Europe Daily News 26 February 2025

COMPETITION

• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11872 - Triton / Keenfinity)
• Commission clears creation of a joint venture by PSS and Maccaferri (M.11862) - Midday Express
• Commission clears creation of joint venture by RCL Cruises and CTIL (M.11822) - Midday Express
• Belgian - The Competition Authority approves the creation of a joint venture by ABO Global Trading and Carmeuse
• Germany - The Bundeskartellamt has cleared the indirect acquisition of Uckermärker Milch GmbH by EDEKA ZENTRALE Stiftung & Co. KG
• Italy - The Competition Authority launches investigation against Atac into local public transport issues
• Romania - The Competition Council assesses the transaction in which Niterra Co., Ltd., Japan, intends to acquire Toshiba Materials Co., Ltd., Japan, from Toshiba Corporation.
• Spain - CNMC examines Esseco/Ercros merger in second phase
• Reject the quiet life — there is no growth without competition - The UK government should learn from the sorry history of cartels and monopolies - Financial Times

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Working Party on Customs Union - 03 March 2025
• Agenda for: Working Party on Trade Questions - 05 March 2025
• Agenda for: Trade Policy Committee (Services & Investment) - 26 February 2025
• Notice of initiation of an anti-dumping proceeding concerning imports of certain cast iron articles originating in India and Türkiye (CN codes ex 7325 10 00 and ex 7325 99 10)
• Answer given by Mr Hansen to a MEP written question - Tackling the unfair competition posed by Turkish agricultural products
• WTO - Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - European Union - Fertilising products (G/TBT/N/EU/1109)
• WTO - Colombia - Anti-Dumping Duties on Frozen Fries from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands - Recourse to article 21.5 of the DSU by the European Union - Communication from the Panel (WT/DS591/16)
• Big EU countries push expanded carbon border tax to help repay Covid debt - France, Italy and Poland support the move, but others fear it might prompt Donald Trump to retaliate in anger - Politico.eu

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• European Tech’s Perspective - The EU Toolbox for Safe and Sustainable E-Commerce
• Work Programme of the Working Party on Competitiveness and Growth (High Level) by the PL-DK-CY trio - Approval

CLEAN INDUSTRIAL DEAL

• A Clean Industrial Deal for competitiveness and decarbonisation in the EU - Q&A & FactSheet
  - Communication from the Commission: The clean Industrial Deal: A joint roadmap for competitiveness and decarbonisation
• A missed opportunity for an inclusive and holistic approach to EU industrial policy - See Smeunited reaction
• Clean Industrial Deal puts lead markets centre-stage - See Position paper by Hydrogeneurope
• “The Clean Industrial Deal hides dirty concessions”, NGOs say

OMNIBUS PACKAGE

• Commission simplifies rules on sustainability and EU investments, delivering over €6 billion in administrative relief - Q&A
  - Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directives 2006/43/EC, 2013/34/EU, (EU) 2022/2464 and (EU) 2024/1760 as regards certain corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements
  - Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2023/956 as regards simplifying and strengthening the carbon border adjustment mechanism - see the Annexes (not yet published)
  - Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulations (EU) 2015/1017, (EU) 2021/523, (EU) 2021/695 and (EU) 2021/1153 as regards increasing the efficiency of the EU guarantee under Regulation (EU) 2021/523 and simplifying reporting requirements
  - Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directives (EU) 2022/2464 and (EU) 2024/1760 as regards the dates from which Member States are to apply certain corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements

CHEMICAL

• Agenda for: Meeting of the REACH Committee - 27 February 2025
• ECHA updates annual evaluation statistics - ECHA/NR/25/06
• ECHA - Agenda for: 66th meeting of the Committee for Socio-economic Analysis - 11 to 14 March 2025
• Making REACH workable for SMEs: Challenges and Solutions - See the Position Paper by Smeunited

FINANCE

• The ESAs provide a roadmap towards the designation of CTPPs under DORA
• The EBA consults to amend data collection for the 2026 benchmarking exercise
• The EBA finds progress in availability and accessibility of data used to identify and qualify environmental, social and governance risks but data landscape remains incomplete - See the Report

