Europe Daily News, 15 November 2024

COMPETITION

• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11673 - DK / YSCO)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11665 - AXA Assicuarazioni / Nobis)
• Summary of Commission Decision of 22 July 2024 relating to a proceeding under Article 102 of the TFEU (Case AT.40577 - VIFOR IV iron products)
  - Final Report of the Hearing Officer 
  - Opinion of the Advisory Committee on restrictive practices and dominant positions
• Commission clears acquisition of Vantive by Carlyle (M.11732) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of EV by Adrill and ADH (M.11672) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of Ethydco by ADQ, and of EDC and Elab by Egpc and ADQ (M.11418) - Midday Express
• Commission fines Meta € 797.72 million over abusive practices benefitting Facebook Marketplace (AT.40684) - Financial Times
• Schibsted Marketplaces welcomes EC decision against Meta Platform
• Answer given by EVP Vestager to a MEP written question - Possible distortions of competition in Formula 1 team entries
• Austria - Construction cartel update: BWB applies for the imposition of a fine of EUR 1.7 million against TRAUNFELLNER
• Lithuania - The undertakings' anti-competitive agreement denied consumers lower prices for food supplements and cosmetics

STATE AID

• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections – SA.113202; SA.115721 & SA.104880
• Commission approves €790 million Romanian State aid measure to support closure of coal mines in Jiu Valley (SA.111282)
• Commission clears Polish compensation for Poczta Polska's universal postal service obligation (SA.105121)
• UK - Referral of the proposed subsidy to BioNTech UK Limited by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Working Party on Trade Questions - 19 November 2024
• Minutes of the 261st meeting of the Customs Code Committee (Sub-Section Agriculture/Chemistry) - 8th to 9th October 2024
• EU takes further action in Colombia frozen fries dispute
  
• Answer given by Ms Kyriakides to a MEP written question - Reinforcing checks on imports from non-EU countries in the face of the rising number of consignments affected by citrus black spot
• New IRENA-WTO report highlights key trade policies for renewable hydrogen and derivatives
• Chancellor and BoE governor call for UK to rebuild ties with EU - Reeves and Bailey highlight damage from Brexit amid concern about Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on trading partners -Financial Times
• Russian sales of Chinese cars surge after western sanctions hit - Purchases of vehicles from Asian nation’s automakers reach fresh records as Russians ‘vote with their wallets’ - Financial Times
• Send in the king! How Britain can dodge a Donald Trump trade war - Senior U.K. trade officials, experts and lawyers say a deal can be done — with the right incentives - Politico.eu
• Macron’s last-ditch attempt to stall the EU’s mega trade deal with South America - The French president heads to the G20 on a mission to delay and dilute the Mercosur pact - Politico.eu

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Armenian companies to get enhanced access to finance as EIB Global and European Commission offer financial package of almost €70 million

CHEMICAL

• Final Draft Agenda for: 65th meeting of the Committee for Socio-economic Analysis - 26 to 28 November 2024
• 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: C(2024) 7740 - chromium trioxide; C(2024) 7732 - chromium trioxide; C(2024) 7731 - chromium trioxide; C(2024) 7741-chromium trioxide

FINANCE

• Agenda for: Att. & Exp. Financial Services and Banking Union (Payment Services) - 26 November 2024
• The EBA issues an Opinion in response to the European Commission's proposed amendments to the EBA final draft technical standards on supervisory reporting and Pillar 3 disclosures
• The EBA issues final guidance on internal policies, procedures and controls to ensure the implementation of Union and national sanctions
• The EBA updates list of third-country groups and branches operating in the European Union and the European Economic Area
• ESMA - Compliance table on Guidelines on certain aspects of the MiFID II appropriateness and execution only requirements
• ESMA is collecting data on costs linked to investments in AIFs and UCITS
• ESMA-EIOPA Letter on the Retail Investment Strategy

TAXATION

• Agenda for: Working Party on Tax Questions (High Level) - 27 November 2024
• Agenda for: 39th Meeting of the Sub-group "Automatic exchange of information" (SG AEOI) - 21 November 2024
• Agreed guidance by the Code of Conduct Group (business taxation): 1998 - 2024
• European Parliament supports introduction of an electronic VAT exemption certificate - See the Report

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

• Judgment of the Court of 14 November 2024 in Case C‑230/23, Reprobel CV, Vs. Copaco Belgium NV
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Approximation of laws - Harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society - Directive 2001/29/EC - Article 2 - Reproduction right - Article 5(2)(a) and (b). - Exceptions and limitations - Fair compensation - Direct effect - Entity entrusted by the State with collecting and distributing fair compensation - Special powers

