The European Commission is looking to curb China’s footprint on the continent with new powers targeting state-owned foreign companies. Under measures to be proposed today, companies could be hit with fines if they’ve unfairly benefited from foreign subsidies, and they may have to seek the bloc’s approval for European deals. But even as the EU tries to block some investments, it's trying to lure others: officials will also spell out more details today of plans to boost semiconductor production in Europe (read our interview with Commissioner Thierry Breton for more). To manufacture cutting-edge chips, the EU will likely have to partner with U.S. or Taiwanese companies like Intel or TSMC. But Intel has already made clear one condition it needs to invest in Europe: serious subsidies. - Natalia Drozdiak and  Nikos Chrysoloras

What’s Happening

Drugs Plan | The Commission will also today adopt a proposal for the collective purchase of therapeutic treatments against the coronavirus, as the EU's executive arm focuses on jointly procuring more than just vaccines for the long term. You don't need to wait for the plan will be unveiled, because we have the draft.

Smaller Stimulus | The EU's ambition to become one of the world’s largest issuers of top-rated sovereign debt may be undermined by the reluctance of member states to tap a jointly-financed stimulus plan. Most governments which have submitted spending plans for the recovery funds so far have indicated that they will either not touch the loans part of the package or make limited use of it. Meanwhile, Poland ratified the stimulus package, overcoming a government rift to help open the taps for hundreds the billions of euros to flow to member states.

London Woes | London is emerging from lockdown bruised by Brexit and a pandemic that hit the U.K. capital harder than other regions, raising questions about its ability to power the U.K.’s economic recovery. Property prices suggest people are moving to the suburbs, and Britain’s exit from the EU is draining away high-paying work in finance.

Post-Brexit Drama | The French maritime minister suggested her government could cut off electricity supplies to the isle of Jersey, amid a deepening row between France and the U.K. over post-Brexit fishing rights. Here’s what’s the row about. 

In Case You Missed It

Tourism Boost | The world’s 20 major economies threw their weight behind efforts to introduce vaccine passports to boost travel and tourism, stressing that a resumption is crucial for a global economic recovery. Here's what was decided in the call of the G20's tourism ministers.

Madrid Boss | Isabel Diaz Ayuso, Madrid’s combative conservative leader, won a second term as regional president, cementing her position as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s most powerful critic. Since being plucked from relative obscurity to run Spain’s most important region, Ayuso has won popularity with her unapologetically hardline rhetoric, by consistently attacking Sanchez and by challenging the European consensus on restrictions to movement and economic activity during the pandemic.

Pandemic Insolvencies | There is overblown alarm about a possible wave of insolvencies engulfing the European economy as governments taper aid for companies, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said. Nothing points to a jump in bankruptcies beyond the catch up from last year, according to Villeroy, who cited surveys of firms’ cash positions and the absence increased credit mediation and restructuring.

Bon Appétit | Frog legs rolled in worm flour could be the next culinary delight for European haute cuisine after the EU gave its blessing for the first time for an insect food. Aoife White has the story about how it's now deemed safe to eat bugs (but no need to mail her your favorite recipes). 

Chart of the Day

The cost of carbon permits in the EU reached another record high, exceeding 50 euros per metric ton, a milestone in a rally that is is changing the economics of pollution by factories. As the price of carbon futures advances, it becomes more expensive to pollute and forces industry to look for cleaner ways to stoke their furnaces and keep the lights on. It's also good news for government coffers. 

Today’s Agenda (All times CET.)

• European Commission presents proposal regulating distortive foreign subsidies, update to EU's industrial strategy
• Commission also adopts strategy for COVID-19 therapeutics and proposal for the emergency use of medicines
• 4:15 p.m. Sven Gentner, asset management chief at the European Commission's DG FISMA, and Cristina Lacaci, EMEA head of green and sustainable bonds at Morgan Stanley, speak at CEPS event on green bonds
• 6 p.m. IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath and Bruegel Director Guntram Wolff debate the uneven recovery from the pandemic
• Germany's Merkel speaks at CDU/CSU caucus event on transatlantic relations
• France's Macron commemorates 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s death