Europe Daily News, 02 April 2024

COMPETITION

• Action brought on 19 February 2024 - Lantmännen and Lantmännen Biorefineries Vs. Commission - Case T-93/24
  Re: annulment in whole or in part, of the decision in Case AT.40054 - Ethanol Benchmarks - C(2023) 8320 final
• Clearance decision for Inmarsat takeover published by EU watchdog - See Case M.10807
• Commission clears acquisition of Eriks by Lone Star (M.11283) - Midday Express
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11360 - DCC / Progas)

STATE AID

• Commission approves €900 million French State aid scheme to support the production of energy and fuel from biomass and renewable hydrogen to foster the transition to a net-zero economy (SA.109766) - IP/24/1549
  
• Commission approves €1 billion Greek State aid measures to support renewable energy generation and storage projects (SA.103399) - IP/24/1765
• ESA opens investigation into proposed exemptions from carbon taxes in Norway - See the Decision

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Customs Programme - CLEN Action 6 - Meeting on the Update and enrichment of ECICS (Derivatives of Chapter 29) - 09 April 2024
• Minutes of the Customs Programme - CLEN Action 3 - CLEN Project Group on Compliance assessment, use of precision data and statistics - 23 January 2024
• EU and Japan launch Enhanced Dialogue on advanced materials - IP/24/1781
• EU-US Trade and Technology Council - 04 & 05 April 2024
• Answer given by Mr Gentiloni to a MEP written question - European multinationals still operating in Russia – next steps
• Answer given by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis to a MEP written question - Administrative burden and supply chain regulation
• WTO - China initiates dispute regarding US tax credits for electric vehicles, renewable energy - WT/DS623/1
• WTO - Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - United Kingdom - Electronic cigarettes : single-use vapes

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesgerichtshof (Germany) of 9 January 2024 - Dürr Dental SE Vs. Cattani Deutschland Helmes GmbH & Co. KG - Case C-10/24
  Re: Article 14(1) and point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 14(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/745; CE marking;
• Czechia: €100 million EIB loan to MONETA Money Bank will support small and medium-sized businesses

ENERGY

• Request for a preliminary ruling from the Curtea de Apel București (Romania) of 15 December 2023 - Bursa Română de Mărfuri SA Vs. Autoritatea Națională de Reglementare în Domeniul Energiei (ANRE) - Case C-775/23
  Re: single licence for the operation of the electricity market; Article 35 of the TFEU; Articles 102 and 106(1) of the TFEU; Article 4(3) of the TEU
• Europe’s new energy risk: Trading Russia for America - The EU replaced Russian energy with U.S. supplies after Moscow launched a war. Now people are wondering: Is Europe too dependent on America? - Politico.eu
• Russia’s sanction-proofed economy is helping it avoid a defeat in Ukraine - The American right’s destructive isolationism, Europe’s arguably glacial approach, and sanctions that haven’t fully impeded the Kremlin all make Russia’s expulsion increasingly unlikely - Politico.eu

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Answer given by Mr Hoekstra to a MEP written question - Shipping companies hit hard by additional cost of carbon quotas

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Agenda for: Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed Section Seeds and Propagating Material for Agriculture and Horticulture - 05 April 2024
• Agenda for: Meeting of the Regulatory Committee (GMO) under Directive 2001/18/EC - 10 April 2024

EMPLOYMENT & SOCIAL AFFAIRS

• Council Decision (EU) 2024/1018 of 25 March 2024 inviting Member States to ratify the Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No 190) of the International Labour Organization

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Commission vetoes proposed strengthening of regulation of the wholesale broadband market in Malta following in-depth investigation - Midday Express

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Bulgaria and Romania join the Schengen area - IP/24/1722

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• ECB Consumer Expectations Survey results – February 2024
• The Commission makes a second payment of €702 million to the Czech Republic under the Recovery and Resilience Facility - Midday Express

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• EU-China conclude the 6th High-Level People-to-People Dialogue on education, culture, youth and sport - IP/24/1766
• Pro-Russia oligarch accused of running influence operation in EU - Czech and Belgian authorities say Viktor Medvedchuk was paying politicians to peddle Kremlin propaganda - Financial Times