Europe Daily News, 18 October 2024

COMPETITION

• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11730 - TAV / Fraport F&B JV)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11747 - Platinium IVY / Cinven / Firebird / Policy Expert)
• Commission clears acquisition of Fratelli Polli by Platinum Equity Group (M.11693) - Midday Express
• Commission clears the creation of a biofuel joint venture by Enilive and LGC (M.11639) - Midday Express
• Commission authorises the creation of a joint venture by Masdar, EDF and Nesma (M.11587) - Midday Express
• Commission clears creation of joint venture PowerUp by Schweizerische Post and Fenaco (M.11745) - Midday Express
• Belgium - Notification - MEDE-CC-24/0030: Standard Investment Netherlands Kappa B.V. / Tank Newco B.V.

STATE AID

• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections - SA.110974 & SA.110593

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Working Party on Customs Union - 21, 22 & 23 October 2024
• Agenda for: Trade Policy Committee (Deputies) / Attachés & experts - 24 October 2024
• Agenda for: Working Party on European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - 22 October 2024
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2686 of 17 October 2024 initiating an investigation concerning possible circumvention of the anti-dumping measures imposed by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/558 on imports of certain graphite electrode systems originating in the People’s Republic of China by imports of artificial graphite in blocks or cylinders originating in the People’s Republic of China and making such imports subject to registration
• Council Decision (EU) 2024/2713 of 10 October 2024 on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the Council of Members of the International Olive Council with respect to the accession of San Marino to the International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives, 2015
• General trade statistics for FTA partners 2019-2023 - Albania
• WTO - Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - European Union - Radio spectrum in the 5945-6425 MHz frequency band for the implementation of wireless access systems including radio local area networks - Addendum 1 & 2
• The World Customs Organization joins the Universal Postal Union 150th Anniversary event and highlights the importance of customs partnerships with Postal Operators
• WCO - The 74th Session of the Harmonized System Committee has concluded on a high note, successfully concluding an eighty-item agenda.

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Judgment of the Court of 17 October 2024 in Case C‑16/23, FA.RO. di YK & C. Sas Vs. Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli, intervener: JS
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Services in the internal market - Directive 2006/123/EC - Authorisation scheme - Article 10 - Conditions for the granting of authorisation - Sale of tobacco products - National legislation making the grant of authorisation to establish a point of sale for tobacco products subject to compliance with conditions - Conditions relating to distance and population - Protection of public health against smoking
• Eurobarometer survey shows that more than 90% of SMEs invest in resource efficiency - Midday Express
• Commissioner Ivanova visits Greece to launch Europe's first network of venture capitalists to support deep tech innovation - Midday Express
• Priorities for the EU's social dimension 2024-2029 - a BusinessEurope position paper

CHEMICAL

• Agenda for: 2nd Commission Conference on the Roadmap to phase out animal testing for chemical safety assessments - 25 October 2025
  - Session 3 Conference pre-read
  - pre-read roadmap development
• List of authorisation decisions adopted on the basis of Article 64(8) of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH)
• ECHA - Highlights from October MSC meeting - ECHA/NR/24/26
  

FINANCE

• Answer given by Ms McGuinness to a MEP written question - Urgent adoption of the European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS)
• EU markets need to commit to catch up with US on T+1 - Adoption of new settlement cycle has led to greater efficiency, increased liquidity and enhanced risk mitigation - Financial Times
• Why European bank mergers are back on the table - Rising rates have boosted profits and policymakers want banks that can compete with US rivals. But many obstacles remain - Financial Times

TAXATION

• Judgment of the Court of 17 October 2024 in Case C‑60/23, Skatteverket Vs. Digital Charging Solutions GmbH
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Taxation - Common system of VAT - Directive 2006/112/EC - Articles 14 and 15 - Electric vehicle charging - Charging using devices provided by a company and allowing access to a network of charging points operated by different operators - Classification of the transaction for VAT purposes - ‘Supply of goods’ - Transfer made under commission contracts
• Council conclusions on the revised EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes

ENERGY

• Commission Notice on phasing out financial incentives for stand-alone boilers powered by fossil fuels under the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive
• Commission calls on Austria to improve its National Energy and Climate Plan to ensure collective achievement of the EU's 2030 targets - Midday Express
• ACER - Assessment on the need of ACER’s voluntary Power Purchase Agreement contract template(s) - 15 October 2024

