Europe Daily News, 27 November 2024

NEW "VON DER LEYEN" COMMISSION

• European Parliament approves the “von der Leyen II” Commission by 370 votes in favour, 282 against and 36 abstentions
• European Parliament leaders formally conclude the hearings process of Commissioners-designate
• Speech by President von der Leyen at the European Parliament Plenary on the new College of Commissioners and its programme
• Von der Leyen to preside over most rightwing European Commission - New team reflects growing appeal of conservative and hard-right parties in Europe - Financial Times
• Parliament approves von der Leyen’s right-leaning Commission for Dec. 1 start - New European commissioners get modest green light from lawmakers in Strasbourg - Politico.eu

COMPETITION

• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11669 - Shell Group / Pavilion)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11724 - Schwenk / Goldbeck / Confinity JV)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11419 - Pavao Vujnovac / Fortenova Group)
• Commission clears acquisition of Marel by JBT (M.11615) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of Sylvan by Novo Nordisk Foundation and KKR (M.11703) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of IKEA Baltics franchise businesses by Inter IKEA Systems (M.11713) - Midday Express
• The European Commission has appointed Stina Soewarta as Director ‘General Affairs' at the Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) - Midday Express
• The European Commission has appointed Anthony Whelan as Deputy Director-General for ´State aid policy´ at the Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) - Midday Express
• Competition in the field of Euro Interest Rate Derivatives: the General Court confirms the Commission’s amended decision against HSBC (See CPR Nº 196/2024 - Judgment of the General Court in Case T-561/21, HSBC Holdings and Others Vs. Commission)
• Commission completes its review of the BBVA and Banco Sabadell transaction without raising any objections - See Case FS.100095
• EFTA - ESA closes infringement proceedings against Norway over lack of public tender for municipal waste management
• Bulgaria - The Commission for protection of competition sanctioned Technomat-Mercury Ltd., TPKI Zdravohod and Kavaler Union 2001 Ltd. for bid rigging in public tenders
• Finland - Consultation on the acquisition of Saipu Oy / Sähkö-Kaunisto Oy (until 29.11.2024)
• France - The General Rapporteur of the Autorité de la concurrence indicates that an unannounced inspection was carried out in the agricultural inputs sector
• Latvia - One in ten entrepreneurs is ready to engage in a competition law infringement, while municipalities have become more conscientious
• Portugal - Castellana and Tiekenveen notify acquisition of joint control over Alegro Sintra
• Portugal - Esseco Industrial notifies the acquisition of exclusive control over Ercros
• Portugal - Indumape notifies the acquisition of exclusive control over GL International Food
• UK - The CMA has published the findings from its review of loyalty pricing in the groceries sector

STATE AID

• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections – SA.112514 & SA.114788
• Commission approves €122.2 million Swedish State aid recapitalisation measure to support the airport operator Swedavia (SA.58880 & SA.57025) - Midday Express
• UK - CMA - Report on the proposed subsidy to Barking and Dagenham Homes Limited by the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Council

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Working Party on the United Kingdom - 29 November 2024
• Agenda for: Trade Policy Committee (Generalised System of Preferences (GSP)) - 04 December 2024
• Draft amendment to the Explanatory notes to the Combined Nomenclature of the European Union – Chapter 87 - new and used vehicles
• Decision of the EU-Bosnia & Herzegovina Stabilisation and Association Council establishing the general requirements for proofs of origin issued electronically under Article 17(4) of Appendix A to Protocol 2 to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, of the other part
• Decision of the EU-Bosnia & Herzegovina Stabilisation and Association Council amending Protocol 2 to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, of the other part, as regards permeability between the Regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin and the Transitional rules of origin
• WTO - Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - European Union - Firefighting foams containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
• WTO - Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures - Notification - European Union - All types of ready-to-eat foodstuffs - Addendum
• WTO - New sectoral profiles offer insights into trade linkages within manufacturing industries
• EU-China relations: Shaping the way forward - a BusinessEurope position paper
• How to deal with Donald Trump’s tariff threats - Canada, Mexico and China have options to avoid a trade war - Financial Times
• Poland backs French effort to kill Mercosur trade deal - Prime Minister Donald Tusk wants to protect EU’s largest poultry producers - Financial Time
• Trump’s tariffs are a reality check for markets - Bessent is a pragmatic pick, but he will not make up for the president-elect’s unpredictability - Financial Times
• Donald Trump rounds out economic team after tariff threats - President-elect taps Jamieson Greer for USTR and Kevin Hassett as director of National Economic Council - Financial Times

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Meeting of the Competitiveness Council of 28 November 2024
  - Joint proposal for a renewed European automotive policy: balancing competitiveness and climate ambition - Information from Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia, Italy, Poland, Romania and Slovakia
  - The development of European Battery Production and way ahead to ensure a competitive European battery industry - Information from Sweden, France and Germany
  - Reaping the full benefits of the biotech revolution - Information from Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Slovakia and Spain 
  - Bioeconomy – next steps in the EU - Information from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain and Sweden
• Minutes of the 29th meeting of the Committee on Standards - 15 November 2024
• Minutes of the 6th meeting of the Single Market Programme - Competitiveness & Sustainability of SMEs (SMP/COSME) - 06 November 2024
• The European Commission has appointed Barbara Bonvissuto as Director ‘Ecosystems III: Construction, Machinery and Standardisation' at its Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) - Midday Express
• EU member states must act now as clock ticks on 2025 CO2 targets - See the ACEA Statement
• European steel industry on the brink: the EU must act now or risk losing manufacturing, warns EUROFER 
• ArcelorMittal delays green investments in Europe over policy uncertainty - Steelmaker blames lack of progress from EU policymakers to support transition to lower-carbon alternatives -Financial Times