ENERGY

• Commission brings relief to European consumers and businesses with Action Plan to save €260 billion annually by 2040 - Q&A and FactSheet
  - Communication from the Commission: Action Plan for Affordable Energy Unlocking the true value of our Energy Union to secure affordable, efficient and clean energy for all Europeans
• 2025 Competitiveness Progress Report: Opportunities to boost EU clean tech
• Answer given by Mr Jørgensen to a MEP written question - Decarbonisation investments in the steel sector
• Answer given by Mr Jørgensen to a MEP written question - Delays in the payment of compensatory fees from hydroelectric projects in Greece
• Slight increase in nuclear power production in 2023 - 13 EU countries with nuclear electricity production generated 619 601 GWh) of electricity, an increase of 1.7% compared with 2022
• Europe must cut electricity taxes, warn Iberdrola and EDP bosses - Energy company chiefs say EU must ‘urgently’ remove various taxes and simplify bills - Financial Times

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: Meeting of the Climate Change Committee - 06 March 2025
• Opening remarks by Commissioner Roswall at the press point on COP16 on biodiversity (part 2) in Rome
• Public Consultation: Updating the list of invasive species threatening biodiversity and ecosystem services across the EU - Implementing regulation - Feedback period: 24 February 2025 - 24 March 2025
• EU to keep climate goals but loosen rules for companies, says green chief - Teresa Ribeira says bloc has to balance the protection of the planet and economic growth - Financial Times

EMPLOYMENT & SOCIAL POLICY

• Hazardous medicinal products: Commission communication to improve the protection of workers
• European Network of Public Employment Services - Annual Report 2024

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

EFSA

• Commodity risk assessment of Taxus baccata plants from the UK
• Modification of the existing maximum residue levels for oxathiapiprolin in various crops
• Listronotus bonariensis Pest Report to support the ranking of EU candidate priority pests
• Peer review of the pesticide risk assessment of the active substance clomazone & daminozide
• Update of the Xylella spp. host plant database – Systematic literature search up to 30 June 2024
• The third version of an agent‐based honey bee colony model (ApisRAM.03) for the risk assessment of pesticides
• Report for 2023 on the results from the monitoring of residues of veterinary medicinal products in live animals and animal products
• Review of the methodology used for the assessment of the short‐term (acute) dietary exposure to pesticide residues in food (IESTI methodology)

ECDC

• No evidence that the novel coronavirus identified in bats can be transmitted to humans

DIGITAL, DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Data Protection - 14 March 2025
• 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
• Draft Opinion by MEP Kosma Złotowski on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on adapting non-contractual civil liability rules to artificial intelligence (AI Liability Directive)

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Crypto-Asset Monitoring Expert Group (CAMEG) 2024 Conference - Book of abstracts - ECB - Occasional Paper Series No.368
• ECB - Consolidated financial statement of the Eurosystem as at 21 February 2025
• Speech by ECB's Isabel Schnabel: No longer convenient? Safe asset abundance and r*

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Main results of the General Affairs Council - 25 February 2025
• Europe needs Friedrich Merz to succeed - The first moves by Germany’s chancellor-designate are bold and encouraging - Financial Times

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Judgment of the General Court of 26 February 2025 in Case T‑498/22, Aleksandra Melnichenko, supported by EuroChem Group AG and by Siberian Coal Energy Company AO (SUEK), interveners, Vs. Council of the European Union, supported by Kingdom of Belgium
  Re: CFSP - Restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine - Freezing of funds - Restrictions on entry into the territory of the Member States - List of persons, entities and bodies subject to the freezing of funds and economic resources and subject to restrictions on entry into the territory of the Member States - Inclusion and maintenance of the applicant’s name on the list- Concept of ‘association’ - Article 2(1), in fine, of Decision 2014/145/CFSP - Plea of illegality - Error of assessment - Fundamental rights - Proportionality
• Judgment of the General Court of 26 February 2025 in Case T-269/24, Maya Tokareva Vs. Council of the European Union
  Re: CFSP - Restrictive measures taken in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine - Freezing of funds - List of persons, entities and bodies to whom the freezing of funds and economic resources applies - Maintenance of the applicant's name on the list - Concept of ‘advantage derived from an influential businessman operating in Russia’ - Article 2(1)(g) of Decision 2014/145/CFSP - Error of assessment - Non-contractual liability