AGRICULTURE & FISHERIES

• Council (Agriculture & Fisheries) on 18 November 2024
  - Market situation, in particular following the invasion of Ukraine - Information from the Commission and the Member States - Exchange of views
  - Putting forward an EU Protein Strategy - Information from Germany, on behalf of Denmark and Germany, supported by Czechia, Estonia, Ireland, Luxembourg
  - Protective measures under Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1392 for imports of Ukrainian honey into Bulgaria and Romania - Information from Bulgaria, supported by Romania

ENERGY

• Minutes of the Meeting of the Smart Energy Expert Group (SEEG) - 09 October 2024
• Minutes of the Second Fusion Expert Group Meeting - 21 October 2024
• ACER’s report on EU electricity wholesale market integration shows progress but challenges persist

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Judgment of the Court of 14 November 2024 in Case C‑47/23, European Commission, Vs. Federal Republic of Germany
  Re: Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Environment - Directive 92/43/EEC - Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora - Article 6(2) - Appropriate steps to avoid, in special areas of conservation, the deterioration of natural habitats - Habitat types 6510 (lowland hay meadows) and 6520 (mountain hay meadows) protected by the Natura 2000 network - Loss of area - No specific surveillance of natural habitats - General and structural failure - Article 4(1) - Proposal by each Member State of a list of sites indicating which natural habitat types and native species the sites host - Regular updating of information relating to those sites
• Eleventh meeting of Working Group of the Parties to the Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTR WGP 11) to the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) (Geneva, 22 November 2024) - First EU coordination
• Managing the growth of offshore wind energy and marine ecosystem protection in Europe - See EEA Briefing

DEFORESTATION

• Draft Agenda of 2nd meeting of the EUDR Committee - 18 November 2024
• EU deforestation law: Parliament wants to give companies one more year to comply - See the Amendments as adopted - see Reactions from EP groups S&D & Green-EFA
• EU backs ‘loophole’ for member states facing deforestation law - Proposed change set to inflame tensions with Brazil and other big agricultural producers over controversial rule - Financial Times
• Agenda for: Working Party on Genetic Resources & Innovation in Agriculture (forest reproductive material) - 20 November 2024

COP29

• MEPs support EU’s commitment to COP29 in Azerbaijan

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Statement by Commissioner Kyriakides ahead of "European Antibiotic Awareness Day"
• Council Recommendation on smoke-and aerosol-free environments replacing Council Recommendation 2009/C 296/02 (legal basis proposed by the Commission: Article 168(6)TFEU) - Adoption
• EMA - Leqembi recommended for treatment of early Alzheimer’s disease - Re-examination concludes that benefits outweigh risks in a restricted patient population
• EMA - Minutes for the meeting of the Committee for Advanced Therapies (CAT) - 11 & 12 September 2024
• Joint ECDC-EFSA rapid outbreak assessment – Prolonged multi-country outbreak of Salmonella Strathcona ST2559 linked to consumption of tomatoes in the EU/EEA and the UK
• ECDC - Surveillance of West Nile virus infections in humans, weekly report
• ECDC - Cholera - Annual Epidemiological Report for 2022 

DIGITAL, DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• Agenda for: Horizontal Working Party on Cyber Issues - 18 November 2024
• Agenda for: Working Party on Telecommunications & Information Society - 21 November 2024
• Answer given by EVP Vestager to a MEP written question - Commission enquiry into Meta’s shadow bans
• The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) regularly publishes TechSonar reports on emerging technologies

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Opinion of Advocate General Capeta of 14 November 2024 in Case C‑530/23, [Barało] (i) K.P. joined party: Prokurator Rejonowy we Włocławku
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Judicial cooperation in criminal matters - Procedural safeguards for vulnerable persons who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings - Right of access to a lawyer - Directive 2013/48/EU - Directive (EU) 2016/1919 - Admissibility of evidence
• Statement by Vice-President Jourová and Commissioners Schmit and Dalli on the occasion of the "European Equal Pay Day"
• EU-UK: Joint statement following the fifteenth meeting of the Specialised Committee on Citizens’ Rights

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Autumn 2024 Economic Forecast: A gradual rebound in an adverse environment
• Commission endorses preliminary assessment of Czechia's third payment request under the Recovery and Resilience Facility
• Commission receives Portugal's sixth payment request for €1.67 billion under the Recovery and Resilience Facility - Midday Express
• Commission paves the way for release of the second regular payment to Ukraine of close to €4.1 billion under the Ukraine Facility - see the Proposal

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• MILEX 24: EU to conduct Live Military Exercise in Germany
• Moldova: Security and Defence Dialogue with the EU takes place in Chisinau
• Mauritius: Statement by the Spokesperson on the National Assembly elections