The disconnect between the mood in European capitals and the continent’s markets is glaring. While you’re suffering from cabin fever after months in lockdown, investors are celebrating the end of the pandemic as vaccinations progress and economists are forecasting a recovery the likes of which Europe hasn’t seen in decades. One reason that European stocks are hovering around record highs while ICUs across the continent are still overflowing with intubated patients is that once enough of us are vaccinated, investors expect we’ll go out to spend hundreds of billions in savings accumulated while locked up at home. But for the euro area to get a jumpstart in economic growth, a whole generation of citizens who tend to hoard money would need to seize the day and splash out. Will we party like there’s no tomorrow after we’re allowed out? This story has some answers. - Nikos Chrysoloras and Viktoria Dendrinou

What’s Happening

Vaccine Passports | And what better way to spend your money than a vacation. EU governments agreed on a joint position on vaccination passes that will ease quarantine-free traveling for those inoculated, and now negotiations with the European Parliament can begin so that the new system is up and running just in time for the summer. 

Flight Tracker | A vacation sounds great, but where to? Bloomberg has built a global flight tracker to monitor the pulse of the air-travel comeback. Have a look. 

Vaccine Progress | All of these plans depend on inoculating the bulk of the EU population. We interviewed Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, who told us the bloc is still working toward its goal of vaccinating 70% of adults by the end of the summer, despite the recent setbacks. Meanwhile, exports of shots are still outstripping what the EU has given to its own people.

Pfizer Deliveries | What will help is that Pfizer and BioNTech will raise Covid-19 vaccine deliveries to the EU this quarter by 25% to 250 million doses. This accelerated batch will partially offset the pause in Johnson & Johnson inoculations and the restrictions on AstraZeneca's shot over clotting fears. But the EU still needs those J&J vaccines, and its drugs regulator will issue a recommendation next week. 

Post-Brexit Mess | Meetings between the EU and the U.K. about the Northern Ireland protocol in the Brexit agreement aren’t expected to yield an immediate breakthrough, according to people familiar with the status of talks between the two sides, as David Frost travels to Brussels to dine with Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic today. Here’s our preview.

In Case You Missed It

Digital Euro | The European Central Bank’s public consultations on a digital euro have revealed that privacy is valued above all other features for any new form of the currency. That was the top priority for 43% of citizens and professionals who responded. Other important features include security, usability across the euro area and offline use.

Bats & Beehives |  Christine Lagarde is taking a literal approach to making the ECB more environmentally friendly — installing beehives, insect hotels, and bird and bat houses at its Frankfurt headquarters. That’s as policy makers are working on a strategy review that includes whether and how monetary tools such as multi-trillion-euro bond purchases and bank-lending operations should be deployed in the climate-change battle.

Green Banking | On the subject of greening central banking, Sweden risks falling behind its peers in Europe on climate-conscious monetary policies unless the country makes it an explicit aim of the Riksbank, according to a critic. That’s even though the Swedish central bank has cleansed its reserves of assets tied to pollution and recently started mapping the carbon footprint of its corporate-bond purchase program.

Pandemic Purchases | As a last word on central banks, the ECB could end its pandemic emergency program in less than a year while adapting policy tools to keep supporting the economy after the crisis, French Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said. His comments add to the debate on how and when the ECB could withdraw stimulus as an economic rebound takes hold. Here's our interview with him.

Italian Spending | Italy’s government plans to seek approval for as much as 45 billion euros of additional borrowing this year to keep the economy afloat as the coronavirus lockdown drags on. Mario Draghi’s government is seeking extra borrowing to support companies and workers, as many businesses remain shuttered. We have the details. 

Chart of the Day

The Commission outlined its plans to raise some 800 billion euros in debt to finance the EU’s stimulus program yesterday. The plan is to create a “safe asset” that will rival U.S. Treasuries, but also help peripheral European countries get cheap financing via concessional loans. Will it work? 

Today’s Agenda (All times CET.)

• 9:30 a.m. The EU’s top court gives non-binding opinions in separate challenges from local courts questioning the independence of judges in Poland and Hungary 
• 9:30 a.m. The EU’s top court gives its final verdict on challenges by Italmobiliare’s Sirap-Gema against EU antitrust fines levied in 2015 for colluding on prices of polystyrene foam or polypropylene rigid trays used to package fish, meat and cheese
• 9:30 a.m. EU industry chief Thierry Breton speaks to European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection
• EU financial services chief Mairead McGuinness delivers a speech at the Eurofi High Level Seminar 2021