Europe Daily News, 5 February 2024

• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11152 - Terna / DXT / WESII)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11343 - Sumitomo / Osaka Gas / I Squared / Think Gas / AG&P City Gas)
• Commission welcomes continued airline competition on the routes from Amsterdam to the US - IP/24/623
  
• Commission clears acquisition of LSSA and LSWA by PSP, Macquarie and ART (M.11332) - Midday Express
• Belgium - Notification - MEDE-CC-23/0036: Colruyt Group / Smatch - Match
• Belgium - Notification - MEDE-CC-23/0039: Stellar NV / Iziko NV
• Belgium - Competition Authority approves the acquisition of joint control of the Efeso group by TowerBrook and Eurazeo - 29 January 2024
• Spain - The CNMC initiates disciplinary proceedings against the military armaments company Rheinmetall
• Spain - The CNMC approves the merger between Zegona and Vodafone
• The great US-Europe antitrust divide - There are fundamental differences in how the two see corporate concentration - Financial Times
  

STATE AID

• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections – SA.109278
• Commission approves €300 million Polish State aid scheme to alleviate social costs of closing coal- and lignite-fired power plants and lignite mines (SA.109407) - IP/24/625
• Commission authorises a €325 million French State aid scheme for the production of heat from biomass (SA.59269) - Midday Express

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Working Party on Customs Union - 08 February 2024
• Agenda for: 654th meeting of the Export Credits Group - 21 February 2024
• Agenda for: Trade Policy Committee (Deputy Members) - 08 February 2024
• Agenda for: Trade Policy Committee (Services & Investment) - 07 February 2024
• Agenda for: 6th EU-Canada (CETA) Bilateral dialogue on Raw Materials - 03 March 2024
• Agenda for: 122nd Customs Code Committee General Legislation Section joint with 96 ECCG - 22 February 2024
• Agenda for: Meeting of the Customs Expert Group - Tariff & Statistical Nomenclature - Section HS/WCO Coordination Sector - 12 to14 February 2024
• Minutes of: 59th meeting of the Customs Expert Group – Tariff Measures subsection - 07 December 2023
• Request for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht Düsseldorf (Germany) lodged on 18 October 2023 - Servoprax GmbH Vs. Hauptzollamt Duisburg - Case C-631/23
  Re: Combined Nomenclature, Annex I of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87, interpretation of tourniquets, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446
• Appeal brought on 14 December 2023 by European Association of Non-Integrated Metal Importers & distributors (Euranimi) against the judgment of the General Court of 04 October 2023 in Case T-598/21, Euranimi Vs. Commission (Case C-772/23 P)
  Re: annulment of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1029 of 24 June 2021, amending the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/159 to prolong the safeguard measure on imports of certain steel products
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) …/... amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 as regards the means of proof of the customs status of Union goods and certain provisions relating to Union transit procedures
• Opinion by MEP Saskia Bricmont on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Union Customs Code and the European Union Customs Authority, and repealing Regulation (EU) No 952/2013
• Motion for a Resolution by MEP Bernd Lange and Jörgen Warborn on multilateral negotiations in view of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi 26-29 February 2024
  
• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on temporary trade-liberalisation measures supplementing trade concessions applicable to products from the Republic of Moldova under the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Moldova, of the other part
• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on temporary trade-liberalisation measures supplementing trade concessions applicable to Ukrainian products under the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part
• EU-Thailand FTA - EU text proposal as of 29 January 2024

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Competitiveness and Growth (Internal Market) - Working Party on Technical Harmonisation (SMEI - Omnibus) - 07 February 2024
• Commission publishes its Annual Union Work Programme on European Standardisation for 2024 - Midday Express
• China’s cull of EV overcapacity will bring little relief to Europe - Beijing’s tried-and-tested industrial policy has a track record of creating fierce export juggernauts - Financial Times

CHEMICAL

• Action brought on 30 November 2023 - Goodwill M + G Vs. Commission - Case T-1125/23
  Re: annulment of Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2055; REACH; synthetic polymer microparticles
• EFSA - Chemical monitoring reporting guidance: 2024 data collection as of 1 February 2024

FINANCE

• Commission welcomes political agreement on the Listing Act - Midday Express
• ESMA steps up its monitoring of EU alternative investment funds and sees potential risks in funds exposed to leverage and liquidity mismatches

ENERGY

• Request for a preliminary ruling from the Cour d’appel de Bruxelles (Belgium)  of 23 October 2023 - Electrabel SA and Others Vs. Commission de Régulation de l’Électricité et du Gaz (CREG) - Case C-633/23
• ACER publishes its report on the gas transmission tariffs for Portugal
• ACER calls for improvements to the new gas transmission tariffs proposed for Poland
• ACER - Regulators request more time to agree on the cross-zonal capacity calculation methodology for the balancing timeframe in the Hansa region

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: Working Party on the Environment - 05 to 08 February 2024
• Circular economy: Council and Parliament strike provisional deal on the right to repair directive - See the EP Statement
• Minutes & Working Documents - Meeting of the Expert Group on Circular Economy and Sustainable Production and Consumption (CE/SPC) - 15 December 2023

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Commission Regulation (EU) …/… amending Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards maximum residue levels for nicotine in or on certain products
  

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• EU and Canada boost their strategic digital partnership to address new challenges - IP/24/614
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/436 of 20 October 2023 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council, by laying down rules on the performance of audits for very large online platforms and very large online search engines
• Very large online platforms and very large online search engines designated pursuant to Article 33(4) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Single Market For Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act)

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Report on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council Amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1232 of the European Parliament and of the Council on a temporary derogation from certain provisions of Directive 2002/58/EC for the purpose of combating online child sexual abuse
• First evaluation of the Frontex Regulation delivers overall positive assessment despite challenges - IP/24/613

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• EU and IFC to unlock over €500 million in private sector investments for reconstruction in Ukraine - IP/24/611
• Challenges for monetary and fiscal policy interactions in the post-pandemic era - Occasional Paper Series No.337
• Satellites turn “concrete”: tracking cement with satellite data and neural networks - ECB Working Paper Series No.2900
• The role of comovement and time-varying dynamics in forecasting commodity prices - ECB Working Paper Series No.2901
• What drives banks’ credit standards? An analysis based on a large bank-firm panel - ECB Working Paper Series No.2902
• ECB Paper - Complementary cost-benefit assessment of the Integrated Reporting Framework - Extension of the IReF Regulation to cover country-specific requirements

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Possible items for College agenda from 6 February to 23 April 2024
• Final draft agenda for the EP Plenary Session of 5 - 8 February 2024
• Deadlines for the 5 - 8 February 2024 part-session
• Decisions of several committees to enter into interinstitutional negotiations (for announcement on Monday 5 February 2024)

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Agenda for: 5th meeting of the EU-Armenia Partnership Council - 13 February 2024
• Commission calls for eradication of Female Genital Mutilation worldwide
• Joint statement of the 24th EU-ASEAN ministerial meeting
• EU provides €26 million in humanitarian aid to support refugees and people affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye - IP/24/573
• EU allocates over €56 million in humanitarian aid for Asia and Pacific in 2024 - IP/24/606

SANCTIONS

• Action brought on 23 November 2023 - Khudaynatov Vs. Council - Case T-1098/23:
  Re: annulment of Council Decision (CFSP) 2023/1767 and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1765
• Action brought on 14 November 2023 - Zubitskiy Vs. Council - Case T-1074/23
  Re: annulment of Article 1(2) of Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/329; Council Decision (CFSP) 2023/1767 and of Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1765
• Zimbabwe: Council renews restrictive measures for a further year - See Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/460
• Guatemala: Council sanctions an additional five individuals for undermining democracy and the rule of law - See Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/455 & Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/457
• Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine
• Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures against ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaeda and persons, groups, undertakings and entities associated with them
• Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain third countries on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism