Crypto News: A whaling tale

Welcome to the weekend issue of Brussels Edition, Bloomberg's daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union. Join us on Saturdays for deeper dives from our bureaus across Europe.

REYKJAVIK — Ten days was all it took for Iceland's lone whale hunter to pounce on an opportunity.

After Iceland's snap elections were called last month, fishing company Hvalur approached the government with a request: a permit to catch the marine mammals.

Hvalur sensed a window had opened after the pro-environment Left Greens party quit, leaving the remaining coalition members with a more favorable view, at least through today's general election.

The company had already been burned once, missing most of the 2023 hunting season when a Left Green minister issued a temporary animal-welfare ban. The ban was later found to be disproportionate and lacking legal footing, earning the minister a rebuke. Hvalur got the go-ahead for hunting this year.

A ship transporting a fin whale off its hull to the processing plant in Hvalfjordur, near Reykjavik, in 2022. Photographer: Halldor Kolbeins/AFP

But whaling is highly dependent on weather, meaning companies tend to want predictability and a longer investment horizon.

After Hvalur's Oct. 23 application for an indefinite — or alternatively a five or 10-year — license, two other companies filed bids, according to the Ministry of Food and Fisheries.

Caretaker Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson then told local media he'd look on the applications favorably. But what happened next was straight out of a spy film.

Tapes were leaked to local media of a lawmaker's son discussing a purported political agreement to grant that license with a private undercover investigator. The story was plastered all over the evening news and talk shows.

The prime minister shrugged off the allegations, but still took a U-turn on the applications, likely leaving the would-be whale hunters empty-handed.

Polls now suggest the Social Democrats may form the next government, which would reduce fishing companies' chances of securing permits in the future.

For Icelandic voters, whaling isn't at the top of their concerns. People on the north Atlantic island seem unconcerned about damage to Iceland's international reputation from the practice. Iceland, Norway and Japan are the only countries in the world to still commercially hunt whales.

Instead, this election campaign has centered more on the economy, where persistent inflation has kept central bank interest rates at the highest in Western Europe.

Voters are also concerned about a shortfall in infrastructure investment, and another key topic is immigration, after an influx of foreign workers and controversies surrounding asylum seekers.

— Ragnhildur Sigurdardottir, Iceland reporter

This Is What the World's First All-EV Car Market Looks Like

In Norway, Toyota is going from one electric-powered model to five to better compete with Tesla, fuel stations are ripping out pumps to make space for chargers, and even nursing homes in the rural interior have switched to battery-powered cars despite months of arctic cold. All these are signs of the dramatic shift that has put the Nordic country on the cusp of becoming the first market in the world to all but eliminate sales of new combustion-powered cars.

Europe Drills Its Citizens to Get Ready for the New Cold War

A Finnish soldier of the Karelia Brigade during the NATO Exercise Dynamic Front, near Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland, on Nov. 17. Photographer: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP

At 9 a.m. on Nov. 18, Finland launched a new website to show people how to last 72 hours in the event of a crisis or conflict. The same day, Sweden began mailing updated leaflets to its citizens urging a "greater emphasis on preparing for war." The two initiatives were the latest responses by NATO's newest members to a more dangerous world. A day later, Ukraine fired American missiles into Russia for the first time, taking their war into a new phase.

Orcel's Unapologetic Hunt for Bank Deals Will Shape His Legacy

First, there was irritation in Berlin. Next, annoyance in Rome. In his search for expansion, Andrea Orcel is taking risks few others would. The element of surprise in the bids for Commerzbank and BPM Banco is typical of the Unicredit CEO, who, in the three and a half years since taking over, has transformed the lender from a sprawling, complicated conglomerate to one of the most efficient large banks on the continent.

Gold Hedge Tempts Eastern Europe Central Banks Seeking Stability

Earlier this year, the Czech Republic's central bank chief flew to London to have a look at a swelling stack of gold bars stored in the Bank of England's concrete-encased vaults. Peers from Warsaw to Belgrade are joining the gold rush as a way to diversify investments and bet on future price increases, making eastern Europe one of the biggest buyers of the metal and helping to drive the gold rally.

Car-Crazy Turin Is Making More Room for Bikes and Transit

If Detroit means "Motor City" to Americans, Turin carries a comparable connotation for Italians. As the home of Fiat, the Piedmontese city of 850,000 has been the national hub for vehicle manufacturing for more than a century. And like Detroit, Turin has been rocked by the decline of its auto factories over recent decades. But cars no longer define the city like they once did.

Monday: New European Council President Antonio Costa meets with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola
Tuesday: Costa hosts Western Balkan leaders for dinner discussion
Tuesday-Wednesday: NATO foreign ministers meet in Brussels
Wednesday: Costa delivers speech at European Economic and Social Committee; ECB President Christine Lagarde appears before European Parliament committees

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