Crypto News: Brussels Edition: EV challenge

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

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is sticking to her guns on banning sales of combustion-engine cars by 2035. But her ambitions clash with the realities makers of electric vehicles are facing. US, German and French manufacturers are suffering from soft demand and producing EVs up to 45% below initial expectations. Some, like Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, are abandoning sales targets for the segment, while the EU's biggest battery producer is looking to broaden sales beyond the car industry. All eyes are now on von der Leyen, who is due to present her Clean Industrial Deal within 100 days of the start of her second term. The plan will aim to preserve climate goals while boosting the competitiveness of European manufacturing.

— Lyubov Pronina

Trump Tension | Advisers for Donald Trump have floated the idea of demanding that NATO allies spend 3% of gross domestic product on defense, we're told. That's a higher target than alliance members have agreed to and a sign of more tension if Trump returns to the White House.

Russian Freeze | The EU is weighing two options to freeze Russian central bank assets for longer to address US concerns about a G-7 plan that seeks to channel profits to fund about $50 billion in aid to Ukraine.

Lender Backlash | The European Central Bank is considering asking banks to add some €7 billion in provisions for leveraged loans going bad. That's about half what it had initially estimated, after its review sparked a backlash among lenders, we're told.

Forest Fiasco | The EU's drive to make global forest preservation a condition for doing business with the bloc has stoked a fierce backlash from businesses and trading partners, raising the risk that the landmark initiative may be delayed. Read our explainer here.

Hefty Fines | Delivery Hero and its Spanish subsidiary Glovo are at risk of hefty EU fines, after antitrust regulators opened a full-scale investigation to determine if the companies may have illegally colluded with each other. Delivery Hero, one of Europe's largest food delivery platforms, has told investors it expects an EU antitrust fine that could exceed €400 million.

Peace View | Any peace talks about ending the war in Ukraine must be led by the government in Kyiv, Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel told us in an interview. There won't be a "substantial change" in military support for Ukraine even if Donald Trump becomes US president again, he added.

Wind Warning | Europe's wind industry warned Germany that a deal for 16 Chinese offshore wind turbines risks fostering unfair competition for local suppliers and poses a threat to the region's energy security.

Fat Gains | The weight loss of 25 people in a Roche obesity pill study added $16.8 billion to the Swiss drugmaker's value in a day, the latest in a series of big share moves based on success in tiny trials. Positive results in the earliest stages of development have driven $93 billion in market value gains this year for obesity-drug makers, Bloomberg calculations show.

Clean Air | Germany must revamp its clean-air policy after the government failed to take into account the latest data when drawing up new legislation, a Berlin top court ruled. The verdict covers national rules to reduce ammonia, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide.

Olympic Biking | Paris is set to become the first fully cyclable Olympic Games of the modern era with 34 miles of new routes added over two years to the city's growing network. Potentially a million or more visitors will be encouraged to take bikes to events.

Europe still contends with China for the title of top buyer of Gazprom's pipeline gas, more than two years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine slashed its western energy sales. Even after many rounds of international sanctions, Russia still supplies substantial volumes of gas to select European countries — and the amount has actually increased so far this year. Moscow hasn't made any new deals to accelerate the growth of its sales to China beyond what was already mapped out prior to the collapse of its biggest export market.

All times CET

12:30 p.m. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz holds summer press conference
College of commissioners meet
Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson participates in the Fifth Meeting of the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy and Climate Cooperation; meets with US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in Bucharest