Europe Daily News, 27 February 2025

COMPETITION

• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11838 - GA / TA / TSYL Topco)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11873 - Quattror / BC Partners / Cigierre)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11884 - Hunan Yunchu / Minmetals New Energy / TMCI / Meiwa / JV)
• Summary of Commission Decision of 3 July 2024 declaring a concentration compatible with the internal market and the functioning of the EEA Agreement (Case M.11071 - Deutsche Lufthansa / MEF / ITA) - See Final Report of the Hearing Officer & Opinion of the Advisory Committee on mergers
• Commission closes interim measures proceedings against Lufthansa in A++ transatlantic joint venture case (AT.40940)
• Commission approves acquisition of Infinera by Nokia (M.11663) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of iptiQ by AZ Direct (M.11815) - Midday Express
  
• Norway - Schlumberger’s acquisition of ChampionX needs closer examination

STATE AID

• Advocate General Medina proposes to set aside the judgment of the General Court that upheld the Commission’s decision to approve aid from Hungary for two new nuclear reactors at Paks (See CPR No.24/2025 - Advocate General’s Opinion in Case C-59/23 P, Austria Vs. Commission (Paks II nuclear power station))
• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections – SA.115472
• Commission notice on current State aid recovery interest rates and reference/discount rates applicable as from 1 March 2025

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Working Party on Customs Union - 04 March 2025
• Minutes - Meeting of the Customs controls sub-group of the Customs Union Performance Expert Group - 13 February 2025
• Minutes - 264th meeting of the Customs Code Committee - Tariff & Statistical Nomenclature Section (Sub-Section Combined Nomenclature) - 16 January 2025
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/393 of 26 February 2025 imposing a provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of epoxy resins originating in the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, and Thailand
• Commission Decision of 25 February 2025 correcting Decision C(2024) 6658 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
• Answer given by Mr Sikelal to a MEP written question - Export credit agencies / development finance institutions and their role in lithium mining projects in Argentina
• Answer given by  Mr Šefčovič to a MEP written question - Commission participation in Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) meeting on an EU-Mercosur trade agreement
• EEA EFTA States call for close cooperation in the area of investment screening
• WTO - The second review of the "trade policies and practices" of Ukraine takes place on 26 and 28 February 2025
• WTO - Trade Facilitation Agreement: Eight years of cutting trade costs and boosting growth for all members
• Donald Trump threatens to impose 25% tariffs on EU goods - US president warns levies will target auto sector and be applied ‘generally’ - Financial Times
• Carmakers lead European stocks lower after Donald Trump’s tariff warning - US president has threatened 25% duties on EU imports - Financial Times

INTERNAL MARKET INDUSTRY

• Remarks by Commissioners Dombrovskis and Albuquerque on the proposals to simplify rules on sustainability and EU investments
• ADDW Q&A: Answers to the questions raised by Stakeholders on the application of the rules on Advanced Driver Distraction Warning set out in the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2590
• Manual of the Working Group on Cosmetic Products (Sub-group on Borderline Products) on the scope of application of the Cosmetic Regulation (EC) No.1223/2009 (Art. 2(1)(A)) Version 5.4 (November 2024) - as of 24 January 2025
• The options to fund European defence - Governments are discussing how to boost investment in Europe’s arms industry - Financial Times

CHEMICAL

• Judgment of the Court of 27 February 2025 in Case C‑353/23 P, Nouryon Performance Formulations BV supported by Cruelty Free Europe (CFE), intervener Vs. Knoell NL BV, Grillo-Werke AG, PCC Trade & Services GmbH, established in Duisburg, Nouryon Industrial Chemicals BV, European Commission, Kingdom of Denmark, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Kingdom of Sweden, European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)
  Re: Appeal - Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH Regulation) - Evaluation of registration dossiers - Request for further studies for the purposes of the evaluation of the registration dossier for dimethyl ether- Decision addressed to the registrant and contested by it before the General Court of the EU - Subsequent replacement of the registrant at the ECHA - Appeal brought by the new registrant - Article 56 of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the EU - Appeal brought by an entity which was not a party to the proceedings before the General Court - Inadmissibility
• List of authorisation decisions adopted on the basis of Article 64(8) of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH) as of 24 February 2025
• Latest ECHA Weekly Newsletter published - 26 February 2025

CLEAN INDUSTRIAL

• Remarks by EVPs Ribera and Séjourné and Commissioner Hoekstra at the press conference on the Clean Industrial Deal*
• Opening address by President von der Leyen on the Clean Industrial Deal at the European Industry Summit
• EC Study - Electrolyser Partnership views on the Clean Industrial Deal - January 2025

CLEAN HYDROGEN ALLIANCE

• European Clean Hydrogen Alliance - Created by DG GROW.I.3, as of 24 January 2025
  - Presentation of Financing H2 Infrastructure
  - Presentation of Hydrogen Supply Corridors
  - Presentation of T&D Roundtable Learnbooks

