Germany Seeks End to Strict EU Unanimity

Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg’s daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union.

Olaf Scholz wants to bang the drum for change. When Germany’s chancellor speaks to the European Parliament in Strasbourg today, he’ll give MEPs insight into his global vision for the 21st century. And, just like during his EU speech in Prague last August, he will call for major structural reforms, we’re told. He’s seeking to overhaul the bloc’s decision-making process, introducing majority voting instead of unanimity to speed things up in areas such as foreign policy and fiscal matters — an especially thorny issue in Germany where voters are skeptical of footing the bill for countries with less spending discipline. Also on his agenda, with the energy crisis still ongoing, is the creation of the grid and storage infrastructure needed for a real internal energy market.