Europe Daily News, 15 January 2024

STATE AID

• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections – SA.109413
• Commission approves €120 million Italian State aid scheme to support the establishment of new air routes from and to Calabria (SA.10897) - Midday Express
• Answer given by EVP Vestager to a MEP written question - EU state aid rules

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Working Party on Dual Use Goods - 24 January 2024
• Agenda for: Law Enforcement Working Party (Customs) - 22 January 2024
• Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union in the EPA Committee established under the interim agreement with a view to an Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Central Africa Party, of the other part, as regards the adoption of the Protocol concerning the definition of the concept of ‘originating products’ and methods of administrative cooperation - see the Annex
  
• Recommendation No 1/2023 of the Joint Committee of the Regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin of 7 December 2023 on the use of movement certificates issued electronically
• Poland’s Donald Tusk keeps protectionist stance against EU-Ukraine trade deal - Prime minister caught in a bind between pro-EU agenda and demands from farmers and hauliers - Financial Times
• America needs straight talk on trade - Allies are crying out for clarity from the Biden administration, with a clear plan from Trump waiting in the wings - Financial Times

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Minutes of the 27th Meeting of the Committee on Standards - 19 December 2023
• EU industry concentration in 2021 - Eurostat

CHEMICAL

• Summary of European Commission Decisions on authorisations for the placing on the market for the use and/or for use of substances listed in Annex XIV to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the REACH (4-Nonylphenol, branched and linear, ethoxylated)

FINANCE

• Fund managers urge European regulators to mirror US move to T+1 - Efama says there is ‘compelling case’ to reduce current two-day settlement time given that US does so in May - Financial Times

AGRICULTURE & FISHERIES

• "Agriculture and Fisheries" meeting on 23 January 2024
  - Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on a monitoring framework for resilient European forests - Exchange of views

ENERGY

• Answer given by Ms Simson to a MEP written question - Finding solutions to move away from energy dependency
• Europe’s under-the-radar industrial policy: intervention in electricity pricing - See the Bruegel's Paper
• National Energy and Climate Plans must tackle persisting barriers to energy storage

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Call for evidence - Reusing wastewater in agriculture – technical specifications for risk management plans - Delegated regulation - Feedback period: 11 January 2024 - 08 February 2024
• Answer given by Mr Sinkevicius to a MEP written question - Arson in Sicily in 2023: regional executive’s failure to take action to tackle the issue and systematic violation of EU law
• Answer given by Ms Vălean to a MEP written question - Enforcement in low-emission and zero-emission zones
• Climate change and biodiversity loss identified as major risks by World Economic Forum, WWF Europe urges European parties to make commitment before elections - see the WEF Report
• Way open towards strengthening the EU Mercury Regulation - see the "Compromise Amendment" and the EEB Position Paper

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Over 3,000 Ukrainian patients transferred to European hospitals since the start of the war - Midday Express
• Neonicotinoids, MEPs oppose any tolerance for thiacloprid in imported food products -See the text voted

DATA PRIVACY & CHTMLYBERSECURITY

• Commission finds that EU personal data flows can continue with 11 third countries and territories - IP/24/161
  
• Call for evidence - Report on the General Data Protection Regulation - Communication - Feedback period: 11 January 2024 - 08 February 2024

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Eurojust and Panama sign Working Arrangement to step up cooperation against organised crime
• Poland puts forward justice reform needed to unfreeze EU funds - Overhaul of judicial council still requires presidential approval - Financial Times

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Commission receives third payment request from France for more than €7.5 billion in grants under the Recovery and Resilience Facility - Midday Express
• Commission disburses final tranche of REPowerEU pre-financing payment to Hungary under the Recovery and Resilience Facility - Midday Express
• The Eurogroup and the ministers for Economic and Financial Affairs meet in Brussels on 15 and 16 January - Midday Express
• Interview with Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Federico Fubini (Corriere della Sera)
• A grand bargain on the next EU budget is possible - The need for boldness didn’t pass with the bloc’s post-pandemic recovery fund - Financial Times

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Can anybody stop Ursula von der Leyen? - As the race for the EU’s top jobs kicks off, the ‘queen’ in the European Commission is the woman to beat - Politico.eu

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Guatemala: Council establishes dedicated framework of restrictive measures in support of democracy - see Council Regulation (EU) 2024/287 & Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/254
• Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/290 of 12 January 2024 amending Decision (CFSP) 2022/2319 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Haiti
• Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/291 of 12 January 2024 implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2309 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Haiti
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/328 of 12 January 2024 amending for the 340th time Council Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 imposing certain specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities associated with the ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida organisations
• Yemen: Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU welcoming the UN Security Council resolution strongly condemning Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping
• Russia finds way around sanctions on battlefield tech: report - That doesn’t mean sanctions have failed; they just need to be enforced better — including by requiring Western companies to track their own products, US-Ukrainian research team finds - Politico.eu