Europe Daily News, 27 September 2024

COMPETITION

• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11718 - Adrill / ADH / Tubacex / NTS Middle East)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11660 - Mutares / Serneke Sverige)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11728 - CVC / CD&R / Epicor)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11698 - Proman / Valenz)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11496 - BP / ADNOC / JV)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11720 - Engie / Macquarie / Tag South)
• Commission clears acquisition of SFS Group and KTP Holding by VR Equitypartner and Gilde SFS (M.11644) - Midday Express
• Belgium - Notification - MEDE-CC-24/0028: Beerens Groep NV / Aertssen Group NV / Scheerders van Kerckhove’s Verenigde Fabrieken NV
• Greece - The HCC’s 2023 Annual Report has been published
• The Netherlands - ACM: cheese producer Royal Lactalis Leerdammer must determine milk price fixing system in negotiations with dairy farmers
• Portugal - Vossloh Aktiengesellschaft notifies the acquisition of exclusive control over Villé Holding Participations SAS and, as such, over the Sateba Group.
• Portugal - The Regulation of Artificial Intelligence in Portugal - The Regulators' View by Nuno Cunha Rodrigues [in Portuguese]
• Portugal - The role of competition in addressing inequality - Speech by Nuno Cunha Rodrigues
• Sweden - The Parliament has adopted the bill with supplementary provisions to the EU DMA Regulation and the EU FSR
• UK - Tereos fined for failure to comply with CMA merger procedures - See the Penalty Notice
• UK - The CMA is investigating the completed acquisition by GXO Logistics, Inc. of Wincanton Plc.

STATE AID

• Commission approves €1 billion Portuguese State aid scheme to support investments in strategic sectors necessary to foster the transition to a net-zero economy (SA.113456)

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Working Party on Customs Union - 01 October 2024
• Agenda for: Meeting of the ACP Working Party - 01 October 2024
• Agenda for: Working Party on Customs Union - 30 September 2024
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/2514 of 3 July 2024 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2399 of the European Parliament and of the Council by specifying the data elements to be exchanged through the European Union Customs Single Window Certificates Exchange System and amending that Regulation as regards the list of Union non-customs formalities covered by the EU Single Window Environment for Customs
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2145 of 31 July 2024 laying down rules for information exchange in the European Union Customs Single Window Certificate Exchange System pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2022/2399 of the European Parliament and of the Council
• Compilation of national control lists under Article 9(4) of Regulation (EU) 2021/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2021 setting up a Union regime for the control of exports, brokering, technical assistance, transit and transfer of dual-use items
• WTO - Working Party on State Trading Enterprises - State Trading - Questions posed by the European Union regarding the notification of Canada
• WTO - Working Party on State Trading Enterprises - State Trading - Questions posed by the European Union regarding the notification of China
• WTO - Working Party on State Trading Enterprises - State Trading - Questions posed by the European Union regarding the notification of Brazil
• USTR, Department of Labor, and the European Commission host Meeting of the U.S.-European Union Trade and Labor Dialogue
• Labour cooperation between Peru and the EU under the trade agreement
• EU agri-food surplus increased in the first half of 2024

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Agenda for: 142nd meeting of the Technical Regulations Committee - 23 October 2024
• Agenda for: Commission Expert Group on Personal Protective Equipment - 24 October 2024
• Minutes of 5th Meeting of the CEG on the Construction Products Regulation Technical Acquis Process Steering Group (Regulation (EU) 305/2011) - 10 June 2024

TAXATION

• Opinion of Advocate General Pikamäe of 26 September 2024 in Case C‑596/23, [Pohjanri] (i) B UG Vs. Veronsaajien oikeudenvalvontayksikkö
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Excise duty - Directive 2008/118/EC - Article 36 - Online purchase of excise goods in another Member State - Goods dispatched or transported directly or indirectly by the vendor or on the vendor’s behalf - Transport by a transport company recommended by the vendor - National rules treating the vendor as liable to pay the excise duty chargeable in the Member State of destination
  

ENERGY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Energy - 01 October 2024
• ESA approves for Norway methodologies for the electricity balancing market
• Commission seeks feedback on draft rules for low-carbon hydrogen and derived fuels - Midday Express
• European heat pump sales tumble as subsidies shrink - Fading enthusiasm for alternative to gas boilers piles pressure on EU’s green agenda - Financial Times

