(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg’s daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every weekday morning.

EU finance ministers are due to use their last meeting of the year to tackle some critical issues. Somewhere at the top of the list will be a call for the Commission to come up with a plan for a common agency to fight money laundering. That’s after a series of scandals in the banking system showed that sticking to the status quo is not an option. They’ll also send a message to Facebook, making clear that crypto assets like Libra can’t be launched on the continent without a proper legal framework. There’s also no escaping the topic of climate change, with the ministers set to endorse a revamp of energy taxes.

What’s Happening

French Strikes | Emmanuel Macron’s push to transform France’s sclerotic economy faces the ultimate test today: a general strike. Unions representing everyone from transport workers to lawyers, doctors, teachers and students are going on an indefinite strike to oppose his plan for a top-to-bottom rebuilding of the pension system. Question is: Will he back down?

Fraud Probe | The top Czech prosecutor ordered the reopening of a probe into fraud allegations against Premier Andrej Babis, raising the prospect that the billionaire may be tried in court. It’s unclear how the investigation will evolve since President Milos Zeman has pledged to stop any further prosecution of his ally, who’s also under pressure from the EU.

Green Fund | The Commission wants to create a fund to help mobilize 100 billion euros in investment to help finance the world’s most ambitious shift to a green economy. The tool will aid regions most affected by the bloc’s target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

‘Big Phil’ | Phil Hogan has the reputation of being a behind-the-scenes power broker. “Big Phil” — as the six-foot-five Irishman is known in Brussels — will need those smarts in his new role as EU trade commissioner, seeking to defuse tensions with Donald Trump and hammer out a deal with the U.K. after Brexit. 

Glacial Pace | The euro area made some progress toward completing its banking union and reforming its bailout fund, though political turmoil in two of its largest economies torpedoed hopes for a full agreement. Even though leaders will discuss these issues when they meet next week, technical talks will likely be pushed to the new year.

In Case You Missed It

Dysfunctional Family | NATO’s 70th turned out to be less like a birthday party and more a Thanksgiving dinner for a large dysfunctional family: Not all of them got on, a few snide remarks were made, but in the end everyone seemed to accept that they’re stuck with each other. Here’s all you need to know about the alliance’s turbulent anniversary celebration. 

Coalition Politics | Germany’s Social Democrats backed away from a threat to ditch their alliance with Angela Merkel and eased demands for the government to abandon its balanced-budget policy. So what happened to that rebellious urge? The surge in popularity of the Greens and the far-right AfD makes a snap election a risky bet.

Dinner for Two | Macron and Angela Merkel sought to end weeks of growing tension and disagreement over dinner in London. The two leaders agree on many issues, including tightening strategic and industrial treaties. But they’ve also become disconnected over the pace of Macron’s reform efforts, and Merkel has become irked by the French leader’s style.

Easing Up? | The euro area continues to barely expand amid mounting evidence that a manufacturing slump has started to spread to other parts of the economy. Still, factories signaled the decline in production was the smallest since August and confidence about the future improved in a sign that the region’s slump may be starting to ease.

Waning Resolve | Five weeks since Mario Draghi retired from running the ECB, finding an outright fan of his legacy of negative interest rates has become a lot harder. Governing Council members are increasingly portraying it as a necessary evil that shouldn’t be compounded, and new chief Christine Lagarde hasn’t dispelled that impression.

Chart of the Day

If Berlin relents on calls to increase public spending, growth would be stronger at home and abroad, though Bloomberg Economics’ simulations suggest opening the fiscal floodgates wouldn’t transform the euro area’s prospects. Including a direct boost from Germany, investment stimulus of 1% of GDP would increase growth by a mere 0.2 percentage point for the currency bloc. 

Today’s Agenda

All times CET.

• 11 a.m. Eurostat to release 3Q GDP breakdown for the euro area, and the October retail trade reading
• Boeing holds commercial outlook event in Brussels
• Tech and antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager delivers keynote speech at a conference in Copenhagen
• EU finance ministers meet in Brussels to discuss money laundering, climate action, capital markets union
• French protests, strikes over pension reform
• ECB begins blackout period before Lagarde’s first monetary policy decision

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--With assistance from Zoe Schneeweiss and John Ainger.

To contact the authors of this story: Viktoria Dendrinou in Brussels at vdendrinou@bloomberg.netAlexander Weber in Brussels at aweber45@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Vidya N Root at vroot@bloomberg.net, Chris Reiter

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