Europe Daily News, 02 October 2024

COMPETITION

• Judgment of the General Court of 2 October 2024 in Case T-332/22, TotalEnergies Marketing Nederland NV Vs. European Commission
  Re: Access to documents - Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 - Documents relating to a procedure under Article 101 TFEU - Refusal of access - Exception relating to the protection of the objectives of inspection, investigation and audit activities - Exception relating to the protection of the commercial interests of a third party - General presumption of confidentiality - Obligation to identify the documents covered by the presumption and to provide a list of them
  
• Judgment of the General Court of 2 October 2024 in Case T-589/22, Silgan Holdings, Inc, Silgan Holdings Austria GmbH, Silgan International Holdings BV, Silgan Metal Packaging Distribution GmbH, Silgan White Cap Manufacturing GmbH, Vs. European Commission, supported by Federal Republic of Germany, and by Council of the European Union
• Judgment of the General Court of 2 October 2024 in Case T‑587/22, Crown Holdings, Inc., Crown Cork & Seal Deutschland Holdings GmbH, Vs. European Commission, supported by Federal Republic of Germany
  Re: Competition - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Metal packaging market - Decision finding an infringement of Article 101 TFEU - Cooperation between the Commission and the national competition authorities - Initiation of an investigation procedure by the Commission at the request of a national competition authority - Period for re-allocation - Obligation to state reasons - Legitimate expectations - Principle of subsidiarity - Rights of the defence - Proportionality - Principle of good administration - Counterclaim for re-evaluation of the amount of the fine following a settlement procedure
• Judgment of the General Court of 2 October 2024 in Case T-181/22, Pharol, SGPS SA, Vs. European Commission
  Re: Competition - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Portuguese and Spanish telecommunications markets - Non-competition clause on the Iberian market inserted in the contract for the acquisition by Telefónica of the share held by Portugal Telecom in the Brazilian mobile telephony operator Vivo - Partial annulment of the initial decision - Decision varying the amount of the fine - Res judicata - Failure to adopt a supplementary statement of objections - Determination of the value of sales - Exclusion of sales of services in respect of which the parties are not in potential competition
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11586 - Masdar / EDFI / JV)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11639 - Enilive / LG Chem / JV)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11587 - Masdar / EDFR / Nesma / JV)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11716 - Nordic Capital XI / CVC / Platinum IVY / Hargreaves Lansdown)
• Emanuele Tarantino appointed Chief Competition Economist at the Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) - Midday Express
• Commission published details of the reasons for opening two probes into how Apple handles interoperability under the Digital Markets Act - see Cases DMA.100204 & DMA.100203
• Ireland - CCPC opens consultation on Merger Guidelines

STATE AID

• Judgment of the General Court of 2 October 2024 in Cases T‑624/15 RENV, T‑694/15 RENV and T‑704/15 RENV, European Food SA, Starmill SRL, Multipack SRL, Scandic Distilleries SA, Ioan Micula,Viorel Micula, residing in Oradea, European Drinks SA, Rieni Drinks SA, Transilvania General Import-Export SRL, West Leasing SRL, formerly West Leasing International SRL, Vs. European Commission, supported by Federal Republic of Germany, by Kingdom of Spain, by Republic of Latvia, by Hungary and by Republic of Poland
  Re: State aid - Articles 107 and 108 TFEU - Bilateral investment treaty - Arbitration clause - Romania - Accession to the EU - Repeal of a tax incentives scheme prior to accession - Arbitral award granting payment of damages after accession - Decision declaring the aid incompatible with the internal market and ordering its recovery - First paragraph of Article 351 TFEU - Obligation to state reasons - Concept of ‘State aid’ - Advantage - Selective nature - Whether imputable to the State - Whether compatible with the internal market – Aid facilitating the economic development of disadvantaged regions - Recovery - Concept of ‘economic unit’ - Legitimate expectations - Right to be heard
• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections – SA.110551 & SA.109072

