| Green Bonds | EU negotiators reached a long-awaited deal to set up a green bond standard — an instrument it hopes will provide investors with clarity that funds are being aligned with the region's climate goals. An agreement had been held up for a number of months over just how strict those rules should be. Inflationary Pressure | Annual inflation in France accelerated to a euro-era record 7.2% in February and Spain reported a 6.1% advance, while analysts had expected the rate would remain unchanged at 7% for the French economy and slow in the Spanish case. As a result, investors boosted bets on the peak for ECB interest rates to 4% for the first time. Big Needs | Europe's gas supplies could be hit harder by a bigger-than-expected jump in Chinese demand this year than from a complete halt in Russian flows, according to the International Energy Agency. A bullish scenario could see the country's LNG imports surge as much as 35% in 2023 if costs fall further and its economy expands quickly, potentially pushing prices back up to the "unsustainable" levels seen last summer. Clean Vehicles | Trucks using batteries or hydrogen fuel cells instead of diesel engines will need to make up the vast majority of new sales by 2040 under EU plans to reduce CO2 emissions. But only around 700 trucks that run on batteries or fuel cells were sold in 2022. But as the economics of owning and operating clean trucks are improving rapidly, some of the largest manufacturers have begun series production and set sales targets. Power Unit | Germany is accelerating efforts to merge four high-voltage grid operators as an option to modernize power lines for a coming influx of renewable energy, we're told. Berlin is in talks with the Dutch government to pay more than €20 billion for the local unit of Dutch operator TenneT. Negotiations for stakes in rivals 50Hertz, Transnet and Amprion are also underway, with the eventual goal of forming a single unit. | 
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