Europe Daily News, 10 March 2025

COMPETITION

• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11835 - ABC Technologies / TI Fluid Systems)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11898 - Sonaca / Govera Inversiones / Aciturri Aeronautica)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11897 - Grohe / VKB / Suru)
• Commission clears acquisition of Skyline by PSPIB and DigitalBridge (M.11905) - Midday Express

STATE AID

• Action brought on 27 December 2024 - Ryanair Vs. Commission (Case T-687/24)
  Re: Annulment of Commission’s decision (EU) on State aid SA.57543 - Denmark - COVID-19 recapitalisation of SAS and SA.58342 - Sweden - COVID-19 recapitalisation of SAS
• Commission approves a €400 million Austrian State aid scheme, and a €36 million Lithuanian State aid scheme, to support renewable hydrogen production (SA.116277 and SA.116745)

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Action brought on 22 January 2025 - CCCME and Other Vs. Commission (Case T-37/25)
  Re: Annulment of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2754; definitive countervailing duty on; new battery electric vehicles
• Action brought on 22 January 2025 - Tesla (Shanghai) Vs. Commission (Case T-38/25)
  Re: Annulment of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2754; definitive countervailing duty on; new battery electric vehicles
• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council suspending certain parts of Regulation (EU) 2015/478 as regards imports of Ukrainian products into the European Union
• Decision No …/2024 of the Trade Committee established by the Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, of the other part of … modifying Appendices 2, 2A and 5 to Annex II to that Agreement
• Champagne and Parmigiano under threat from Donald Trump’s tariffs - Producers warn Europe’s finest foods and wine could become unaffordable for ordinary US consumers - Financial Times

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Competitiveness & Growth (Internal Market) - 17 March 2025
• Meeting of the Competitiveness Council - 12 March 2025:
  - A blueprint for new Horizontal Single Market Strategy - Information from Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden
  - Revitalising Europe’s industrial future: strengthening competitiveness and resilience - Information from Portugal, Spain, Slovakia and Slovenia
• France and Germany clash over ‘buy EU’ weapons - Berlin says new €150bn funding for defence industry should be open to non-EU partners, but Paris disagrees - Financial Times

CHEMICAL

• Action brought on 28 January 2025 - Sumitomo Chemical Agro Europe Vs. ECHA (Case T-61/25)
  Re: interpretation and application of Article 54 of Regulation (EU) No 528/2012; biocidal products; active micro-organisms

FINANCE

• The ESAs acknowledge the European Commission's amendments to the technical standard on subcontracting under the Digital Operational Resilience Act

TAXATION

• Directive on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation (DAC9) - Political agreement
• Draft Council Directive amending Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation - Presidency compromise text

ENERGY

• Action Plan for affordable energy - Policy debate

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Action brought on 18 December 2024 - Bloom Vs. Commission (Case T-659/24)
  Re: annulment of the European Commission’s decision rejecting the request for internal review; Article 2(1)(g) of the Aarhus Regulation, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1382
• Action brought on 27 December 2024 - Imerys PCC France Vs. Commission (Case T-673/24)
  Re: Annulment of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/2620; Greenhouse gases permanently chemically bound in a product
• Agenda for: Commission expert group on the Birds and Habitats Directives - 01 April 2025
• Agenda for: Working Party on International Environment Issues (WPIEI Desertification) - 19 March 2025
• Commission proposes to align the protection status of the wolf in EU legislation to the Bern Convention - see the Q&A & the Proposal
• Answer given by Ms Roswall to a MEP written question - Addressing noise pollution in low-emission zones: challenges and solutions

EMPLOYMENT & SOCIAL AFFAIRS

• Meeting of the EPSCO Council of 10 March 2025:
  - Tripartite social summit - Information from the Presidency and the Commission
  - Pact for European Social Dialogue - Information from the Commission
  - Directive 79/7 on the progressive implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security: Need of updating - Information from Spain
  - Directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment (Article 19) - Information from Belgium, Estonia, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands

HEALTH, FOOD  & PRODUCT SAFETY

EFSA

• Scientific Opinion - Assessment of the efficacy of a feed additive consisting of Bifidobacterium longum CNCM I‐5642 (PP102I) for dogs (Nestlé Enterprises S.A.)
• Scientific Opinion - Safety evaluation of the food enzyme aspergillopepsin I from the non‐genetically modified Aspergillus luchuensis strain APTC 3C‐290
• Scientific Report - Assessment of fall‐back MRLs for revoked CXLs previously implemented in the EU legislation

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Agenda for: 8th online meeting of the Digital Markets Advisory Committee - 18 March 2025
  - Commission Implementing Decision 1 & Decision 2
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/454 of 7 March 2025 laying down the rules for the application of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the establishment of a scientific panel of independent experts in the field of artificial intelligence
• Draft Council Conclusions "Towards the EU strategy on AI in science" - Presidency text
• Answer given by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen to a MEP written question - Definition of ‘AI system’: simple statistical techniques and alignment with international standards
• Answer given by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen to a MEP written question - German version of Russia Today back on X despite EU sanctions
• EU-US rift triggers call for made-in-Europe tech - Transatlantic tensions are fueling calls for the EU to wean itself off its U.S. tech addiction. It won’t be cheap - Politico.eu
• European telcos find growth elsewhere as Brussels mulls deregulation - Vodafone and Orange seek scale in emerging markets as continental growth stalls - Financial Times

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• EDPB - Icelandic SA: administrative fine imposed on the Primary Health Care of the Capital area for the unlawful processing in relation to the integration of medical record systems

FUTURE OF EUROPË

• Agenda for: Meeting of the Coreper (Part.1 & Part.2) - 12 & 14 March 2025
• Press remarks by President von der Leyen on the first 100 days of the 2024-2029 Commission
• Trump is making Europe great again - The US president has provided the biggest stimulus towards European integration since the end of the cold war - Financial Times

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Spokesperson statement on latest developments in Syria
• Statement by the HR/VP Kallas on the Arab Plan for Gaza
• European Parliament Delegation's visit to Turkmenistan: Strengthening EU-Turkmenistan Cooperation
• Europe House opens two exhibitions and hosts discussion on female empowerment for International Women’s Day
• EU signs two Human Rights Thematic grant contracts supporting women’s economic empowerment in the country, while commemorating International Women’s Day 2025
• EU launches new call for proposals worth €1.6 billion to support small businesses affected by the war in Ukraine - Midday Express