COMPETITION
- Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11380 - Inpex / KHI / Iwatani / JSE)
- Commission clears creation of joint venture by MC, DTHAG and MMC (M.11424) - Midday Express
- Commission clears acquisition of BMS by VWFS and Pon.Bike (M.11321) - Midday Express
- Commission clears acquisition of Avista Oil by SKion and Bitburger Holding (M.11414) - Midday Express
- Commission clears acquisition of Dayco's Powertrain Solutions business by Aurelius (M.11427) - Midday Express
- Commission clears acquisition of Vantage NA Data Center Assets by Silver Lake and DigitalBridge (M.11434) - Midday Express
- Commission sends Statement of Objections to PPC over predatory pricing in the Greek wholesale electricity market - IP/24/672
- EFTA - ESA closes investigation into Norwegian restrictions on subcontracting in public procurement
- Germany - Bundeskartellamt: List of Notified Merger Projects as of 06 February 2024
- UK - The CMA launched of its merger inquiry in the acquisition by Theramex HQ UK Ltd. of certain rights to Viatris Inc’s Femoston and Duphaston products
- Europe has an unrivalled record on antitrust - From Olivier Guersent, Director-General, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
STATE AID
- State aid in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: the General Court annuls the approval of State aid from the Netherlands amounting to €3.4 billion in favour of KLM (see CPR No.25/2024 - Judgment of the General Court in Case T-146/22; Ryanair Vs. Commission)
- Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections – SA.109911; SA.110163; SA.109250; SA.107898 & SA.105381
- EFTA - ESA approves Icelandic tax scheme for employee share options
TRADE & CUSTOMS
- Agenda for: Trade Policy Committee (Generalised System of Preferences (GSP)) - 09 February 2024
- Agenda for: Customs Programme - Meeting on the Update and enrichment of ECICS - 01 March 2024
- Agenda for: Customs Programme - 26th Meeting of the Customs Laboratories European Network (CLEN) - 13 February 2024
- Minutes - Customs Programme - CLEN Action 2 - Proficiency Test on Tobacco Products - 25 October 2023
- Report of the Expert group for Preparatory meetings of the WTO Committee for Sanitary and Phytosanitary Issues (SPS) - 15 -17 November 2023
- Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on exceptional trade measures for countries and territories participating in or linked to the Stabilisation and Association process
- Commission publishes guide to help EU producers with anti-dumping complaints
- Answer given by EVP Dombrovskis to a MEP written question - Sustainability and competitiveness of the EU banana sector
- WTO - Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - European Union - Construction products
- WTO - Aid-for-Trade Global Review 2024 to look at mainstreaming trade into development strategies
- UK to wave through animal products from EU if ports are overwhelmed - Contingency plan comes after trade bodies warn new post-Brexit checks risk disrupting supply chains - Financial Times
INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY
- Agenda for: Working Party on Technical Harmonisation (Safety of Toys) - 13 February 2024
- February infringement package: key decisions
- Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform: provisional agreement to boost investments in critical technologies
CHEMICAL
- ECHA consults on recommending five substances for REACH authorisation - ECHA/NR/24/04
- Final Draft Agenda - 3rd Meeting of the Committee for Risk Assessment - DWD Working Group reporting to RAC-68 - 14 & 15 March 2024
- Draft Agenda of 85th meeting of the Member States Committee - 13 February 2024
- ECHA Weekly Newsletter - 07 February 2024
NET-ZERO INDUSTRY ACT
- Net-Zero Industry Act: Council and Parliament strike a deal to boost EU’s green industry - See the EP Statement
- Commission welcomes political agreement to make clean technology manufacturing in the EU resilient and competitive - IP/24/680
- 2040 target: enabling conditions for unlocking investment in industrial transition cannot wait any longer, warns Eurofer
- EU promotes costly, unproven technologies on final net-zero industry plan, see EBB Statement
FINANCE
- Capital markets Union: Council and Parliament agree on improvements to EU clearing services
- Commission welcomes political agreement on the clearing package, a boost for the Capital Markets Union - Midday Express
- EFAMA - Joint letter asks European Commission to delay technical changes by supervisors until broader review of SFDR is complete - Statement
AGRICULTURE & FISHERIES
- Easier access to EU funding for rural areas thanks to EU Rural Toolkit - IP/24/656
- Support to Ukraine, response to farmer’s concerns: MEPs review latest EU summits
- EU’s 2040 climate ambition is undermined by distractions and shortsighted decisions on agriculture - see EEB Statement
- Copa-Cogeca Statement - EU 2040 climate target and carbon management Communications – A dialogue with farmers has finally been chosen!
