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 will chart Europe’s course through an increasingly stormy global economy as she puts forward her «competitiveness compass» today. The key themes that we reported on last week are clear: cut red tape for business, double-down on the technologies of the future and favor European companies in public procurement. Yet those hoping for the EU to throw cash at the problem will be left disappointed and frustrated — there will be little in the way of fresh financial commitments beyond improving access to already existing pots of money. The concern among business is that von der Leyen ends up looking like the captain of a slow-turning super tanker compared to US President Donald Trump’s blistering pace of deregulation. But as the bloc’s financial services commissioner Maria Albuquerque told us, the EU will «not engage in a race to the bottom.»
