Ivaylo Iaydjiev
@iaydjiev.bsky.social
Previoualy researcher @UniofOxford, 🇪🇺 policy @EU_Commission, deputy minister of finance 🇧🇬. Owns my views.
With the rise of RES and security of supply issues, 🔋are becoming critical to 🇪🇺 Europe's energy system. And it seems that, for once, Bulgaria 🇧🇬 is very much at the forefront of this, not the least through significant investments funded by its Recovery and Resilience Plan. #eupublicgoods
Who is the leader in energy storage in the EU?
Erm...Bulgaria?
europebuilding.substack.com
Not sure about the title, but a nicely informed view of concentration risk and history of bubbles. Although it does not answer the question it raises itself - how can you effectively diversify? Can you even diversify in today's market - or is AI simply everywhere?
The end of ‘The Magnificent 7’: the problem with stock nicknames
A cynic would say such monikers are made up by professionals looking to hype markets — I think ‘The Mag 7’ is much more dangerous than that
ft.com
We have something new for you! Today we launched the Bruegel ETS Tracker. Based on the great work by Jan Abrell you can now easily access: - emissions by sector, location, installation, time - allocation - auction revenues - carbon prices ets.bruegel.org [feedback more than welcome]
I see @bruegel.org asks "Where is the (EU) growth?" www.bruegel.org/podcast/wher... Answer: in South, East, and South-East Europe. The countries actually pushing the euro area average to <1% are mostly DE, IT, FR (as well as BE, АТ, SK, FI).
G7 long-term borrowing costs are reaching record-highs • US$50trn market for G7 sovereign bonds has yields at two-decade high, complicating fiscal equations • Data suggest investors expect higher inflation is here for good amid rising energy prices and supply shocks www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
From the eurodollar to the...spacedollar? I would assume any local currency will float.
The Economist@economist.com · 2mo agoExisting space law was crafted for a world in which the heavens were the province of governments. It is less-suited for a world of space capitalists seeking profit among the stars econ.st/433DzQs Illustration: The Economist/Alamy
Hard to disagree w/ @katie0martin.ft.com : "I’ve yet to speak to bond investor who would turn their nose up at joint European sovereign-style bonds issued at scale" We have EU bonds, but we're willingly preparing to extinguish them. And plenty to do with indices, CRAs... www.ft.com/content/5f02...
The euro’s urgent need
Europe must finally grasp the opportunity to develop the single currency as a reserve asset
ft.com
Not sure that was the intended effect, but I seem to be learning a lot about railroad financing in the 19th century from discussions about AI.
Today we moved forward on both: ▪️ Unlocking the €90 billion loan to Ukraine, securing financial and military support for 2026–2027. ▪️ Adopting the 20th package of sanctions against Russia, reducing its ability to wage war. Europe stands firm, united and unwavering in its support to Ukraine.
After months of work, the FT's new finance history podcast is now finally live! 🥳 The first two episodes — hosted by Gillian Tett and yours truly — are on Mesopotamian debt and genius investors of yore. Pods on railway bonds, the Nixon Shock and the stones of Yap coming. www.ft.com/tsom?syn-25a...
Introducing: The Story of Money
A new video podcast from The FT exploring the history of finance
ft.com
Fascinating from @bruegel.org, revisiting a topic that was once very much in the policy focus. Great example of systems thinking, linking trade, fiscal, &, well, competitive stories w/ striking numbers. Lot to chew on for EU, incl that protection alone is not enough. www.bruegel.org/podcast/why-...
Why are global imbalances rising, and why does it matter?
Is the dollar at risk? Is China the new Germany? How to manage rising external deficits and surpluses
bruegel.org
Or, as one of the comments puts it, farce majeure.
Katie Martin@katie0martin.ft.com · 5mo agoIt's only force majeure if it comes from the Majeure region of France. Otherwise it's just a sparkling shitshow.
Oh man, the hit at Ras Laffan has taken almost 20% of output (i.e. roughly 3% of global LNG volumes) offline for *3-5 years*.
Exclusive: Iran attack damage wipes out 17% of Qatar’s LNG capacity for three to five years, QatarEnergy CEO says
Iran’s attacks on Qatar have damaged facilities that produce 17% of the company’s liquefied natural gas export capacity and it will take three to five years to repair them, QatarEnergy CEO Saad ...
reuters.com
🆕 📊 Updated data: Our @bruegel.org tracking suggest that the EU as of Q1 2026 has 260 GWh battery cell manufacturing capacity, equivalent to two-thirds of demand. A further 320 GWh are under construction - mostly involving Chinese companies.
In some of Europe's sunniest countries 1 MWh of average solar generation is still worth more than 60 € (HR, BG, RO, HU, GR) and in IT it is worth more than 90€/MWh. (In 2026 it will likely be more.) This compares to maybe 40-50 €/MWh of average cost of utility solar www.bruegel.org/dataset/eu-r...
