Europe Daily News, 04 April 2025

COMPETITION

• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11817 - Metinvest / IB / JV)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11962 - Actis / EdF / Bharat Grid)
• Commission clears acquisition of a real estate asset by SEGRO and PSPIB (M.11917) - Midday Express
• Germany - Bundeskartellamt authorised a joint venture between KNDS Deutschland GmbH & Co KG, KNDS France, Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH and Thales Six GTS France SAS.
• Sweden - Online doctor company fined for anti-competitive co-operation on advertising digital healthcare services
• Meta antitrust case poses first big test of Trump’s new FTC - 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.117698
• Commission approves €1.5 billion Polish State aid scheme to support reinsurance for war-related risks to transport on the territory of Ukraine (SA.111121)
• Commission approves €300 million Greek State aid scheme to support sustainable biofuels and renewable liquid transport fuels (SA.116325) - Midday Express

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Meeting of the EP INTA Committee - 08 April 2025
• Agenda for: Meeting of the Trade Policy Committee (Deputies) - 10 April 2025
• Agenda for: Working Party on European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - 07 April 2025
• Report from the Commission on the implementation and application of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1 January – 31 December 2024
• HSC provisionally adopts the Recommendation for HS 2028 Amendments at 75th Session
• Council Decision (EU) 2025/685 of 27 March 2025 on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of Norway amending the Agreement of the European Union and the Kingdom of Norway pursuant to Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 relating to the modification of concessions on all the tariff-rate quotas included in the EU Schedule CLXXV as a consequence of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union
• Second Written Submission by the European Union: Colombia - Anti-dumping duties on Frozen Fries from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands - (Article 21.5) - DS591
• Statement from Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the WTO
• WTO - Antigua and Barbuda formally accepts Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies 

EU/US TARIFFS

• After the Trump Tariff Package – Now What? - See ECIPE Paper
• Reciprocal US tariffs undermine the Transatlantic economy - See the BusinessEurope Statement
• EU farmers and agri-cooperatives raise alarm and call for de-escalation amid new US tariffs - See Copa-Cogeca Statement
• Swiss cheesemakers should hope there’s no ‘Liberation Day 2’ - Garbage in, tariffs out - Financial Times
• Penguins, seals and colonies: 5 mind-boggling tariffs in Trump’s ‘liberation’ plan - Why let penguins have all the fun? - Politico.eu
• Minister hits back at Trump claim UK is ‘very happy’ with tariffs - Government aiming for better trade deal with US after 10% rate applied to Britain - Financial Times
• German leaders push for tough response to Trump tariffs in hope of détente later - Germany’s leaders still hold out hope that a FTA could follow Trump’s tariff “mania.” - Politico.eu
• Europe braces for flood of Chinese goods after US tariffs - EU officials ready emergency measures to prevent onslaught of discounted products in ‘economic nightmare’ - Financial Times
• Northern Irish whiskey sector faces confusion over Trump tariffs - With ingredients sourced on both sides of the border producers are unclear over the impact of US levies - Financial Times

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Agenda for: Meeting of the EP IMCO Committee - 07 & 08 April 2025
• Agenda for: Working Party on Competitiveness and Growth (Industry) - 10 April 2025
• Celebrating breakthrough achievements of the winners of the 2025 EU Prize for Women Innovators
• MEPs adopt their roadmap for supporting energy-intensive industries - See the EP Statement & Resolution
• EP legislative resolution of 3 April 2025 on the Proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directives (EU) 2022/2464 and (EU) 2024/1760 as regards the dates from which Member States are to apply certain corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements (COM(2025)0080 – C10-0038/2025 – 2025/0044(COD))

AUTOMOTIVE

• Can Europe’s EV battery sector make a competitive comeback? - See Acea Statement
• Electric cars: Tax benefits and incentives (2025) - See Acea Statement

CHEMICAL

• Commission helps users to implement the restriction on microplastics under the EU chemical legislation
• Public consultation - Chemicals regulation – update of EU rules for test methods - Regulation - Feedback period: 03 April 2025 - 01 May 2025
• Cefic statement on the latest REACH discussions at CARACAL 

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: Meeting of the EP ENVI Committee - 07 & 08 April 2025
• Sweden: EIB finances ground-breaking carbon capture plant in Stockholm
• EIB’s inaugural bond under European Green Bond Standard - EUR 3bn benchmark

DIGITAL, DATA PRIVACY & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• New survey to gather practices for the AI literacy living repository
• 8th EU-Japan Digital Policy Dialogue: Advancing the Digital Partnership
• Commission launches €5 Million call to strengthen European Fact-Checking Network
• Joining forces for AI-powered imaging to save lives: European Cancer Imaging Initiative shaping the future of AI in radiology and cancer care
• EDPB - Study on the secondary use of personal data in the context of scientific research

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

• Decision No 2024/01 of the Regional Steering Committee of the Transport Community on the revision of Annex I to the Treaty establishing the Transport Community

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Commission gives green light to €3.26 billion  payment for France under NextGenerationEU
• The Commission hosts EU–Türkiye High-Level Economic Dialogue - See the Joint statement
• ECB - Households and non-financial corporations in the euro area: fourth quarter of 2024
• ECB - Euro area quarterly balance of payments and international investment position: fourth quarter of 2024
• ECB Blog - When investors move in: new dynamics in European housing markets

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Main Results of the Informal Foreign Affairs Council Defence - 02 & 03 April 2025 (See the Background Paper & Remarks by HR/VP Kaja Kallas)
• Human Rights: EU and Mongolia hold dialogue in Ulaanbaatar
• Human rights breaches in Cameroon, Iran and Belarus - See the EP Statement
• Statement by Commissioner Lahbib on the forced displacement orders in Rafah, Gaza
• Rapid Deployment Capacity: EU carries out live military exercise to enhance crisis management
• Philippines, EU deepen space cooperation: Copernicus Mirror Site and Global Gateway take centre stage in high-level visit
• EU and Ethiopia sign Annual Action Programme 2024,allocating €240 million (32.3 Billion Birr) to strengthen Partnership and promote Sustainable Development
• Answer given by HR/VP Kallas to a MEP written question - Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine
• Answer given by HR/VP Kallas to a MEP written question - Scope for the EU to counter US economic pressure on Denmark and Greenland
• Nato needs ‘road map’ for US pivot away from Europe, says Finland - Financial Times

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