Europe Daily News, 27 August 2025

COMPETITION

• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12139 - CVC / PAG / Australian Venue Co)
• Commission clears acquisition of Topcon by KKR (M.12018) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of Monterey Mushrooms by PSP and BCI (M.12002) - Midday Express
• Denmark - The Competition authority requires merger between Uber and Dantaxi to be notified
• Denmark - The Competition authority requires merger between OneMed and Kirstine Hardam to be notified
• UK - The CMA has cleared the anticipated acquisition by Rubix UK of Eriks UK
• UK - The CMA has accepted final undertakings and the reference has now been fully determined in the GXO / Wincanton merger

STATE AID

• Answer given by EVP Ribera to a MEP written question - Closure of a State aid procedure without a final decision regarding the HHLA-MSC case

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Customs Control Equipment Instrument Annual Progress Report 2024
• International Agreements in Progress: Modernisation of the trade pillar of the EU-Mexico Global Agreement - See the EP Briefing
• Polish ecommerce chief urges EU to act on Chinese dumping threat - Stricter tax and safety regulations needed to protect European market, says Allegro CEO - Financial Times
• UK’s EU relations minister to take on Farage over planned food deal - Nick Thomas-Symonds to defend alignment with Brussels’ rules as he accuses Reform UK leader of hurting business - Financial Times

EU/US TRADE RELATIONS

• EU faces first test of fragile trade truce with Trump - Donald Trump’s threat to target the bloc’s digital rules comes days after joint agreement on trade - Politico.eu
• EU stands its ground on digital rules despite Trump warning - US president threatens retaliatory tariffs on countries that ‘discriminate’ against American tech groups - Financial Times
  
• EU moves to shield aluminium from Trump tariff blow - Recycling plants in the bloc are shutting down capacity as US producers can pay more for European scrap metal - Financial Times

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Agenda for: Meeting of the Antici Group (Simplification) - 01 September 2025
• Agenda for: Working Party on Technical Harmonisation (Measuring Instruments Directive) - 08 September 2025
• Minutes of 111th meeting of the Technical Committee - Motor Vehicles - 01 July 2025
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) …/... of 17.7.2025 amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the conformity assessment procedures for EU fertilising products

TAXATION

• Agenda for: Working Party on Tax Questions (Indirect Taxation - VAT) - 11 September 2025
• Agenda for: Code of Conduct Group (Business Taxation) - Subgroup on internal and external issues - 09 September 2025
• Minutes of the 26th meeting of the Committee on Administrative Cooperation for Taxation (CACT) - 16 July 2025

ENERGY

• Reviewing ecodesign requirements for electric motors and variable speed drives
  - Call for evidence: Energy efficiency – ecodesign for electric motors and variable speed drives – review - Regulation - Feedback period: 25 August 2025 - 22 September 2025
  - Public consultation: Energy efficient buildings – portfolio framework to increase lending for renovations (delegated act) - Delegated regulation - Feedback period: 26 August 2025 - 18 November 2025 

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Answer given by Ms Roswall to a MEP written question - Emission limits for the Acciaierie d’Italia steelworks in Taranto
• Answer given by Ms Roswall to a MEP written question - Denmark’s 14-year lack of limit values for hazardous substances in the oceans
• Answer given by Ms Roswall to a MEP written question - Use of non-protected organisms and NAMs in REACH: implications for animal testing policy

AGRICULTURE & FISHERIES

• Agenda for: Meeting of the Expert Group for Agricultural Markets - Animal Products (Pigmeat, Poultry and Egg) - 28 August 2025
• Minutes of the Meeting of the of the Expert Group for Agricultural Markets - Animal Products - 17 July 2025
• Answer given by Mr Hansen to a MEP written question - Protecting domestic agriculture from imports produced to lower standards

EMPLOYMENT & SOCIAL POLICY

• Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers following an application from Belgium - EGF/2025/001 BE/BelGaN
• Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers following an application from Germany - EGF/2025/002 DE/Goodyear 2
• Investment in education across Europe is on the rise, boosting for EU competitiveness - see the Full Report - Midday Express

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Agenda for: MDCG - International Matters Working Group - Stakeholder and Regulators Sessions - 04 September 2025

DIGITAL SOCIETY & CYBERSECURITY

• Commission gathers views on how the DMA can support fair and contestable digital markets and AI sector - Report - Feedback period: 26 August 2025 - 23 September 2025 - Midday Express 
• Agenda for: Horizontal Working Party on Cyber Issues - 01 September 2025
• ENISA to operate the EU Cybersecurity Reserve with EUR 36 million

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• ECB - Consolidated financial statement of the Eurosystem as at 22 August 2025
• Interview with ECB's Piero Cipollone, conducted by Miha Jenko on 10 July 2025
• The macroeconomic impact of trade policy: a new identification approach - ECB Working Paper Series No.3102
• Central bank communication with non-experts: insights from a randomized field experiment - ECB Working Paper Series No.3103
• Geography versus income: the heterogeneous effects of carbon taxation - ECB Working Paper Series No.3104
• Opening the black box of local projections - ECB Working Paper Series No.3105

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Kallas to a MEP written question - Sanctions against Rosatom and its subsidiary Atomflot