A week of diplomatic flurry triggered by Vladimir Putin’s military build-up near Ukraine shifts to Brussels today. The meeting of the NATO-Russia Council — the first in more than two years — comes after top U.S. and Russian diplomats agreed to more talks following bilateral negotiations in Geneva. Along with Western efforts to deter an invasion of Ukraine, officials are also trying to move past a clash over alleged spying. There are low expectations for today’s meeting, and even another pledge to keep talking would be seen as an achievement. We’re told that away from these discussions, and with an eye on Russia, EU governments will this month begin a large-scale, six-week simulation of cyberattacks against multiple member states.

— John Follain

What’s Happening

Endemic Transition | Spain is calling for Covid-19 to be treated as an endemic disease, like the flu, becoming the first major European nation to explicitly suggest that people learn to live with it. The idea has gradually been gaining traction and could prompt a re-evaluation of strategies on dealing with the virus, taking into account the omicron variant’s lower hospitalization and death rates despite record infections. More than half of Europe’s population may be infected with omicron within weeks.

Energy Squeeze | Soaring energy prices are putting the squeeze on European consumers desperate for some relief after two years of coronavirus, lockdowns and job worries. Households are more worried about prices than at any time this century, and feel less inclined to splurge. That has implications for how quickly the economy can fully recover from the savage destruction wrought by the pandemic.

Draghi Mandate | Mario Draghi looks like he has taken his mandate as prime minister as far as it can go, after guiding Italy through the worst of the pandemic and laying the foundations for economic recovery, senior party officials tell us. Rival factions in his government are starting to look to a general election due next year at the latest, with Draghi signaling he’d like to succeed Sergio Mattarella as president next month.

Parliament President | The European Parliament, reeling from the death yesterday of its president, David Sassoli, had already been scheduled to vote next week for his successor. Potential candidates include Parliament’s First Vice President Roberta Metsola from the European People’s Party, Kosma Zlotowski from European Conservatives and Reformists and the Left group’s Sira Rego.

In Case You Missed It

German Emissions | Germany’s new government pledged to slash harmful emissions and speed up expansion of renewables after two years of missed targets called into question the country’s ability to meet its climate goals. Germany has a “drastic deficit” when it comes to tackling global warming and will likely miss its targets again both this year and next as it strives for climate neutrality by 2045, Economy Minister Robert Habeck, a co-leader of the Greens, said yesterday in Berlin.

Orban Ballot | Hungarians will go to the polls on April 3 to decide whether Viktor Orban should win a fourth consecutive term as prime minister, prolonging his running battle with the EU over democratic values. The ballot, announced by President Janos Ader yesterday, represents the biggest challenge Orban has faced since 2010, when he regained the premiership.

Regulatory Reckoning | Last year was a record for dealmakers. Now they face a reckoning as antitrust regulators across Europe scrutinize the boom in mergers that could see them extract concessions or even block acquisitions. Those same authorities are wielding new powers or about to acquire fresh capabilities they could use to wrap companies like Apple or Amazon in a regulatory straitjacket.

Covid Data | The European Parliament was given a one-month ultimatum to fix a privacy flaw that allowed lawmakers’ Covid-19 test data to be illegally sent to the U.S. via tracking cookies owned by Google and digital payments company Stripe Inc. The assembly hired a company in 2020 to provide mass testing via a dedicated website, but failed to comply with curbs on transatlantic data flows, Europe’s privacy watchdog found.

Lockdown Party | Opposition politicians have called for Boris Johnson to resign following reports of a “bring your own bottle” party at his office at the height of lockdown in 2020. It’s a significant moment of peril at the worst possible time for the U.K. prime minister, who had hoped to begin 2022 with a reset after a turbulent end to last year when support for the Conservatives plummeted in the polls.

Chart of the Day

There’s little faith in the global economic recovery accelerating, with officials and business leaders citing climate change and rising social tensions, alongside the pandemic, among their top risks, the World Economic Forum found. Only one in six survey respondents from government, civil society and commerce described their outlook as optimistic, while just one in 10 thinks worldwide economic expansion will pick up speed, the WEF said in its Global Risks Report for 2022.

Today’s Agenda

All times CET.

• 10 a.m. NATO-Russia Council, followed by press conference around 1.30 p.m. with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg
• 10.15 a.m. French Telecoms Minister Cedric O speaks on Europe's 2022 digital agenda at Atlantic Council event
• 1 p.m. German Chancellor Scholz makes a statement and takes government questions in the lower house of parliament in Berlin
• 4.30 p.m. European Stability Mechanism Managing Director Regling speaks at EIB Annual Economics Conference; European Council’s Michel speaks at 6 p.m.
• EU defense ministers meet in Brest, followed by press conference
• NATO’s Military Committee starts two-day meeting