Europe Daily News, 17 October 2024

COMPETITION

• Agenda for: Working Party on Competition - 28 October 2024 
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11634 - Masdar/Terna)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11729 - TAV / Fraport / FTA I JV)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11741 - Abastible / Gasib Spain / Gasib Portugal)
• Commission approves Eiffage's acquisition of EQOS subject to conditions (M.11577)
• Commission clears acquisition of Gaité by NBIM and Swiss Life (M.11727) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of West Burton Flexible Generation by EPUKI and TTE (M.11748) - Midday Express
• International Paper has filed its acquisition of DS Smith under EU foreign subsidy regulation - See Case FS.1000083
• Czech Republic - The Competition Authority is conducting a dawn raid at the premises of the undertaking Seznam.cz
• US talk on Google breakup gives EU political cover to get tough - America is raising the prospect of breaking up Google just as EU considers ordering the company to split off part of its ads business - Politico.eu

STATE AID

• Opinon of Advocate General Kokott on 17 October 2024 in Case C‑453/23, E. sp. z o.o. Vs. Prezydent Miasta Mielca, intervener: Rzecznik Małych i Średnich Przedsiębiorców
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - State aid- Selective advantage from a statutory tax exemption - Distortion of competition - Determination of the reference system - Statutory tax exemption as part of the reference system - Standard of review - Consistency - Justification on non-fiscal grounds
• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections – SA.108703
• EFTA Surveillance Authority – Decision No.142/24/COL of 18 September 2024 to open a formal investigation into alleged State aid in purchasing of medical imaging services from two companies in Iceland
• Commission approves two Bulgarian State aid schemes amounting to €84 million and €84.9 million to support farmers in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine (SA.116093 and SA.116092) - Midday Express
• Answer given by EVP Vestager to a MEP written question - Provision imposing restrictions on commercial operations in the port of Larnaca and the payment of state compensation to a private company and whether this is in breach of European legislation

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Judgment of the Court of 17 October 2024 in Case C-112/23 P, PT Pelita Agung Agrindustri, PT Permata Hijau Palm Oleo, Vs. European Commission, European Biodiesel Board (EBB)
  Re: Appeal - Subsidies - Imports of biodiesel originating in Indonesia - Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2092 - Definitive countervailing duty - Regulation (EU) 2016/1037 - Article 7 - Calculation of the amount of benefit - Article 8(1) and (2) - Price undercutting - Price pressure
• Notice of initiation of an anti-dumping proceeding concerning imports of screws without heads originating in the People’s Republic of China (CN codes 7318 15 42 and 7318 15 48 )
• Council Decision (EU) 2024/2703 of 10 October 2024 on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the International Sugar Council as regards the extension of the International Sugar Agreement, 1992
• Cooperation on screening of foreign direct investments strengthens EU security - See the 4th Annual Report & Staff Working Document
• Report of the 14th Round of negotiations between the European Union and the 5 Eastern and Southern African (ESA5) on the deepening of the currently implemented EPA
• WTO - Burkina Faso formally accepts Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies
• Ireland ready to go it alone and restrict trade ties with Israel, taoiseach says - Ireland “will not wait for everybody in Europe to move on the issue of trade in the occupied Palestinian territories,” PM Simon Harris tells reporters - Politico.eu

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Independent experts call for increased investment to strengthen Europe's research and innovation leadership
• Call for urgent action to save the European steel industry and the livelihood of our workers - Open Letter to the Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the European Union
• German space chief defends Europe investment model against Draghi’s proposal - Former Italian PM recommended abolishing ‘georeturn’ principle in report to European Commission -Financial Times

CHEMICAL

• Judgment of the Court of 17 October 2024 in Case C-105/23 P; Firearms United Network, Tomasz Walter Stępień, Michał Budzyński, Andrzej Marcjanik Vs. European Commission, Federal Republic of Germany, French Republic, European Chemicals Agency (ECHA))
  Re: Appeal - Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH Regulation) - Registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals - Annex XVII - Update - Regulation (EU) 2021/57 - Lead - Use in wetlands of shot containing a lead concentration higher than 1% by weight
• Latest ECHA Weekly Newsletter published
• Minutes of the 87th Meeting of the Member State Committee (MSC-87) - 08 to 10 October 2024
• Provisional Draft Agenda 65th meeting of the Committee for Socio-economic Analysis - 26 to 28 November 2024
  

FINANCE

• Early repayment of a mortgage loan: the consumer can recover part of the Commission linked to the granting of credit if he or she has not been informed that this commission is not dependent of the duration of the contract (See CPR No.182/2024 - Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-76/22, Santander Bank Polska)
• Work continues towards a consolidated trading landscape for financial instruments in the EU - Midday Express
  - Reports by the expert stakeholder group on equity and non-equity market data quality and transmission protocols