FINANCE

• ESMA - Klaus Löber's Keynote speech at the Eurex Derivatives Forum, 26 February 2025
• ESMA - Guidelines on maintenance of systems and security access protocols under MiCA
• ESMA - Guidelines on transfer services for crypto-assets under MiCA
• ESMA - Guidelines on reverse solicitation under MiCA
• EEA Joint Committee adopts three decisions in financial services

ENERGY

• Agenda for: Meeting of the Energy Union Committee - 12 March 2025
• Report from the Commission on energy prices and costs in Europe
• Remarks by Commissioner Jørgensen at the press conference on the Action Plan for Affordable Energy
• EU plans to relax gas storage targets for member states - Brussels hopes a ‘more flexible’ filling trajectory will reduce market disruption - Financial Times

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for Working Party on International Environment Issues (Int. Chemicals/Synergies) - 05 March 2025
• Agenda for: Meeting of the 2nd Nature Restoration Regulation Committee - 11 March 2025
• More action needed to reduce methane emissions - See EEA Briefing

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

EFSA

• Safety and efficacy of a feed additive consisting of l‐arginine produced with Corynebacterium glutamicum KCCM 80387 for all animal species (CJ Europe GmbH)
• Safety and efficacy of a feed additive consisting of protease and Bacillus velezensis NRRL B‐50508, B. velezensis NRRL B‐50509 and B. subtilis NRRL B‐50510 (Syncra® SWI 201 TPT) for pigs for fattening and other growing porcine species (Danisco (UK) ltd.)
• Technical Report on the notification of dried fronds of Durvillaea incurvata (Suhr) Macaya as a traditional food from a third country pursuant to Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283
• Assessment of the feed additives calcium d‐pantothenate and d‐panthenol for all animal species for the renewal of their authorisation (DSM Nutritional products Ltd)

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Answer given by Mr McGrath to a MEP written question - Action to protect the rule of law in the digital space
• Answer given by EVP Virkkunen to a MEP written question - Clarification of Article 5 of the Artificial Intelligence Act regarding the deployment of remote biometric identification systems in publicly accessible spaces

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• Judgment of the Court of 27 February 2025 in Case C-638/23, Amt der Tiroler Landesregierung Vs. Datenschutzbehörde, interveners: Bundesministerin für Justiz, CW
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data - Regulation (EU) 2016/679 - Article 4(7) - Concept of ‘controller’ - Direct designation of the controller by national law - Auxiliary administrative entity in the service of a regional government - Lack of legal personality - Lack of its own legal capacity - Determination of the purposes and means of the processing
• Automated credit assessment: the data subject is entitled to an explanation as to how the decision was taken in respect of him or her (See CPR No.22/2025 - Judgment of the Court of 27 February 2025 in Case C-203/22, CK Vs. Magistrat der Stadt Wien, interveners: Dun & Bradstreet Austria GmbH)
• Agenda for: Attachés - Horizontal Working Party on Cyber Issues - 03 March 2025
• ENISA calls for experts for the renewal of the Advisory Group
• EDPB - Annual Report 2023 of Schengen Information System Statistics
• EDPB - CSC Work Programme 2025-2026

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

• Judgment of the Court of 27 February 2025 in Case C-220/24, Regia Autonomă Aeroportul Internaţional ‘Avram Iancu’ Cluj Vs. Consiliul Concurenţei, interested parties: Romanian Airport Services SA, Sindicatul Independent al Aeroportului Cluj
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Air transport - Directive 96/67/EC - Access to the groundhandling market at EU airports - Article 1 - Scope - Airports whose annual traffic is less than two million passenger movements - Refusal of access to airport infrastructure at such an airport - Article 6 - Groundhandling for third parties - Applicability of the competition rules - Article 102 TFEU
• Agenda for: Meeting of the European ITS Committee - 11 March 2025
• Minutes - Meeting of the Single Sky Committee - 11 February 2025

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Advocate General Medina: by voting against the Council’s Decision establishing the position of the European Union on the reclassification of cannabis and cannabis-related substances, Hungary infringed EU law (See CPR No.25/2025 - Advocate General’s Opinion in Case C-271/23, Commission Vs. Hungary (Reclassification of cannabis)
• Property intermediation services: EU law does not preclude a cap limiting commissions charged by property agencies to 4% of the sale price or of the rent amount (See CPR No.21/2025 -Judgment of the Court in Case C-674/23, Aeon Nepremicnine and Others)
• Judicial independence: the Court of Justice clarifies the requirements of EU law concerning the determination of national judges’ remuneration(See CPR No.20/2025 - Judgment of the Court in Joined Cases C-146/23, Sąd Rejonowy w Białymstoku and C-374/23 [Adoreikė]))

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Invitation letter by President António Costa to the members of the European Council

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Answer given by HP/VP Kallas to a MEP written question - Impact of the Russia-Iran Strategic Partnership Agreement on EU-Iran relations
• Answer given by HP/VP Kallas to a MEP written question - Suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and recognition of the State of Palestine
• Answer given by HP/VP Kallas to a MEP written question - Ensuring accountability and strategic impact of EU aid on Lebanon’s humanitarian and security situation
• Answer given by HP/VP Kallas to a MEP written question - The consequent steps to be taken by the EU with regard to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories