Europe Daily News, 25 September 2024

COMPETITION

• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11741 - Abastible / Gasib Spain / Gasib Portugal)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11620 - Axpo Italia / Canarbino / ALG)
• Competition Merger Brief - Issue 2 / September 2024
• Austria - Construction cartel: Cartel court imposes a fine of € 1.25 million on Leithäusl at the request of the AFCA
• Lithuania - The Competition Council will not initiate an investigation into the action of GO3 Baltics
• Norway - The Competition Authority prohibits Norva24 Vest’s acquisition of Vitek Miljø.

STATE AID

• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections – SA.107336 & SA.109439
• The EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) opens investigation into alleged State aid to Bane NOR

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: 261st meeting of the Customs Code Committee Tariff & Statistical Nomenclature Section (Sub-Section Agriculture/Chemistry) - 08 to 09 October 2024 (Reminder)
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) …/... amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1698 and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2306 as regards the import into the Union of high-risk organic and in-conversion products
• Notice concerning the entry into force of the Accession Protocol to the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Indonesia, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union 
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2525 of 23 September 2024 concerning the classification of certain goods in the Combined Nomenclature (CN: 6108 22 00)

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Agenda for: Competitiveness Council (Internal market & Industry) - 26 September 2024
  - The need to discuss and reflect on the further unified approach regarding the enforcement of EU-standards in e-commerce - Information from Germany, supported by Austria, Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Poland
• Draft Council conclusions on the Commission's communication on advanced materials - Presidency text for the Research Working Party meeting on 30 September 2024

CHEMICAL

• Answer given by EVP Vestager to a MEP written question - Lobby groups influencing the Commission to the detriment of citizens’ health and the environment (REACH)

FINANCE

• Germany torpedoes EU dreams of being a financial superpower - Olaf Scholz’s hostility to UniCredit’s swoop on Commerzbank is a sign that pan-European integration will remain elusive - Politico.eu

ENERGY

• Agenda for: 5th meeting of the Accelerating permitting for Renewable energy projects Expert group - 01 October 2024
• Electricity transmission: the General Court clarifies the scope of compulsory regional coordination with regard to the operational security of electricity transmission systems (See CPR Nº 148/2024 - Judgment of the General Court in Case T-483/21 Polskie sieci elektroenergetyczne Vs. ACER)
• Electricity transmission: the General Court annuls the decision of the Board of Appeal of ACER in so far as ACER could not derogate from the applicable legal framework when adopting the methodology for cost sharing of redispatching and countertrading for the Core region (See CPR Nº 147/2024 - Judgments of the General Court in Cases T-446/21, T-472/21, T-476/21, T-482/21, T-484/21, T-485/21 Commission de régulation de l’énergie Vs. ACER)

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: Meeting of the 20th Committee on invasive alien species - 08 October 2024
• Agenda for: Working Party on International Environment Issues (Int. Chemicals/Synergies) - 01 October 2024
• Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe (recast) - Outcome of the EP's first reading and Corrigendum procedure (Strasbourg, 24 April 2024 and 17 September 2024)
• Opening speech by President von der Leyen at the Global Renewables Summit
• Opening speech by President von der Leyen with Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau on carbon pricing

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Judgment of the General Court of 25 September 2024 in Case T‑311/23, British American Tobacco Polska Trading sp. z o.o., Vs. European Commission
  Re: Access to documents - Council Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 - Public health - Delegated Directive (EU) 2022/2100 - Withdrawal of certain exemptions for heated tobacco products - Preparatory documents - Databases - Article 2(3) of Regulation No 1049/2001 - Documents held by an institution - Declaration of non-existence - Presumption of lawfulness
• Public consultation - Amendment of ante-mortem inspection at the holding of provenance - Delegated regulation - Feedback period: 24 September 2024 - 22 October 2024

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Over a hundred companies sign EU AI Pact pledges to drive trustworthy and safe AI development

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• EDPB - Minutes of the 95th Plenary meeting - 16 July 2024
• EDPS - International Organisations: a driving force behind global progress in data protection
• The ENISA and the European Commission announce the request to ENISA to support the certification of the EU Digital Identity Wallets (EUDI)

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

• The 2024 call for proposals for the European Interconnection Mechanism - Transport makes €2.5 billion available to strengthen the resilience and security of the EU's entire transport network - Midday Express
• Women in Rail 2024 Award to boost female talent for a sustainable and competitive rail industry - see the FactSheet - Midday Express
• Commission seeks feedback on new Flight Emissions Label - Implementing regulation - Feedback period: 24 September 2024 - 22 October 2024

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Consumer rights: Council adopts position on measures to facilitate dispute resolution
• Commission encourages Member States to implement equality strategies - See the reports adopted today - Midday Express
  - EU Anti-Racism Action Plan 2020-2025 – Mid-term report,
  - LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025 – Mid-term report,
  - 2020-2030 Roma Strategic Framework for equality, inclusion, and participation – mid-term report
• Speech by President Charles Michel at the roundtable "In defence of democracy, fighting extremism"

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Recent developments in wages and the role of wage drift - ECB Economic Bulletin Issue 6, 2024
• Findings from a survey of leading firms on labour market trends and the adoption of generative AI - ECB Economic Bulletin Issue 6, 2024

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• EU raises the alarm over growing humanitarian needs due to conflict and climate emergencies - Midday Express

RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE

• Ukraine: Address by HR/VP Josep Borrell to the UN Security Council on the Russian aggression
• Ukraine: Press remarks by the HR/VP Josep Borrell after the UN Security Council meeting on the Russian aggression
• G7 announces Industry Guidance on Preventing Evasion of Export Controls and Sanctions Imposed on Russia