MNI POLITICAL RISK ANALYSIS – Week Ahead Dec 14-20

All timings subject to change. The next Political Risk Week Ahead will be published on Monday 4 January. We wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Monday 14 December:

• United States: Electoral college convenes to formalise the election win of President-Elect Joe Biden. Electors will cast their ballots in person in each of the US' 50 state capitol buildings (as well as in Washington, D.C.). In 32 states, Electors are legally obliged to vote for the candidate that won their state's presidential election on 3 November. The packages of votes are then sent to Congress to be tabulated on 6 January in a joint session presided over by Vice-President Mike Pence.
• EU-UK: Talks over a free trade deal continue after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed that negotiations should not be called off in a phone call on 13 December. No set date of when talks will end, but this week seen as yet another key period of negotiations to ensure a deal before year-end.
• European Union: Plenary session of the European Parliament starts in Brussels, continuing through to Friday 18 Dec.
• Germany: CureVac launches final-stage mass clinical trials for its COVID-19 vaccine. Trials will involve 35k participants across Europe and South America. The vaccine uses a similar 'messenger RNA' platform as the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine currently being rolled out, but unlike the Pfizer one it can last for up to three months in a standard fridge. The EU has purchased up to 405mn doses of the vaccine, but it will not be sent to the United States.
• Japan: Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to hold a coronavirus meeting to discuss the 'Go To Travel' campaign aimed at boosting tourism, but which has been criticised for supposedly resulting in a spike in coronavirus infections. Suga has stated that an immediate halt of the campaign will not happen, but the prime minister's approval ratings have declined as infections have increased.

MNI POLITICAL RISK ANALYSIS – Week Ahead Dec 14-20.pdf