Nikos Chrysoloras Profile picture
Media Relations @EIB, the 🇪🇺 climate bank | Islander, son of a preacher man | Views personal
May 4, 2022 4 tweets 1 min read
A key clause from the draft legal text of the latest package of sanctions. The EU is seeking to go beyond an import ban on Russian oil by targeting Moscow’s ability to sell *anywhere in the world*. So basically vessels owned, chartered, operated or *otherwise controlled* by EU nationals & companies, *no matter if they carry an EU flag or not,* can't transport oil originating in Russia between places *anywhere in the world*. All services, including *insurance*, also banned
Feb 28, 2022 19 tweets 6 min read
The price that Russia is paying for the invasion is truly gigantic.

First, here's a list of all the punitive measures that have been imposed so far:
bloomberg.com/news/articles/… #Russia was forced to impose capital controls, as the unprecedented measures triggered a run on 🏦 and created a "structural liquidity deficit".
Still, the country's central bank clarified that external debt will continue to be serviced:
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Feb 28, 2022 4 tweets 1 min read
Now European stocks and U.S futures pare losses, they 're down less than 1%.
Meanwhile, Russia's stock market is closed and the country is facing the risk of a bank run, a rapid sell-off in assets and the steepest depreciation in the ruble since 1998 bloomberg.com/news/articles/… Obviously some European companies are suffering, including banks (Raiffeisen), automakers, airlines, big oil (BP!), and luxury. But overall, while Russia is facing existential market stress, things in Europe seem to be under control. For now
Feb 27, 2022 13 tweets 5 min read
We seem to be tailspinning into chaos. I have covered crises before, but nothing comes even close:

1) BP decided to take a hit of as much as $25 billion, just to leave Russia immediately.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/… 2) Russia's bond market is collapsing bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Feb 25, 2022 4 tweets 3 min read
European stocks rebound today, and Russian stocks trim some of yesterday's losses.
Worth reading this column by @johnauthers on why markets are saying that Putin will get what he wants (small spoiler: see carve-outs in sanctions) bloomberg.com/opinion/articl… ImageImage More on this:
Nov 28, 2020 16 tweets 3 min read
Υπάρχει σοβαρό πρόβλημα με το Ταμείο Ανάκαμψης και τον Κοινοτικό Προϋπολογισμό. Χθες, στη συνεδρίαση της Επιτροπής Μονίμων Αντιπροσώπων, έγινε περιγραφή της κατάστασης με δραματικούς τόνους. Ελλάδα και Κύπρος (όπως και οι άλλες χώρες του Νότου) θα δεχθούν πλήγμα σε τρία μέτωπα: Παρένθεση - η Επιτροπή Μονίμων Αντιπροσώπων στις Βρυξέλλες (COREPER) είναι το επίπεδο όπου τα κράτη-μέλη της ΕΕ λαμβάνουν το 98% των συλλογικών αποφάσεων τους. Οι υπουργοί *συνήθως* βάζουν μία τζίφρα σε αποφάσεις & κείμενα που έχουν ήδη συμφωνηθεί στο COREPER. Εξ ου και..
Nov 27, 2020 6 tweets 2 min read
If 🇵🇱 & 🇭🇺 don’t drop their veto by Dec. 7, then the EU will have to operate via monthly emergency budgets as of January. That would mean financial paralysis & the progressive suspension of all but essential spending, ⁦the Commission warned today bloomberg.com/news/articles/… The budget situation will get progressively worse, for reasons related also to Brexit, the Commission explained to EU ambassadors today. The French envoy warned the rule of law quarrel could signal a “fundamental rupture,” which raises questions about the very future of the EU.
Nov 26, 2020 9 tweets 2 min read
In our Brussels Edition newsletter this morning: All eyes on Budapest, where the leaders of Poland and Hungary meet at 11 am CET, as pressure builds on them to relent on their opposition to the EU's budget and jointly financed stimulus: bloomberg.com/news/newslette… One Polish official signaled that without any plan to draw up a counterproposal, the meeting is unlikely to provide the breakthrough many are waiting for. In Brussels, diplomats will decide on the next steps after today's meeting bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Oct 3, 2020 18 tweets 4 min read
Δυο λόγια και στα ελληνικά για το τι συνέβη στη Σύνοδο Κορυφής: σε ό,τι αφορά την Κύπρο, δεν πήρε φυσικά αυτό που ζητάει εδώ και μήνες - τη διεύρυνση της λίστας κυρώσεων που έχουν επιβληθεί για τις δραστηριότητες της Τουρκίας στις επίμαχες περιοχές. Η 🇨🇾 κατάφερε όμως να βγουν από το κείμενο διατυπώσεις που θεωρούσε προβληματικές, καθώς σύμφωνα με τη Λευκωσία φαινόταν να «υιοθετούν Τουρκικά επιχειρήματα». Το ότι μπήκαν στο αρχικό κείμενο όμως δείχνει ότι αυτά τα επιχειρήματα έχουν απήχηση στις Βρυξελλες
Oct 2, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read
1/ Some insights from senior EU official briefing after the #euco: if you read the entire statement #Turkish foreign ministry statement (official read it very carefully) it’s actually positive. There’s a sense that Turkey is willing to engage. Then the usual about all options etc 2/ Official appeared fully convinced that EU/Turkey relations won’t be normalised unless if the Cyprus issue is resolved. Said that a UN initiative is coming with considerable urgency after the election in the North. The EU will push in this direction.