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Judgment of the Court of 26 September 2024 in Case C-340/23 P, Association Trinationale de Protection Nucléaire (ATPN) Vs. European Commission
  Re: Appeal - Environment - Nuclear energy - Delegated regulation (EU) 2022/1214 - Action for annulment - Association having as its object to protect the population against any nuclear risk in the Upper Rhine and Upper Rhine region and to prevent the construction of new nuclear power stations in that region - Fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU - Condition that the applicant must be directly and individually concerned
• Opinion of Advocate General Collins of 26 September 2024 in Case C‑254/23, INTERZERO Trajnostne rešitve za svet brez odpadkov d.o.o., Interzero Circular Solutions Europe GmbH, and Others, Surovina, družba za predelavo odpadkov d.o.o., DINOS, družba za pripravo sekundarnih surovin d.o.o., and Others Vs. Državni zbor Republike Slovenije
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Environment - Waste - Services of general economic interest - Freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services - Directive 2006/123/EC - Directive 2008/98/EC - Articles 16 and 17 of the Charter - Principles of legal certainty and the protection of legitimate expectations - Proportionality
• Agenda for: Working Party on the Environment - 30 September 2024
• Agenda for: Ad Hoc Working Party on Forest Monitoring - 27 September 2024
• Agenda for: JHA Counsellors (COPEN - Environmental crime, Council of Europe negotiations) - 03 October 2024
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/2555 of 21 March 2024 amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards hexabromocyclododecane
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2493 of 23 September 2024 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 as regards updating the monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
• Commission publishes terms and conditions for the second auction under the European Hydrogen Bank - Midday Express
• Bern Convention: EU will propose changing the conservation status of wolves
• Climate neutrality by 2040 is possible, but new European Commission needs to act urgently - see the CAN Report

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCTSAFETY

• Commission welcomes international declaration on the fight against antimicrobial resistance - see the Remarks by Commissioner Kyriakides
• ESA asks Norway to comply with EEA rules on the recognition of professional qualifications for health professionals
• G7 DFIs, MedAccess, EIB, and IFC announce MoU for surge financing initiative for medical countermeasures
• EFSA - A proposal for the development of a feed consumption database using a standardised feed classification system
• EFSA - Mock Assessment: Acute prospective & Chronic prospective cumulative risk assessment
• ECDC - Weekly updates: 2024 West Nile virus transmission season
• ECDC - Monthly measles and rubella monitoring report - July 2024

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

• Judgment of the Court of 26 September 2024 in Case C‑164/23, VOLÁNBUSZ Zrt. Vs. Bács-Kiskun Vármegyei Kormányhivatal
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Road transport - Harmonisation of certain provisions of social legislation – Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 - Article 9(3) - Concept of ‘employer’s operational centre where the driver is normally based’ - Place where a driver takes charge of a vehicle falling within the scope of that regulation - Concept of ‘other work’ - Time spent by that driver driving a vehicle falling outside the scope of that regulation to travel to or from that operational centre
• ESA closes an own initiative case against Iceland on the loading and unloading of large cargo ships
  

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• Agenda for: 3rd meeting of the Cybersecurity Committee - 02 October 2024
• A call for harmonised NIS2 transposition to safeguard the single market - see DigitalEurope Statement
• After US, Europe probes Chinese car software - Brussels is in the hot seat to act on cyber-hacking threats stemming from Chinese connected cars - Politico.eu

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Opinion of Advocate General Pikamäe of 26 September 2024 in Case C‑393/23, Athenian Brewery SA, Heineken NV Vs. Macedonian Thrace Brewery SA
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters - Jurisdiction in civil and commercial matters - Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 - Special grounds of jurisdiction - Article 8(1) - Multiple defendants - Close connection - Article 102 TFEU - Concept of an undertaking - Parent company and subsidiary - Infringement by the subsidiary - Presumption of a decisive influence on the part of the parent company - Joint and several liability - Decision of a national competition authority - Follow-on actions for damages
• European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) - evaluation - Staff working document - Feedback period: 26 September 2024 - 24 October 2024
• Answer given by the Council to a MEP written question - US access to biometric databases in the EU

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Speech by President Charles Michel at the 79th United Nations General Assembly
• Speech by President Charles Michel at the ministerial meeting for key partners in support of UNRWA
• Statement by the HR/VP on behalf of the EU on the military escalation between Israel and Hezbollah
• Middle East: Opening address by HR/VPJosep Borrell at the Ministerial side event on the Peace Process and the Two-State Solution
• Co-chairs' joint press release - Informal Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the EU - Remarks by HR/VP Borrell
• Answer given by the Council to a MEP written question - Provocative actions by Türkiye against the Republic of Cyprus