Philip Tod

Glad @ec.europa.eu DG ECFIN could welcome colleagues from the Economic Security Bureau and National Bank of Ukraine for a seminar on the fight against euro counterfeiting. Together with the @ecb.europa.eu , @europol-eu.bsky.social and 8 Member States we discussed EU legislation and best practices

Bulgaria meets criteria to join the euro area on 1 January 2026 Today, the European Commission concluded that Bulgaria is ready to adopt the euro as of 1 January 2026 – a key milestone that would make it the twenty-first Member State to join the euro area.

Congratulations to Bulgaria on meeting the criteria to join the euro area on 1 January 2026! I had the pleasure to visit Sofia recently to discuss the preparations of the Bulgarian authorities and stakeholders for the changeover, and we were impressed by their plans and work so far.

Keir Starmer's EU Reset Deal Is the First Crack in the Brexit Wall Holding Britain Back This agreement marks the beginning of the end of the suffocating Brexit consensus that has gripped British politics for a decade, argues Adam Bienkov

Starmer's EU deal is a big break in the suffocating Brexit consensus that has held Britain back for the past decade.

For the first time a British government is doing things to actually undo the damage of Brexit, rather than increase it. For that alone it should be welcomed

Peace in exchange for land? For many Ukrainians, it's too painful to contemplate Vitali Klitschko, the former heavyweight boxer who is now mayor of Kyiv, ventured last month into hazardous political territory: he delicately suggested in an interview that Ukraine might need to cede land to end its battle against Russia.

Most Ukrainians think land concessions would not lead to a sustainable peace with Russia

While the gospels say that Judas led the Romans to Jesus, a new theory is gaining traction with some Biblical scholars. There is evidence, some say, that Judas merely shared Christ's location on an insecure group chat that accidentally included several Roman officials and journalists.

Screenshot of the headline from the Financial Times article, which reads 'Trade war makes improved UK-EU relations "imperative", says Reeves.

"Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said that Donald Trump’s global trade war has made it even more “imperative” for the UK to improve post-Brexit trading relations with the EU, ahead of a key summit next month."

More in the @financialtimes.com 👇

buff.ly/La6fmuV

Trump is now getting fully Liz Truss'ed.

The bond markets brought her down in short order and the bottom appears to be 'liquidating' pretty quickly across the pond now.

Executive Board member Piero Cipollone explains how the digital euro would boost Europe’s strategic autonomy at the @europarl.europa.eu Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.

Read his introductory statement, available in all euro area languages www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/da...

Zelensky gets boost in Ukraine after heated clash with Donald Trump: Poll Support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rose to 28 percent following his tense White House meeting with Trump, according to a new poll.

Support for Zelensky rises after confrontation in the Oval Office, according to new Gradus Research poll cited in Newsweek, which also shows 57% of Ukrainians trust him: www.newsweek.com/zelensky-get...

On the eve of the third anniversary of Russia's full scale invasion, two thousand people gathered in central Brussels today to show solidarity with Ukraine and Europe in the face of Russian aggression and call for a just peace with Ukraine at the negotiating table.

Global crisis style note:

What Trump is doing to Ukraine is not 'blackmail', which would be demand for payment under threat of exposure of compromising information*. This is demand for payment under threat of violence/refusal to protect from violence. The word is 'extortion'.

Now is the time for Europe to show strength, not division, argues Sanna Marin Finland’s former leader makes the case for stumping up tens of billions more for Ukraine

"To start, Europe must rid itself of the dangerous illusion that it is weak—and stop acting like it." www.economist.com/by-invitatio...

The thought that a lot of people in Europe (and not just Anglos) are choking over right now: Macron was right

Chris Giles of the FT: My warning relates to the scars I bear from Brexit. There is no doubt that the UK’s vote to leave the EU also damaged growth and raised prices. It prevented efficient outcomes, raised uncertainty, depressed investment and raised prices through a drop in sterling’s value. The UK public now accept this to be true — nearly nine years later. But proving it in real time against a government determined to claim otherwise was all but impossible. Why so difficult? You need to persuade people that outcomes are worse than an unknown world in which more sensible economic choices were taken. Even sophisticated people find counterfactuals difficult to comprehend and to explain. There will be lots of other events occurring that will muddy the waters. Convincing academic studies take years to produce. And modern advanced capitalist economies are extremely resilient and do not simply buckle in the face of idiotic economic policy. 

@chrisgiles.ft.com on why Mad King economic policy might not lead to a voter backlash www.ft.com/content/61ae...

Ukraine has fought too hard for its freedom, only to have its future dictated by Putin and Trump behind closed doors.

Any peace must guarantee Ukraine’s sovereignty and security on terms acceptable to Ukrainians, not just to Moscow and Mar-a-Lago.

More than 50% of the public now think Brexit was "Wrong", and the gap between whose who think it was "Wrong" vs. "Right" is now 25%.

=> the room for manoeuvre in their "reset" of the UK's relationship with the EU is probably larger than Starmer & co. think

Rejecting offer for UK to join Europe-wide customs scheme is ‘economic negligence’, Lib Dem leader says – UK politics live Ed Davey says it is ‘alarming’ the government will negotiate with China but won’t agree to better EU trading arrangement

Rejecting offer for UK to join Europe-wide customs scheme is ‘economic negligence’, Lib Dem leader says – UK politics live

🇪🇺The Motion for an EU-UK Youth Mobility Scheme has passed!🇪🇺

Together, we can rebuild opportunities across Europe for the next generation.

A huge thank you to everyone who supported me today.

Ahead of the debate on my Youth Mobility Bill in the Commons today, The Times are making the case that young people deserve the opportunities which were denied to them by the botched Tory Brexit deal. Read more👇
https://buff.ly/3WlNjTj?

Chief Economist Philip R. Lane tells @derstandard.at how we have made significant progress on our inflation target and that we need inflation to be sustainably at 2 per cent.
Read his interview www.ecb.europa.eu/press/inter/...

Just in case you're wondering...

Nato's Article 5 "mutual defence" clause is not legally binding, automatic or unanimous. It also doesn't de facto rule out an attack by one Nato member (say, the US) on another (say, Denmark), or force all other Nato members to get involved in that event...

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