Oct 1, 2020 10 tweets 5 min read
It's the first day of a two-day summit dedicated to conveying the image of a more assertive Europe. Here's what's going to happen: bloomberg.com/news/newslette… Let's start with China. In a wording that echoes many of the concerns raised by the US, EU leaders will declare that the bloc needs to rebalance its relationship with China. Leaders will also give credit to themselves for Xi's carbon commitment. Our story: bloomberg.com/news/articles/… Image
Sep 30, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read
So 🇭🇺, 🇵🇱, 🇸🇪, 🇫🇮, 🇩🇰, 🇳🇱 & 🇧🇪 opposed 🇩🇪’s compromise proposal on how to tie #NextGenerationEU & #MFF disbursements to the rule-of-law. 🇦🇹 & 🇱🇺 abstained. The proposal still got the required qualified majority. But in theory, any of these countries could still block the package: Allowing the European Commission to raise the agreed debt (750 billion) needs unanimity. So the rule of law legislation only needs qualified majority, and 🇭🇺’s objections can be bypassed there, but if 🇭🇺 wants, it can block the “own resources” decision and blow the whole thing up
Sep 30, 2020 6 tweets 3 min read
Note that EU leaders give credit to themselves for China's surprise commitment to carbon neutrality, which may be a game-changer for our planet (though they say that it's not enough in itself). See draft wording of EU Summit conclusions and @eucopresident's speech at Bruegel: ImageImage Now, we know that the EU has been pushing for such commitment for a long time and they raised this again this month again. See for example @vonderleyen's comments following the EU/China Summit in June: Image
Sep 30, 2020 5 tweets 3 min read
The EU Commission will today release a damning report about the state of democracy in Hungary, which will further exacerbate fears among richer governments that they risk bankrolling Viktor Orban's cronies: our Brussels Edition newsletter this morning: bloomberg.com/news/newslette… Our @StephanieBodoni got the draft of the Commission's rule of law report. We published the scoop while you were sleeping: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Sep 29, 2020 7 tweets 3 min read
Diplomats in the relevant working group will discuss the German proposal linking EU budget/NextGenerationEU disbursements to rule of law standards. Proposal goes to ambassadors Wednesday: This morning's Brussels Edition bloomberg.com/news/newslette… via @business The German presidency says that its rule of law proposal 'very precisely implements' the conclusions of the European Council in July. And gives a legal form to a hard-won and delicate European compromise. Indeed, this seems to be the case: ImageImage
Sep 28, 2020 8 tweets 3 min read
Today @eucopresident will give his third keynote speech on "strategic autonomy" in as many weeks. EU leaders will likely declare that strategic autonomy is a "key objective" of the Union. But what do these Greek-derived words mean? Our newsletter today👇bloomberg.com/news/newslette… Judging from the draft of the summit’s conclusions, strategic autonomy means, first of all, relative autarky (here’s another Greek word) in certain sensitive industries. Here’s more from our Supply Lines trade newsletter last week: bloomberg.com/news/newslette…
Sep 21, 2020 11 tweets 3 min read
A meeting of EU foreign ministers today will highlight why calls are growing to scrap a requirement for unanimity on sanctioning other countries, but also why it's so difficult for any EU government — not least a small state — to accept such a change👇 bloomberg.com/news/newslette… Cyprus is holding up EU asset freezes and travel bans against around 40 Belarusian authorities implicated in election fraud and a crackdown on protesters until all other member nations agree to expand the list of Turks sanctioned over Ankara's energy exploration in Cypriot waters
Sep 18, 2020 5 tweets 3 min read
In this morning’s Brussels Edition: An action plan against racism, and another one on supercomputers; our interview with ⁦@TimmermansEU⁩, and a footnote that spells trouble for Apple Pay bloomberg.com/news/newslette… Important for tech aficionados: We have the draft of the fintech package the Commission will unveil next week. It floats the prospect of new rules that would require Apple to give competitors access to Apple Pay infrastructure bloomberg.com/news/articles/… via @weberalexander @nat_droz
Sep 14, 2020 7 tweets 2 min read
The EU Commission will unveil an emissions-cut plan this week, which -if approved- will leave no sector of the economy untouched. Here's what the draft says, courtesy of @E_Krukowska, the best climate reporter in the world capital of climate regulation bloomberg.com/news/articles/… First, the world’s largest carbon market is about to get even bigger and more ambitious, as Ewa explained on Friday. This will mean more stringent pollution standards for airlines, and regulated emissions from the shipping industry for the first time: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Sep 2, 2020 4 tweets 2 min read
A series of unfortunate events for Brussels that could all unfold before December's #euco: Recovery Fund stuck at the EU/Hungarian Parliament, #Brexit talks yield no deal, Trump wins, something bad between 🇬🇷 and 🇹🇷 in East Med, showdown with 🇷🇺 over new sanctions. Inconceivable? Here's one:
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Aug 12, 2020 6 tweets 2 min read
Ahead of Friday’s FAC, Greece keeps bringing up the prospect of imminent sanctions against Turkey, but the current EU framework only allows for individuals and companies to be targeted in response to violations of the exclusive economic zone of *Cyprus* consilium.europa.eu/media/41313/st… Image 2 individuals have been targeted with asset freezes & travel bans within this framework & adding more can happen but it’s politically & legally complicated (ask 🇨🇾). In any case, targeted measures *in response to what’s happening these days* probably needs new Council decision