Europe Daily News, 01 October 2024

COMPETITION

• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11383 - Cooper / Viatris (European OTC Business))
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11748 - Epuki / TTE / West BurtonFlexible Generation)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11693 - Platinium Equity Group / Fratelli Polli)
• Commission clears acquisition of Lombard by Utmost (M.11682) - Midday Express
• Commission approves acquisition of Kinetics by Exyte (M.11559)
• Czech Republic: Competition Authority - Merger of PPF Group and Nordic Telecom may proceed subject to fulfilment of commitments
• Denmark - The Competition Authority has updated its guidance on the use of new powers to review below-threshold mergers
• Germany - Anti-competitive structures in the provision of EV charging electricity – Final report on sector inquiry into EV charging infrastructure
• Greece - Decision on a case concerning the obstruction of a dawn raid (Motor Oil (Hellas), Corinth Refineries S.A)
• Poland - UOKiK imposed a fine of more than PLN 405 million on KIA Poland and 11 dealers of the company
• Romania - The Competition Council approved the takeover of three companies by OMV Petrom S.A.
• Romania - The Competition Council and Infocons signed a collaboration protocol
• Vodafone and Three offer UK regulator new concessions on £16.5bn merger - Companies say they will keep £10-a-month package for ‘value-focused’ customers in effort to win CMA’s approval for tie-up - 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.111087 & SA.107336
• Commission Decision (EU) 2024/2549 of 29 November 2023 on State aid SA.57543 and SA.58342 (2020/NN) (ex 2020/N), implemented by the Kingdom of Denmark and the Kingdom of Sweden for Scandinavian Airlines System AB
• Answer given by Executive Vice-President Vestager to a written question - Restructuring of TAROM

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: 7th Meeting of Expert Group on Outbound Investment - 02 October 2024
• Notice of initiation of an expiry review of the anti-dumping measures applicable to imports of ironing boards originating in the People’s Republic of China ( CN codes ex 3924 90 00 , ex 4421 99 99 , ex 7323 93 00 , ex 7323 99 00 , ex 8516 79 70 and ex 8516 90 00)
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) …/... concerning the classification of certain goods in the Combined Nomenclature - CN: 8424 89 70
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) …/... concerning the classification of certain goods in the Combined Nomenclature - CN: 8528 72 10
• Commission Decision of 30 September 2024 approving on behalf of the European Union, the position to be taken as regards amendments to Annexes 10-A and 10-B to the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore
• Council Decision (EU) 2024/2581 of 23 September 2024 on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the Partnership Committee established by the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Armenia, of the other part, as regards the adoption of the Mediation Mechanism, the Rules of Procedure and the Code of Conduct
• Council Decision (EU) 2024/2585 of 24 September 2024 on the position to be adopted on behalf of the European Union within the Specialised Committee on Social Security Coordination established by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part, as regards the amendment of certain Annexes to the Protocol on Social Security Coordination
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2611 of 30 September 2024 fixing the representative prices, import duties and additional import duties applicable to molasses in the sugar sector from 1 October 2024
• On 30 September 2024 Croatia joined the Centralised Clearance for Import (CCI) system implementing the first phase of CCI system
• WTO - Trade and Environment Week 2024 to focus on inclusive shift to sustainability
• The dock strikes that threaten trade and the freeports that fail to boost it - US east coast labour unions are set to cause serious disruption to container shipping - Financial Times

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices - 07 October 2024 
• Agenda for: Working Party on Competitiveness & Growth (Industry) - 04 October 2024
• Agenda for: Working Party on  Technical Harmonisation (Motor vehicles) - 07 October 2024
• Report from the Commission on the final evaluation of the Programme for the competitiveness of enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (COSME) 2014-2020

CHEMICAL

• Draft agenda for : Meeting of the REACH Committee - 22 October 2024
• ECHA - Agenda for: 87th meeting of the Member State Committee - 8 to 10 October 2024
  
• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures - Outcome of the European Parliament's first reading and Corrigendum procedure (Strasbourg, 23 April 2024 and 17 September 2024)
• Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures
• List of authorisation decisions adopted on the basis of Article 64(8) of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH

• RAC/SEAC Opinions on an Application by HAAS Group for Authorisation for:
  - Chromium trioxide Anodise sealing 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
  - Chromium trioxide Anodising using chromium trioxide in aerospace and defence industry and its supply chains
  - Chromium trioxide Electroplating using chromium trioxide in aerospace and defence industry and its supply chains
  - Chromium trioxide Inorganic finish stripping using chromium trioxide in aerospace and defence industry and its supply chains
  - Chromium trioxide Pre-treatments: Deoxidising, pickling, etching and/or desmutting using chromium trioxide in aerospace and defence industry and its supply chains
  - Chromium trioxide Formulation of mixtures with soluble Cr(VI) compounds for use in aerospace and defence industry and its supply chains for surface treatments

FINANCE

• Agenda for: Att. Financial Services and Banking Union (CMDI) - 17 October 2024
  
• ESMA 2025 Work Programme: Focus on key strategic priorities and implementation of new mandates

TAXATION

• Code of Conduct Group (Business Taxation) - Work Programme under the Hungarian Presidency

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Special report 20/2024: Common Agricultural Policy Plans – Greener, but not matching the EU’s ambitions for the climate and the environment
• Answer given by Executive Vice-President Šefčovič to a MEP written question - Proportionality of EU rules in the forestry sector
• Renovations, sustainable building materials can boost Europe’s green transition - see the EEA Statement & Report

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Telecommunications & Information Society - 02,03 & 04 October 2024
• SAP chief warns EU against over-regulating artificial intelligence - Christian Klein, head of bloc’s biggest software firm, warns against further curbs on AI models - Financial Times

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• Agenda for: JHA Counsellors on Data protection Matters - 09 October 2024
• Agenda for: Horizontal Working Party on Cyber Issues - 03 October 2024
• EDPB - Letter to Commission on the EES information campaign
• EDPB - Letter to Commission on the implementation of ETIAS

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Halfway through its lifetime, InvestEU is already playing a key role by unlocking €218 billion in investment towards a more sustainable and competitive EU
• Unraveling the drivers of energy-saving technical change - ECB Working paper Series No.2984
• Speech by ECB's Luis de Guindos: Expectations surveys, central banks and the economy

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Saudi Arabia: Statement by the Spokesperson on the executions in the country
• Ukraine: Statement by G7 Foreign Ministers on Russian annexation of eastern territories
• The New York Joint Statement on the Security and Resilience of Undersea Cables in a Globally Digitalized World
• Lebanon: Press statement by High Representative Josep Borrell after the extraordinary meeting with EU Foreign Ministers
• EU and Western Balkans deepen cooperation on Innovation, Research, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport
• Red lines remain as Starmer and Von der Leyen attempt to reset UK-EU relations - Old arguments over energy trading and fishing rights are a potential stumbling block in the talks - Financial Times