Europe Daily News, 15 January 2025

COMPETITION

• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11861 - Towerbrook / JC Flowers / Railsr / Equals)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11802 - TTE / AES / ADRE)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11779 - Oaktree/ Apollo)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11711 - JWL / Asia Pulp & Paper Group)
• Commission clears acquisition of UniCredit CNP Vita by UniCredit (M.11805) - Midday Express
• France - 2024, a historic year for the Autorité de la concurrence: €1.4 billion in fines imposed and a record 295 mergers examined
• France - Public consultation on the introduction of a merger control framework for addressing below-threshold mergers
• Slovak Republic - PMU halts merger review in outdoor advertising
• Slovenia - The Agency fines automotive sector with more than €1 million in cartel settlement
• US sues KKR for allegedly shunning antitrust filings requirements - Lawsuit follows lengthy settlement talks between justice department and the private equity group - 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.113458
• Slovak Republic - State aid: PMU's awareness-raising activities on State aid rules in 2024
• UK - The SAU has published its report providing advice to Homes England concerning the proposed subsidy to Liverpool Waters Finance Ltd and Peel L&P Developments Ltd for Liverpool Central Docks

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Law Enforcement Working Party (Customs) - 22 January 2025
• List of authorities designated by Member States and the UK regarding Northern Ireland to receive applications for, or to issue, binding origin information
• Commission calls on Member States to review outbound investments and assess risks to economic security - See the Commission Recommendation
• Answer written by Mr Šefčovič to a MEP written question - Measures and action following the ruling by the CJEU suspending the agreement with Morocco
• EU, Malaysia eye reopening of trade talks next week - Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is expected in Brussels next week and will give a speech in Bruges on Jan 20. - Politico.eu
• US limits on AI chips split EU - Export restrictions on cutting-edge microchips will affect some EU countries, including Poland - Politico.eu
• Trump vows to create ‘External Revenue Service’ to gather tariff income - Politico.eu

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Proposal for a Regulation on a public interface connected to the Internal Market Information System for the declaration of posting of workers and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 - Opinion of the European Data Protection Supervisor
• Answer given by Mr Hoekstra to a written question - Possible disruption to the distribution of products needed to treat illnesses such as asthma

CHEMICAL

• Agenda for: Working Party on International Environment Issues (Int. Chemicals/Synergies) - 22 January 2025
• Chemical reaction - Inside the corporate fight against the EU’s PFAS restriction - Corporate Europe Observatory

FINANCE

• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/19 of 26 September 2024 amending the regulatory technical standards laid down in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/815 as regards the 2024 update of the taxonomy for the single electronic reporting format
• European Commission issues €11 billion in its 1st syndicated transaction of 2025

ENERGY

• Could EU methane rules threaten energy security? - LNG industry worries it could be ‘impossible to comply’ with new regulations, hindering the bloc’s ability to import the fuel - Financial Times

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Commission launches competition for 2027 European Green Capital and Green Leaf Awards
• Seven actions to improve European biosecurity policy on ants - by Directorate-General for Environment
  
• Monitoring functional traits of complex temperate forests using Sentinel-2 data during a severe drought period  by Directorate-General for Environment
• Green infrastructure design for the containment of biological invasions. Insights from a peri-urban case study in Rome, Italy by Directorate-General for Environment
• How do different marine engine fuels and wet scrubbing affect gaseous air pollutants and ozone formation potential from ship emissions?  by Directorate-General for Environment

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Commissioner Hansen attends Grüne Woche and Global Forum for Food and Agriculture in Berlin - Midday Express

SCCS

• Minutes of the Methodology Scientific Workshop held in Brussels on 10 December 2024
• Minutes of the Working Group meeting on Cosmetic Ingredients of 17-18 December 2024
• Preliminary Opinion open for comments on Butylparaben - Children exposure (deadline for comments: 10 March 2025)

EFSA

• Scientific Opinion - Safety assessment of the process NGR LSP used to recycle post‐consumer PET into food contact materials
• External Scientific Report - L’ORA – A Living One Health Risk Assessment tool to assess the incursion risk of zoonotic diseases.

DIGITAL, DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• Agenda for: 101st EDPB meeting - 16 January 2024
• Regulation (EU) 2025/37 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2024 amending Regulation (EU) 2019/881 as regards managed security services
• Regulation (EU) 2025/38 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2024 laying down measures to strengthen solidarity and capacities in the Union to detect, prepare for and respond to cyber threats and incidents and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/694 (Cyber Solidarity Act)
• Statement by the Commission on the Legislative Financial Statement on the Cybersecurity Act and on the Article 67 of the Cybersecurity Act
• Commission unveils action plan to protect the health sector from cyberattacks - QaA
• EDPS - Towards Digital Clearinghouse 2.0: championing a consistent supervisory approach for the digital economy

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Economic and Financial Affairs Council of 21 January 2025
  - Current financial services legislative proposals - Information from the Presidency
• Exploring an uncertain future with the help of scenarios - see the ECB Blog
• Speech by Luis de Guindos: "The economic outlook and monetary policy in the euro area"
• Flexible asset purchases and repo market functioning - ECB Working Paper Series No.3013

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Possible items for College agendas from 29 January to 1 April 2025

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Rutte to MEPs: “We are safe now, we might not be safe in five years”
• EU Statement – UN General Assembly: Briefing by the PGA on his priorities
• Japan: Dialogue on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation with the EU takes place in Brussels
• Commissioner Kos travels to Montenegro to take stock of EU accession negotiations - Midday Express

RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE

• War in Ukraine: the General Court confirms the restrictive measures adopted against the Russian mobile telephone operator MegaFon - (See CPR Nº 4/2025 - Judgment of the General Court in Case T-193/23, MegaFon Vs. Council)
• Judgment of the Court of 15 January 2025 in Case T-748/22, Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor Vs. Council of the European Union
  Re: CFSP - Restrictive measures taken in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine - Freezing of funds - List of persons, entities and bodies to whom the freezing of funds and economic resources applies - Restrictions on admission to the territory of the Member States - List of persons...) List of persons, entities and bodies to whom the freezing of funds and economic resources applies - Restrictions on admission to the territory of the Member States - List of persons, entities and bodies subject to restrictions on admission to the territory of the Member States - Maintenance of the applicant's name on the lists - Concept of ‘influential businessman or businesswoman’ - Concept of ‘businessman or businesswoman active in economic sectors which provide a substantial source of income to the Government of the Russian Federation’ - Article 2, Article 2(1)(g) of Decision 2014/145/CFSP - Article 3(1)(g) of Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 - Right to effective judicial protection - Obligation to state reasons - Rights of the defence - Error of assessment - Proportionality - Legal certainty - Equal treatment
• EU4IBM-Resilience delivers power backup systems to prevent downtime at Ukraine’s borders