Crypto News: Brussels Edition: Testing Lagarde's promise

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

When the European Central Bank announces its latest policy decision today, all the attention will be on what officials say about the next meeting. A second straight 50 basis-point rate increase is all but guaranteed this time, but falling energy prices have raised speculation about whether the ECB will keep going at the same pace. While President Christine Lagarde has pledged to "stay the course" and several of her colleagues voiced their support for more big hikes, some are urging a more gradual approach. New inflation figures released yesterday will probably fan the debate, as a further drop in the headline number came with a measure of underlying pressures that held at a record high.

— Alexander Weber and John Ainger

Training Troops | The EU is set to announce at its summit with Ukraine tomorrow that it will double its target of training Ukrainian troops under its new military mission, now aiming to run drills and teach as many as 30,000 soldiers this year. Soldiers will receive de-mining and other specialized training.

Gas Curbs | The EU needs to prolong measures to reduce natural gas demand to ensure it can make it through next winter, especially in the event of a full cutoff of Russian supplies, according to the Bruegel think tank. The bloc will need to cut demand by 13%, but a worst-case scenario would mean a lot more.

Oil Curbs | EU members have yet to reach an agreement on capping the price of Russian petroleum products as Poland and the Baltic nations continue to push for a review of the earlier $60 threshold on Russian crude oil that was implemented last December.

Missile Shield | Germany is in talks with several defense manufacturers to build a multi-layered anti-missile shield that could cost as much as €17 billion, we've learned. Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government is talking to Bavarian-based manufacturer Diehl Defence to procure up to eight IRIS-T anti-missile systems with a contract volume of up to €3 billion.

Pedaling Backward | From missiles to bikes. Carbon Team Lda., a manufacturer of high-end bicycle frames, says faster delivery times give it an edge over competitors in Asia. It comes after supply bottlenecks and delivery delays during the pandemic raised awareness of Europe's dependence on Asia for goods ranging from face masks to pharmaceuticals.

EU Fightback | The EU unveiled a roadmap for how it plans to keep its industries competitive as the bloc tries to catch up to the US and China, which offer huge subsidies to domestic green technologies. Here's our look at what the plan includes.

Zelenskiy's Dragnet | Ukrainian authorities carried out raids across the country as part of a broadening crackdown on corruption, including searches of a tycoon once close to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a top tax official and a former head of military procurement. The show of force will be a topic when EU leaders arrive this week for a summit meeting.

Cozy Coalition | The parties in Romania's ruling coalition will swap the position of prime minister as planned by June and may try to continue ruling together after general elections expected in late 2024, future premier Marcel Ciolacu told us in an interview. A whopping 12 cabinets have come and gone since 2004.

Soviet Future | On the edge of Sillamae, a town of just over 12,000 people in northeast Estonia, sits a grassy hill with a secret. It's here, on the Baltic Sea coast close to the Russian border, that the future lies if Europe wants to loosen China's grip on the supply of components to industries seen as critical to the continent's economy.

Political Tightrope | As UK and EU negotiators prepare to unveil a provisional post-Brexit deal for Northern Ireland, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak must walk a political tightrope to sell it to the region's unionists and members of his own ruling Conservatives. Any deal is likely to become redundant without the endorsement of the Democratic Unionist Party.

To see how Brexit has transformed banking, just look at the surge in top earners at JPMorgan's European business. In 2015, the year before Britain voted to quit the EU, nobody at the bank's Frankfurt-based division took home more than €1 million. By 2019 there were nine — and by 2021, the most recent year for which data is available, the number rose to 85. Seven raked in more than €3.5 million.

All times CET

8:30 a.m. EU budget commissioner Johannes Hahn speaks on Ukraine summit in European Parliament
10:30 a.m. EIB chief Werner Hoyer holds news conference on EIB Group's annual results
11:20 a.m. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar speak to reporters
1 p.m. Metsola addresses Irish Parliament
2 p.m. Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders speaks to European Parliament panel
2:30 p.m. ECB President Christine Lagarde holds news conference in Frankfurt after interest rates decision
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and commissioners in Kyiv to meet Ukrainian officials

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