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Judgment of the General Court of 2 October 2024 in Case T‑263/22, China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME), Vs. European Commission, supported by European Industrial Fasteners Institute AISBL (EIFI)
  Re: Dumping - Imports of certain iron or steel fasteners originating in China - Imposition of a definitive anti-dumping duty - Action for annulment - Admissibility – Standing to bring proceedings - Representative association of exporters - Article 2(6a) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 - Construction of the normal value - Choice of appropriate representative country - Article 2(10) of Regulation 2016/1036 - Adjustments - Non-cooperation - Article 18 of Regulation 2016/1036 - Calculation of the dumping margin for the non-sampled cooperating exporting producers - Definition of the product concerned - Injury to the Union industry - Assessment of injury by segment - Causal link - Calculation of price undercutting and injury margin - Macroeconomic indicators - Procedural rights - Confidential treatment
• Agenda for: Working Party on the United Kingdom - 04 October 2024
• Agenda for: Meeting of the Working Party on Dual Use Goods - 08 October 2024
• Agenda for: 4th Trade Specialised Committee on Public Procurement under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) - 03 October 2024
• Report of the Meeting of the Commission Expert Group on Trade & Sustainable Development - 09 July 2024
• Minutes & Presentations of the Commission expert group on the Generalised Scheme of Preferences - 19 March 2024
• Proposal for a Council Decision on the termination of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Cameroon on forest law enforcement governance and trade in timber and derived products to the Union
• Information Note – Regulation (EU) 2021/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council setting up a Union regime for the control of exports, brokering, technical assistance, transit and transfer of dual-use items: Information on measures adopted by Member States in conformity with Articles 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 22 and 23
• Decision 001/2018 of the CETA Joint Committee of 26 September 2018 adopting its Rules of Procedure and of the Specialised Committees 
• CBAM Quarterly Report sample file for importers as of 01 October 2024
• CBAM Quarterly Report structure (XLS format) as of 01 October 2024
• Transitional CBAM Registry user manual for Declarants as of 01 October 2024
• Most important features for the Declarant Portal for release CBAM 1.3.1.0 as of 01 October 2024
• EU will hit China with electric vehicle duties, but peace talks to go on - Draft document spells out Commission’s strategy for keeping EU countries on board ahead of key vote on Chinese electric-vehicle duties - Politico.eu

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Speech by President von der Leyen on the 75th anniversary of the Union of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry for Transport (UECC)

CHEMICAL

• RAC/SEAC Opinions on a Review Report from BOEING for:
  - Chromium trioxide Anodising using chromium trioxide in aerospace and defence industry and its supply chains
  - Chromium trioxide Chromate rinsing after phosphating using chromium trioxide in aerospace and defence industry and its supply chains
  - Electroplating using chromium trioxide in aerospace and defence industry and its supply chains
  - Chromium trioxide; sodium dichromate Pre-treatments: Deoxidising, pickling, etching and/or desmutting using chromium trioxide or sodium dichromate in aerospace and defence industry and its supply chains
  - Chromium trioxide; sodium dichromate Passivation of stainless steel using chromium trioxide or sodium dichromate in aerospace and defence industry and its supply chains

FINANCE

• ESMA publishes latest edition of its newsletter
• ESAs appoint Marc Andries as Director to lead their DORA joint oversight

ENERGY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Energy - 08 October 2024

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: Working Party on the Environment - 07 October 2024
• Agenda for: Working Party on International Environment Issues (Biosafety) - 07 October 2024
• Minutes of the 104th meeting of the Competent Authorities for biocidal products - 19-20 June 2024
• Commission strengthens support for EU Deforestation Regulation implementation and proposes extra 12 months of phasing-in time, responding to calls by global partners

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Commission sends requests for information to YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok on recommender systems under the Digital Services Act - Midday Express
  
• Summary of Commission Decision of 5 August 2024 relating to a proceeding under Article 71 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Case DSA.100121 - TikTok Lite Rewards programme)

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• The rules on the transfer from the Court of Justice to the General Court of part of the jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings become applicable (See CPR No.154/24)

EURO, ECB & ECONOMY

• Agenda for: Meeting of the Economic & Financial Affairs Council - 08 October 2024
  - Current financial services legislative proposals - Information from the Presidency
  - Code of Conduct Group (Business Taxation) - Work Programme under the Hungarian Presidency
• Opinion of the ECB of 30 August 2024 on a proposal for a regulation on a framework for Financial Data Access and amending Regulations (EU) No 1093/2010, (EU) No 1094/2010, (EU) No 1095/2010 and (EU) 2022/2554 (CON/2024/29)
• ECB - Euro area bank interest rate statistics: August 2024
• Speech by ECB's Philip R. Lane: Expectations and Monetary Policy
• Speech by ECB's Luis de Guindos: Bridging the gap: reviving the euro area’s productivity growth through innovation, investment and integration
• How income expectations adjust to inflation – a consumers’ expectations-revealed pass-through - ECB Working Paper Series No.2986

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Possible items for College agenda from 8 October to 30 October 2024

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Restrictive measures in response to the war in Ukraine: the prohibition on providing legal advisory services to the Russian Government and to entities established in Russia is valid (See CPR Nº 155/2024 - Judgments of the General Court in Cases T-797/22, T-798/22, T-828/22 Ordre néerlandais des avocats du barreau de Bruxelles and Others Vs. Council)
• Commission takes stock of International Partnerships' strategy to enhance resilience at home and abroad - Join Communication & Factsheet

MIDDLE EAST CRISIS

• Iran: Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the Iranian attack against Israel
• Statement by President Ursula von der Leyen on the Iranian attack against Israel

EU/UK RELATIONS

• Starmer looks for post-Brexit ‘reset’ in meeting with EU leaders - UK prime minister travels to Brussels for talks on improving ties with bloc amid warnings not to expect an easy ride - Financial Times
• British government split over new-look Brexit deal - Keir Starmer travels to Brussels with the prospect of a new youth mobility scheme high on the agenda - Politico.eu