Welcome to the Brussels Edition. I’m Suzanne Lynch, Bloomberg’s Brussels bureau chief, bringing you the latest from the European Union each weekday. Make sure you’re signed up.

As September gets into full swing, there have been plenty of new faces arriving in Brussels for the new term. Chief among them: Andy Puzder, the new US ambassador to the EU, who presented his credentials to European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen last night.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Puzder took aim at EU red tape. Most notably, he pledged to defend US companies from European digital and environmental regulations that he says may unfairly target them, calling on the bloc to repeal “draconian pieces of legislation.”

Andy Puzder in Franklin, Tennessee in 2022. Photographer: Liam Kennedy/Bloomberg

Puzder is one of the leading figures in the movement against environmental, social and governance investing. His views about ESG and “woke” capitalism are set out in his book A Tyranny for the Good of its Victims: The Ugly Truth about Stakeholder Capitalism, which was published earlier this year.

The new ambassador namechecked several pieces of EU legislation in his interview, including the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which requires large EU and non-EU companies to identify, address and mitigate adverse environmental and human rights issues in their own operations as well business partners.

He also hit out at the digital services and digital markets acts, the bloc’s main tools for regulating Big Tech.

“They appear to be aimed at US companies, and the fines are against these large US companies, and that isn’t acceptable,” he said, just days after Brussels hit Google with a fine. “You can’t be out there fining US companies that are providing these services in Europe as a way to make European companies more competitive.”

Puzder also warned that the digital regulations will end up suppressing free speech, especially political discussion. 

“You can’t be out there saying, ‘we’re the defenders of democracy,’ and at the same time, you’re trying to limit free expression, free speech,” he said. 

Although Puzder arrives after a difficult few months for transatlantic relations, former fast-food company boss did offer some glimmers of hope for cooperation between Washington and Brussels. He underlined that the US and EU should work together to align interests to oppose China and Russia.

But with the EU giving short shrift to Trump suggesting this week that the bloc punish China in its next sanctions package, maintaining any positive momentum will be a challenge. 

The Latest

• Microsoft avoided a hefty antitrust penalty after the EU accepted its commitments to settle a probe into the alleged illegal bundling of its Teams video-conferencing app, as Bloomberg’s Samuel Stolton reported last week.
• The US is confident that Europe will follow through on its commitment to purchase $750 billion of energy investments in the next three years US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Bloomberg in an interview today in Brussels, describing the EU-US trade deal struck this summer as “transformative.”
• The European Banking Authority is preparing to detail terms for an equivalence regime allowing European banks to use UK covered bonds in their emergency liquidity buffers under the same terms as domestic debt, Bloomberg’s Esteban Duarte and Laura Noonan report.
• European authorities should show courage in their efforts to reduce the regulatory burden on banks without undermining their resilience, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said in a speech in Frankfurt today, adding that this shouldn’t amount to deregulation.
• Dutch Finance Minister Eelco Heinen warned lawmakers that the country’s limits on bonuses paid to bank employees are inadvertently driving fintech companies out of the Netherlands.
• The late Giorgio Armani outlined plans to sell a stake in his closely held fashion house to a major luxury firm, setting in motion a process that will eventually see the Italian brand folded into a larger group, according to a copy of his will seen by Bloomberg.

Giorgio Armani during Fashion Week in Paris, on Jan. 28. Photographer: Julien de Rosa/AFP/Getty Images

Seen and Heard on Bloomberg

The ECB does not need to lower interest rates further to deliver stable inflation, Governing Council member Christodoulos Patsalides told Bloomberg’s Lizzy Burden in an interview. The Cypriot central bank chief added he “wouldn’t like to exclude a rise in interest rates if the need arises.” Read our story on diverging views from ECB officials on the next step for interest rates.

Chart of the Day

France’s political crisis is eroding an otherwise solid economy, leaving the country trailing the recovery in the rest of Europe, the latest forecasts from national statistics agency Insee show. It predicts growth of just 0.8% in 2025 compared to 1.4% in the rest of the euro area, ending two years of French out-performance. Economist Dorian Roucher said there has been a persistent decline in consumer confidence since snap elections last year while fears of unemployment are at 10-year highs.

Coming Up

• NATO chief Mark Rutte press conference at 5 pm
• Update on French credit rating from Fitch this evening 
• Bloomberg Originals’ new series Leaders with Francine Lacqua premieres this evening with an interview with Finnish President Alexander Stubb 

Final Thought

Run-down, abandoned buildings in the village of Letrillas in Castilla y León in northwest Spain.   Photographer: Ana Maria Arevalo Gosen/Bloomberg

Public and private actors are experimenting with ways to reverse demographic decline in rural areas referred to as “España Vacía,” or “Empty Spain.” Initiatives like HolaPueblo are helping small-time entrepreneurs move to depopulated villages, spurring new businesses and a “virtuous cycle” that draws more newcomers over time. The government even has a ministry focused on the issue.

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