU countries and companies will have to ensure containers used for everyday products can be more easily recycled or biodegrade naturally.

Green Pledges | The EU is also set to propose a series of environmental and climate commitments to ease approval of a landmark trade deal with Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. The proposal would specify how to implement sustainable-development pledges featured in the trade text negotiated with the Mercosur trading bloc, we've been told.

Russian Billionaires | Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov and his family are set to face a fresh probe in France, with a new team of prosecutors examining how his daughter came to own several luxury villas on the Riviera. While Kerimov is on the EU sanctions list, the four villas don't appear on France's list of frozen properties.

Italian Reform | The ECB is counting on Italy to keep advancing reforms required to receive Recovery Fund cash designed to retool its economy, Christine Lagarde said. The central bank's president also said she'd be "surprised" if euro-zone inflation had peaked and that economic growth is "expected to continue weakening" into next year.

Fuel Subsidies | Spain is planning to scale back subsidies for fuel at the pump by the end of this year, moving away from a blanket program that includes everyone to focus instead on low-income consumers, we've been told. Trimming the aid program, which costs an annual €6 billion, will give the government some fiscal relief.

Tech Trouble | Ireland's data watchdog sent questions to Twitter again this week, saying it's "very concerned" about the company's ability to follow EU laws following an exodus of staff and the revelation last week that a senior executive in Dublin had to go to court to keep her job. Meanwhile, Meta was slapped with a €265 million fine for failing to prevent the leak of personal data on Facebook.

Oil Prices | Oil recovered in a volatile session after tumbling to its lowest in almost a year yesterday. The oil market has looked increasingly shaky in recent days. Protests in China over harsh anti-Covid measures over the weekend spurred a broad selloff in commodities. The rare show of popular defiance raise the threat of a government crackdown.

While much of Europe Inc. is shrinking state-backed loans from the pandemic, Italian companies are still sitting on mountains of such borrowings, complicating government efforts to help them surmount the latest crisis: soaring energy costs. Italian companies had a record €123.2 billion of Covid-era credit lines outstanding as of June 30, up from €118 billion in the previous quarter, according to a report published last month.

All times CET.

10 a.m. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg speaks at Aspen-GMF Bucharest Forum
11 a.m. Commissioner Adina Valean holds press conference about drone strategy
1:30 p.m. Stoltenberg, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken give short remarks at NATO meeting
4 p.m. Commissioner Kadri Simson speaks with European Parliament panel on energy crisis
4:30 p.m. Competition chief Margrethe Vestager speaks at conference on the digital economy
5 p.m. Stoltenberg news conference following NATO foreign ministers meeting in Bucharest
Internal market chief Thierry Breton meets with German Economy Minister Robert Habeck in Berlin, gives speech at industrial conference