- Brussels bows to farmers’ protests by slashing environmental targets - Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen says plan to halve pesticide use had become ‘symbol of polarisation’ - Financial Times
ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE
- Agenda for: Meeting of the Expert Group on Waste (end-of-life vehicles) - 12 February 2024
- Commission sets out how to sustainably capture, store and use carbon to reach climate neutrality by 2050 - IP/24/585; QaA; FactSheet & Communication
- Commission presents recommendation for 2040 emissions reduction target to set the path to climate neutrality in 2050 - IP/24/588; QaA; FactSheet; Communication & Impact assessment
- Press remarks by EVP Šefčovič and Commissioners Simson and Hoekstra on the Communications on a recommended emissions reduction target for 2040 and Industrial Carbon Management
- Waste: Commission decides to refer Spain to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failure to apply the waste management requirements - IP/24/266
- Water and floods: Commission decides to refer Bulagaria, Ireland, Spain, Malta, Portugal and Slovakia to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failure to finalise the revision of their water plans - IP/24/265
- Nature: Commission decides to refer Portugal back to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failure to comply with previous judgment on conservation of Natura 2000 sites - IP/24/268
- EP legislative resolution of 6 February 2024 on the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY
- EFSA - Developing an integrated approach to assess the emergence threat associated with influenza D viruses’ circulating in Europe
- EFSA - Follow‐up of the re‐evaluation of quillaia extract (E 999) as a food additive and safety of the proposed extension of uses
DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY
- Making the online world safer for children and young people on Safer Internet Day - Midday Express
- Commission welcomes new measures to boost the rollout of gigabit networks - IP/24/669 & see the ETNO statement
- Commission Recommendation on the regulatory promotion of gigabit connectivity
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/482 of 31 January 2024 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) 2019/881 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the adoption of the European Common Criteria-based cybersecurity certification scheme (EUCC)
DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY
- Agenda for: Horizontal Working Party on Cyber Issues - 07 February 2024
- EPlegislative resolution of 6 February 2024 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Decision 2009/917/JHA, as regards its alignment with Union rules on the protection of personal data
- ENISA - Joint Statement on Ivanti Connect Secure and Ivanti Policy Secure Vulnerabilities - Assessment and advice on recovery and mitigating actions
- Hungarian SA’s decision: failure by an airline company to comply with an erasure request concerning an email address used for direct marketing - See EDPB Statement
- Final decision of Hungarian SA about infringement of Article 26 GDPR by a foundation - See EDPB Statement
- Data brokers: French SA fined Tagadamedia €75,000 - See EDPB Statement
TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) …/... amending Delegated Regulation (EU) No 305/2013 supplementing Directive 2010/40/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the harmonised provision for an interoperable EU-wide eCall
- Near-disaster shows EU air traffic control is nowhere near good enough - Bordeaux incident highlights the need to accelerate technological innovation in aviation management - Financial Times
AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE
- Schengen: Council and European Parliament agree to update EU’s borders code
- Commission decides to partially register a European Citizens' Initiative on Cannabis - IP/24/650
- Procedural rights: Commission decides to refer Belgium and Luxembourg to the Court of Justice of the European Union for not fully granting the right of access to a lawyer and communication upon arrest - IP/24/651
- The fight against child sexual abuse receives new impetus with updated criminal law rules - IP/24/631, Q&A, see the Proposal for a Directive, Opening remarks by VP Šuica and Commissioner Johansson
- The Commission welcomes the political agreement on new rules for a more resilient Schengen area - IP/24/667
- Commission welcomes political agreement on new rules to combat violence against women and domestic violence - IP/24/649
- Violence against women: Council and European Parliament reach deal on EU law - See the EP Statement
ECB, EURO & ECONOMY
- Deal on mid-term revision of EU’s long-term budget - see the EP Statement
- Isabel Schnabel: ‘The last mile of disinflation may be the most difficult one’ - The ECB board member on combating price rises, the effect of climate change on costs and the importance of money supply - Financial Times; see the full interview by Isabel Schnabel
FUTURE OF EUROPE
- Possible items for College agenda from 14 February to 23 April 2024
EXTERNAL RELATIONS
- Commission signs €400 million agreement with Türkiye to support its recovery after the 2023 earthquakes - IP/24/664 & Joint statement by HR/VP Borrell, Commissioner Lenarčič and Várhelyi
- Germany on board with EU sanctions against Israeli settlers, but EU disunity remains - EU struggles to play role in Israel-Gaza war because of internal frictions - Politico.eu
RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE
- Judgment of the Court of 7 February 2024 in Case T-289/22; Igor Shuvalov 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 which the freezing of funds and economic resources applies - Inclusion and maintenance of the applicant's name on the list - Status of natural person supporting actions or policies undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine) soveeignty and independence of Ukraine - Article 2(1)(a) of Decision 2014/145/CFSP - Obligation to state reasons - Error of assessment - Freedom of expression - Equal treatment - Proportionality - Right to property - Right to effective judicial protection - Misuse of powers - Judgment of the Court of 7 February 2024 in Case T-237/22: Alisher Usmanov 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 which the freezing of funds and economic resources applies - Restrictions on admission to the territory of the Member States - List of persons, entities and bodies subject to restrictions on admission to the territory of the Member States - Inclusion and maintenance of the applicant's name on the lists - Concept of 'support for actions or policies which jeopardise or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine' - Article 2, Article 2(1)(a) of Decision 2014/145/CFSP - Article 3(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 - Jurisdiction of the General Court - Obligation to state reasons - Error of assessment - Rights of the defence - Right to property and freedom to conduct a business - Freedom of movement
- Parliament and Council agree on long-term solution for Ukraine’s funding needs
- Answer given by HR/VP Borrell to a MEP written question - Treaty compliance of bilateral talks between the Prime Minister of Hungary and the President of the Russian Federation in the light of EU sanctions
- EU capitals fear Russian retaliation and cyberattacks after asset freezes - G7 is drafting a workaround to use frozen assets to rebuild Ukraine - Politico.eu