Brussels is examining how to shield consumers from a potential energy crisis as part of plans to protect Europe’s households, businesses and borders from the fallout of a Russian military escalation in Ukraine.
Diplomats told the Financial Times that the EU was discussing contingency measures to deal with surging gas prices, a possible migratory emergency and cyber security threats.
The priority is to cope with any reduction in gas flows from Russia, which accounts for about 40 per cent of Europe’s imports.
World leaders will meet on both sides of the Atlantic today in hopes of de-escalating the crisis. Emmanuel Macron will meet Vladimir Putin face-to-face in Moscow, when the French president plans to tell his Russian counterpart that Ukraine’s security cannot be compromised.
In Washington, Germany’s new chancellor Olaf Scholz will meet Joe Biden for the first time with a clear mission: to restore his credibility among sceptical allies dismayed by Berlin’s response.
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Go deeper: Brussels wants to target the banking and energy sectors to hurt Moscow using sanctions, but must minimise damage to European economies.
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Russia’s ire at Nato’s eastward expansion hinges on its perceived threat to a treaty provision: “the indivisibility of security”. What is it?
Are you optimistic that diplomatic talks will help de-escalate tensions over Ukraine? Tell me what you think at firstft@ft.com. Thanks for reading FirstFT Europe/Africa — Jennifer
Five more stories in the news
1. PwC probed over audits of construction contractors The UK’s accounting regulator is investigating the Big Four firm over its audits of Galliford Try and Kier, two of the country’s largest construction contractors, according to people with knowledge of the matter, the latest in a growing number of probes into PwC’s work.
2. Credit Suisse securitises yacht loans The Swiss lender has securitised a portfolio of loans linked to its wealthiest customers’ yachts and private jets, in an unusual use of derivatives to offload risks associated with lending to ultra-rich oligarchs and entrepreneurs after a bruising year of scandals.
3. EU lawmakers to reject green investment rules MEPs from the European parliament’s major groups are preparing a cross-party bid to vote down a so-called taxonomy on green investments over opposition to the classification of nuclear power and natural gas as sustainable energy sources.
4. UK tech sector seeks IPO reforms Tech executives and investors have urged the government to speed up and deepen reforms to Britain’s listings regime to attract fast-growing start-ups to London given concerns that momentum for initial public offerings could slow this year.
5. Metaverse ‘cannot escape’ UK online rules, say experts The metaverse will be subject to stringent UK regulation, exposing the tech giants behind the virtual worlds to billions of pounds of potential fines, according to the experts whose work underpins the forthcoming Online Safety Bill.
Coronavirus digest
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The International Olympic Committee admitted that conditions for athletes forced to isolate after testing positive for Covid-19 had not met expectations after German team officials complained of limited access to food and internet. The Beijing Winter Games opened with a subdued ceremony on Friday.
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Software company WANdisco has become one of the first UK-listed companies to adopt a four-day week as the pandemic upends traditional working patterns.
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The spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant has sparked European health staff shortages but has spared ICUs.
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Opinion: Emma Jacobs argues that hybrid work will weaken employee loyalty.
The day ahead
Economic developments Germany will release monthly industrial production figures for December after recording a continued dip below pre-crisis levels the month before. Christine Lagarde, European Central Bank president, speaks before the European parliament’s committee on economic and monetary affairs.
UK-Swiss science ministers meet The ministers are due to meet, with Switzerland “very frustrated” by its exclusion from Horizon Europe, the EU’s main funding programme for research and innovation.
Maastricht treaty anniversary Today marks 30 years of the treaty that established the EU and laid the foundations for monetary union. It also arguably sowed the seeds of Brexit.
What else we’re reading
Climate disasters are like 9/11 for insurers Just as the insurance market quickly became a magnet for new, profit-hungry insurance capital after two aircraft struck the twin towers in 2001, a jump in prices to guard against flood and fire risks could lead to further boom-time conditions, writes Patrick Jenkins.
Bureaucracy cannot curb Boris Johnson It is hard to ignore the sight of a leader who promised to use Brexit to tear down EU rules binding himself in red tape to bring order to Downing Street with the creation of an “office of the prime minister”. Instead, consider this: reforming an organisation in an effort to change its culture is not a bad idea, writes Andrew Hill.
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More on ‘partygate’: Boris Johnson should be given “time and space” to lead, business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng urged, as Tory backbenchers seethed.
Fed and ECB still behind the inflation curve If the message from the world’s most influential central banks that they called inflation “transitory” for far too long is a “hawkish pivot”, it is partial at best, still too slow and at risk of overcompensating, writes Mohamed El-Erian.
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Related news: Klaas Knot, the Dutch central bank head, has become the first member of the ECB’s governing council to say publicly that it should raise interest rates this year.
Where to put the lethal waste France is the last bastion of nuclear power in Europe. But even with a wave of renewed global interest and the need for a reliable, carbon-free energy source, there is high sensitivity to the technology in France as it explores new ways to dispose of radioactive materials, with public opposition as fierce as ever.
‘Kim doesn’t just want more missiles, he wants better ones’ Of all North Korea’s recent missile tests, it is the development of a new generation of manoeuvrable weapons designed to evade defence systems that has most intrigued defence experts.
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Related read: China and Russia’s hypersonic weaponry threatens the US early warning system, warns William Schneider, Hudson Institute senior fellow.
Fitness
This week, the FT Weekend podcast looked at the Peloton phenomenon. Host Lilah Raptopoulos and San Francisco correspondent Patrick McGee explore the behavioural science behind why we don’t exercise and the tech that tricks our brains into doing it anyway.