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

• The Directive on the legal protection of computer programs does not allow the holder of that protection to prohibit the marketing by a third party of software which merely changes variables transferred temporarily to a game console’s RAM (See CPR No.181/2024 - Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-159/23, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe)

AGRICULTURE & FISHERIES

• Agenda for: Meeting of the CEG on "Honey Platform" - 06 November 2024
• Council (Agriculture & Fisheries) on 21-22 October 2024
  - Outcome of the meeting of CAP Directors (Budapest, 10-12 September 2024) - Information from the Presidency
  - Need for revised rules to allow for ecosystem-based hunting of cormorants and seals in order to protect sensitive fish stocks - Information from Sweden, supported by Estonia, Finland, and Latvia 

ENERGY

• 16th Oil Forum in Belgrade Concludes with a call for urgent action - See the Energy Community Statement
• ENTSOG publishes its Winter Supply Outlook 2024/25 (with Summer 2025 Overview) and Winter Supply Review 2023/24
• Drop funding for massacre-linked gas project or face legal trouble, UK warned - Campaign group Friends of the Earth warns ministers that continued support for the project would be ‘unlawful.’ - Politico.eu

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: Working Party on International Environment Issues (Climate change) - 25 October 2024
• Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning urban wastewater treatment (recast)
• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 as regards provisions relating to the date of application - Letter to the Chair of the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) (Deforestation)
  
• Answer given by EVP Vestager to a MEP written question - Are millions of vehicle owners in the EU facing an immediate driving ban?
• Answer given by EVP Vestager to a MEP written question - Suspension of the Altri project in A Ulloa for potential breach of EU legislation and the project’s serious environmental and socio-economic consequences

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• SCCS - Draft Agenda of the 9th plenary meeting, Luxembourg, 25 October 2024
• SCHEER - Minutes of the Working Group meeting on Brain stimulators - 04 October 2024
• Answer given by EVP Vestager to a MEP written question - Certification of cosmetic products
• Dangerous toys made outside EU sold online within the bloc-Toy Industries of Europe finds that many products on marketplaces in the ‘kids’ category are unsafe - Financial Times

EFSA

• Safety of a feed additive consisting of 3‐phytase produced with Komagataella phaffii CECT 13171 (FSF10000/FLF1000) for poultry species, pigs for fattening and minor porcine species for fattening (Fertinagro Biotech S.L.)
• Development of in silico methodologies to predict the toxicity of novel proteins in the context of food and feed risk assessment
• Navigating Tomorrow's Tide: Exploring the Future of Ocean Resources and Their Impact on Food and Feed Safety
• Safety evaluation of the food enzyme triacylglycerol lipase from the non‐genetically modified Limtongozyma cylindracea strain AE‐LAYH (B)
• Safety evaluation of the food enzyme carboxypeptidase C from the genetically modified Aspergillus niger strain PEG
• Modification of the existing maximum residue level for flonicamid in honey

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Judgment of the Court of 17 October 2024 in Case C-302/23; Marek Jarock Vs. C. J.
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Internal market - Electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions - Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 - Article 25 - Electronic signatures - Legal effect and probative value in court proceedings - National legislation permitting the lodging, by electronic means, of electronically signed procedural documents with the courts - Need for those courts to have an appropriate computer system
• Agenda for: Working Party on Telecommunications & Information Society - 24 October 2024
• BEREC introduces work plans for the next year and launches a public consultation

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• Agenda for: Horizontal Working Party on Cyber issues - 21 October 2024
• New rules to boost cybersecurity of EU's critical entities and networks - see the NIS Implementing Regulation
• EDPB - Guidelines 2/2023 on Technical Scope of Art. 5(3) of ePrivacy Directive
• EDPS issues the Supervisory opinion on the draft Europol Management Board Decision on retention of administrative data
• ENISA - Germany is the winner of the 2024 edition of the ECSC, followed by Italy in second place and Poland in third place

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Greece sceptical about EU outsourcing asylum seekers - Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis says Italy-Albania deal cannot be replicated for entire bloc - Financial Times

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Agenda for: Meeting of the European Council - 17 October 2024
• Main results of the General Affairs Council meeting, 15 October 2024
• Fit for Future Platform made significant contributions to simplifying and modernising EU law over its four-year mandate

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• European Council: Press remarks by High Representative Josep Borrell ahead of the meeting

EU/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL

• Main results of the First EU-Gulf Cooperation Council summit, 16 October 2024
  - Opening remarks by President von der Leyen at the EU-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit
  - Press remarks by High Representative Josep Borrell "ahead" and "after" of the ministerial dinner

RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE

• Ukraine/Russia: Statement by the HR/VP on the killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war
• OLAF intelligence supports Spanish Operation enforcing EU sanctions against Russia
• Remarks by President Charles Michel at the joint doorstep with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy
• Putin's sanctions-busting shadow fleet is spilling oil all over the world - Satellite imagery shows the unforeseen consequences of efforts to hobble Russia’s war economy - Politico.eu