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Judgment of the Court of 17 October 2024 in Case C‑461/23, Umweltforum Osnabrücker Land eV Vs. Landkreis Osnabrück
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Environment - Directive 2001/42/EC - Assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment - Article 3(2)(b) - Directive 92/43/ EEC - Article 6(3) - Acts for which an assessment is required - National legislative act designating a site as a special area of conservation - List of human activities prohibited on that site, with certain exceptions
• Judgment of the Court of 17 October 2024 in Case C-304/43, European Commission Vs. Republic of Malta
  Re: Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Article 258 TFEU - Directive 91/271/EEC - Urban waste water treatment - Collecting systems for urban waste water in certain agglomerations - Article 4 - Secondary or equivalent treatment of urban waste water - Article 5 - Sensitive areas - More stringent treatment - Article 10 - Sufficient performance - Article 15 - Monitoring of the conformity of discharges with the requirements of Annex I.B - Control procedures laid down in Annex I.D - Maximum permitted number of samples which fail to conform
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) …/... amending Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 as regards changes on shipments of electrical and electronic waste agreed under the Basel Convention
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) …/... amending Regulation (EC) No 2024/1157 as regards changes on shipments of electrical and electronic waste agreed under the Basel Convention

AGRICULTURE & FISHERIES

• "Agriculture and Fisheries" Council on 21 and 22 October 2024
  -  Outcome of the “Food waste - 2024-2030” conference on prevention of food waste (Budapest, 1 October 2024) - Information from the Presidency
  - EU response to extreme climate events (crisis management) - Information from Portugal, supported by Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece and Italy (AOB item)
  - The need to extend the application of the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework in the agricultural sector and increase the individual limit per agricultural enterprise - Information from Romania, supported by Bulgaria and Slovakia
• Agenda for: Meeting of the CEG for Technical advice on Organic Production (EGTOP) - Subgroup “Food processing and techniques” -  21 October 2024
• Opinion Piece by Copa-Cogeca - CAP needs further clarity to facilitate the work of fruit and vegetable producer organisations!

HEALTH, FOOD & PROCUCT SAFETY

• EFSA - Re-evaluation of silicon dioxide (E 551) as a food additive in foods for infants below 16 weeks of age and follow‐up of its re‐evaluation as a food additive for uses in foods for all population groups
• EFSA - Scientific Opinion - Safety evaluation of the food enzyme triacylglycerol lipase from the non‐genetically modified Limtongozyma cylindracea strain AE‐LAYH (B)
• EMA - Meeting highlights from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) - 14 to 17 October 2024
• Translarna: EMA re-confirms non-renewal of authorisation of Duchenne muscular dystrophy medicine
• ECDC takes further step to strengthen international preparedness as it signs MoC with Japanese ministry
• ECDC: on Air - Episode 55 - Agnė Bajorinienė - Bridging the Borders of Public Health
• Joint ECDC-WHO/Europe mpox surveillance bulletin

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 of 17 October 2024 laying down rules for the application of Directive (EU) 2022/2555 as regards technical and methodological requirements of cybersecurity risk-management measures and further specification of the cases in which an incident is considered to be significant with regard to DNS service providers, TLD name registries, cloud computing service providers, data centre service providers, content delivery network providers, managed service providers, managed security service providers, providers of online market places, of online search engines and of social networking services platforms, and trust service providers
• The EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) launches a call for expression of interest to create an Ad Hoc Working Group on the certification of EU Digital Identity Wallets

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• EU weighs including Musk’s business empire to calculate potential X fine - Penalty would increase dramatically if regulators took into account revenues from billionaire’s other - Financial Times

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• ECB lowers rates to 3.25% - See Speech by Christine Lagarde, Luis de Guindos: Monetary policy statement (with Q&A) - Financial Times
• Main findings from the ECB’s recent contacts with non-financial companies - Economic Bulletin Issue 7, 2024
• Results of the ECB Survey of Professional Forecasters for the fourth quarter of 2024
• ECB - Euro area monthly balance of payments: August 2024

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Conclusions of the European Council meeting, 17 October 2024
  - Remarks by President Charles Michel and by President von der Leyen
• EFTA parliamentarians connect with new European Parliament in run-up to new EU leadership

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Agenda for: ACP Working Party - 22 October 2024
• The Commission disburses third payment to UNRWA - Midday Express
• VP Schinas travels to Vietnam to foster EU-Vietnam cooperation on green growth and education - Midday Express
• Joint Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EU) No 224/2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in the Central African Republic
• Labour’s unambitious reset with the EU - The UK government has constrained itself too much within its red lines - Financial Times