This strikes me as the right approach to the Industrial Accelerator Act - it is needed (given less-than-fair competition), needs calibration (to not shoot ourselves in the foot w/partners), but is not enough (as structural issues remain). www.bruegel.org/podcast/infl...
Inflation, Iran and the Industrial Accelerator Act
Klaas Knot and Jeromin Zettelmeyer tackle the key issues facing Europe
bruegel.org
Mind-boggling figures on Chinese goods exports for the first two months of this year. Up 21.8% on the previous year. The reasons for this appear to be the forthcoming deadline for export tax rebates on solar panels and batteries. China's industrial policy in one chart!
"Most of the time working groups produce better results than carrier groups. Confabbing, summit-holding and deliberating result in decisions that—when they are eventually taken—have some sort of logic and general buy-in."
In times of chaos, Europe is the muddled power the world needs
In praise of the dreaded European working group
economist.com
"Imagine if...large-scale programme had been funded to produce batteries at scale and install them in...European households" @martinsandbu.ft.com Fun fact, we🇧🇬 decided to use RRF🇪🇺 to support batteries (grid-scale). Today, we have 2 of largest BESS in EU and soon up to 10,000 GWh- all in <4 years.
Europe’s impotence extends to energy
The political momentum behind decarbonising the continent’s energy system has dissipated
ft.com
NEW ANALYSIS: UK emissions fell 2.4% in 2025 as coal fell to a 400-year low. Incredibly, we used less coal last year than than in 1600, when Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne and Shakespeare was writing Hamlet. All the details in our article: www.carbonbrief.org/...
After months of wrangling and an epic list of delays, the Commission has finally released its Industrial Accelerator Act. This could turn into one of the EU’s most consequential industrial policy files in years - and the proposal is honestly not a bad place to start. Some quick thoughts:
Actually, we have an example - EU always housed large RU reserves, and leveraged this in 2022 with quite some punch, for geopolitical reasons. Yet, this was very much ad hoc and improvised - needs to be part of a strategy, or at least a shared understanding of the statecraft (EUcraft?) toolbox.
Ivaylo Iaydjiev@iaydjiev.bsky.social · 6mo ago"Europe is better armed for geopolitical conflict than its leaders might think". @martinsandbu.ft.com makes two key points: 1) defense, or resilience, today is not enough; 2) for offence, you need political will to leverage (latent) power. Resilience and response. www.ft.com/content/b92f...
"Europe is better armed for geopolitical conflict than its leaders might think". @martinsandbu.ft.com makes two key points: 1) defense, or resilience, today is not enough; 2) for offence, you need political will to leverage (latent) power. Resilience and response. www.ft.com/content/b92f...
It is time for Europe to weaponise its chokepoints
China and others have long been adept at using supply chains to their advantage — the EU should do the same
ft.com
Now imagine if only there was also an EU safe asset, let's say a bond that is not from a temporary instrument. And imagine this one was added to several tracking indices... Investors pour record sums into European stocks - www.ft.com/content/8017...
Investors pour record sums into European stocks
Inflows on track for all-time high in February as global fund managers seek alternatives to expensive US tech shares
ft.com
One story from Just Transition Fund - we wanted to support cleantech manufacturing in coal transition regions in BG, but this required a long process of justifying why provide capex on something else than SMEs. By the time we got there, some investors had moved on. Plenty you can do with EU funds.
Simone Tagliapietra@tagliapietra.bsky.social · 6mo ago💶 Hungary and Spain are investment hubs for clean technology manufacturing. France comes in third with almost €12B in investments since 2022. But some investments have been cancelled or paused. In Germany that is more than half the volume. 💡 Find out more in Bruegel's European Clean Tech Tracker.
Indeed, "the protection of a big currency bloc" was what (in part) helped to get the euro over the line also in Bulgaria. Add to that the limits of monetary policy in small open economy and you can start building a case - even in Sweden.
Sander Tordoir@sandertordoir.bsky.social · 6mo agoEuro speculation for Sweden fits the vibe of President Stubbs „join the European Union, it gives you protection“. For the EU it’d be better to have Sweden in the euro than the UK rejoin the Union, since the latter remains consumed by domestic politics. 1/ www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
To put it another way: is lessening incentives for cross-dossier bargaining in order to facilitate limited progress on some dossiers the best strategy across the board where QMV is the norm? Or is it something to be kept for very specific cases to move behind unanimity? @lucasguttenberg.bsky.social
Lucas Guttenberg@lucasguttenberg.bsky.social · 6mo agoThe idea to unblock the Single Market deepening agenda with a multi-speed approach a.k.a. Enhanced Cooperation seems extremely weird to me both in principle and politically especially if the goal is "One Market". Here is why:
Speaking at an event in Sofia, Chief Economist Philip R. Lane congratulates Bulgaria on joining the euro area, adding that Bulgaria now has a seat at the table and is helping to shape ECB policymaking. Read his speech www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/da...