CHEMICAL

• Judgment of the General Court of 27 November 2024 in Case T‑453/22, BASF SE, Dow Europe GmbH, Nouryon Functional Chemicals BV, Vs. European Commission, supported by French Republic, and by European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)
  Re: Environment and protection of human health - Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 - Classification, labelling and packaging of certain substances and mixtures - Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/692 - Classification and labelling of the substance N-carboxymethyliminobis (ethylenenitrilo)tetra(acetic acid) and its pentasodium and pentapotassium salts (DTPA) - Criteria for classification of a substance as a reproductive toxicant Category 1B - Intrinsic property to specifically harm reproduction - Non-specific secondary consequence of other toxic effects – Possible influence of maternal toxicity - Appropriateness of the classification - Absence of public consultation on the opinions of ECHA’s Committee for Risk Assessment - Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making - Absence of impact assessment
• Judgment of the General Court of 27 November 2024 in Case T‑449/22, Evonik Operations GmbH, Vs. European Commission, supported by European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)
  Re: Environment and protection of human health - Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 - Classification, labelling and packaging of certain substances and mixtures - Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/692 - Harmonised classification and labelling of the substance silanamine, 1,1,1-trimethyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)-, hydrolysis products with silica; pyrogenic, synthetic amorphous, nano, surface treated silicon dioxide - Criteria for classification of a substance in the hazard class ‘Specific target organ toxicity-repeated exposure’ - Appropriateness of the classification - Absence of public consultation on the opinion of ECHA’s Committee for Risk Assessment - Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making - Absence of impact assessment
• Decision of the ECHA's Board of Appeal of 26 November 2024 in Case A-010-2023; Sumitomo Chemical Agro Europe SAS, interveners CERA and ANSES
  Re: Biocidal products - Technical equivalence - Strains of micro-organisms - Necessity and competence to establish technical equivalence - Manifest error of assessment - Scope of Article 54
• Decision of the ECHA's Board of Appeal of 19 November 2024 in Case A-011-2023; Coloured Chemicals BV
  Re: Registration - Completeness check - Article 20(2) - Assessment of the quality or adequacy of data submitted - ethyl methyl carbonate
• Decision of the Chairman of the ECHA's Board of Appeal of 19 November 2024 in Case A-007-2024; Zschimmer & Schwarz Italiana S.p.A.
  Re: Follow-up to dossier evaluation - Failure to respond to a dossier evaluation decision - Admissibility - Competence of the Board of Appeal

ENERGY

• Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline: the General Court dismisses the action by Nord Stream 2 contesting the directive extending the internal market rules on natural gas to cover gas pipelines from third countries (See CPR Nº 195/2024 - Judgment of the General Court in Case T-526/19, RENV Nord Stream 2 Vs. Parliament and Council)
• Germany pledges EUR 77.6 million to Ukraine Energy Support Fund as country marks 1,000 days of invasion

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Very large online platforms and search engines to publish first risk assessment and audit reports under the Digital Services Act - Midday Express
• Meeting of the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council on 6 December 2024
  - AI Action Summit - Information from France

AREA OF FREDDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Minutes of the Meeting of the Commission Expert Group against SLAPP - 09 September 2024
• Commission strengthens cooperation on legal migration with Pakistan - Midday Express
• The European Commission appoints Ana Carla Pereira as new Director "Equality and non-discrimination" at the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers - Midday Express

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Commission disburses second payment of €115 million to Cyprus under the Recovery and Resilience Facility - Midday Express
• Commission endorses preliminary assessment of Portugal´s fifth payment request for €2.9 billion under the Recovery and Resilience Facility
• Commission endorses positive preliminary assessment of Italy's sixth payment request for €8.7 billion under the Recovery and Resilience Facility
• Commission endorses preliminary assessment of Germany´s second payment request for €13.5 billion under the Recovery and Resilience Facility
• First European Semester Autumn Package under new economic governance framework sets out path for sound public finances and sustainable and inclusive growth - See the Q&As, the  Documents and Remarks by EVP Dombrovskis and Commissioner Gentiloni
• ECB - Consolidated financial statement of the Eurosystem as at 22 November 2024
• Interview with Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, conducted by Petri Sajari
• Interview with Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Mark Schrörs and Alexander Weber on 25 November 2024 

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Ukraine: Speech by High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell at the EP plenary on support to Ukraine and on military cooperation between North Korea and Russia
• Mozambique: Speech by High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell on the political and humanitarian situation in the country
• Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare: Statement by High Representative/ Vice-President Josep Borrell
• G7: Press remarks by the High Representative/Vice-President Borrell ahead of the second day of the Ministerial Meeting
• International Agreements in Progress - EU-Switzerland relations: A new approach - See the EPRS Briefing
• EU opts for risky wait-and-see approach to Trump presidency - Turmoil within the bloc has thwarted a collective plan for security and trade - Politico.eu