Europe Daily News, 17 February 2026

COMPETITION

• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.12224 - OEP IX / Digital Value)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.12265 - PSPIB / 4F / VSA / Citrosuco)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.12246 - Apollo Funds / Club Atletico De Madrid)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.12181 - Skoda Transportation / Tata Autocomp / JV)
• Commission clears creation of joint venture by Nippon Steel and Sumitomo (M.12304) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of Hologic by Blackstone and TPG (M.12249) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of Project Informatica by EMK (M.12242) - Midday Express
• Sweden - The Government has put forward a legislative proposal giving the competition authority the power to decide on pro-competitive measures
• Populists are losing a Maga tug of war over US antitrust policy - Gail Slater’s exit suggests pro-business Republicans are ascendant in Donald Trump’s justice department - Financial Times

STATE AID

• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections – SA.117291; SA.116065 & SA.118989
• Answer given by EVP Ribera to a MEP written question - Commission assessment of German electricity price subsidies

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Meeting of the EP INTA Committee - 23 & 24 February 2026
  - Adjustment of customs duties on the import of certain goods originating in the United States of America and opening of tariff quotas for imports of certain goods originating in the United States of America - See the Draft report; Amendment; Opinion by the Budget and Agriculture Committee
  - Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the non-application of customs duties on imports of certain - See the Draft report; Amendment; Opinion by the Budget Committee
  - Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the EU and the People`s Republic of China pursuant to Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994 relating to the modification of concessions on all the tariff rate quotas included in the EU Schedule CLXXV as a consequence of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU - See the Draft Report
• Agenda for: Trade Policy Committee (Services & Investment / attachés & experts) - 25 February 2026
• Notice of the impending expiry of certain anti-dumping measures (Mono ethylene glycol; United States of America & Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Regulation (EU) 2021/1976; 16.11.2026)
• List of materials originating in South Africa excluded from cumulation provided in Article 4.2 of Protocol 1 to the EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/360 of 10 February 2026 concerning the classification of certain goods in the Combined Nomenclature (CN: 2106 90 98)
• Answer given by Mr Šefčovič to a MEP written question - Possible fraud in tuna imported from Vietnam under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)
• Trump-Milei pact piles pressure on EU to lock in Mercosur accord - A new U.S.-Argentina deal could undermine protections for European food names that are included in the trade agreement with Latin America - Politico.eu

CBAM

• Answer given by Mr Hoekstra to a MEP written question - Risk of collapse of the fertiliser market and burden on European agriculture due to the imminent implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)

EU/UK

• Commission adopts proposals for the signing, provisional application and conclusion of EU-UK Agreement in respect of Gibraltar
• Minutes of the Eleventh meeting of the Specialised Committee on Fisheries established by the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

EU/WTO

• Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - European Union - Health biotechnology products
• Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - European Union - Trucks and buses

INTERNAL MARKET INDUSTRY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Competitiveness & Growth (Industry) - 23 February 2026
• Call for evidence: EU defence industry – programme for agile defence innovation (AGILE) - Proposal for a regulation - Feedback period: 17 February 2026 - 17 March 2026
• EVs must be 70% made in the EU to qualify for state support, Brussels says - Draft legislation on local content by European Commission seeks to protect bloc’s manufacturing industries - Financial Times

CHEMICALS

• Draft report by MEP Dimitris Tsiodras, Piotr Müller Amending Regulations (EC) No 1272/2008, (EC) No 1223/2009 and (EU) 2019/1009 as regards simplification of certain requirements and procedures for chemical products (Amendments 100 - 269)
• Draft report by MEP Dimitris Tsiodras, Piotr Müller on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulations (EC) No 1272/2008, (EC) No 1223/ 2009 and (EU) 2019/1009 as regards simplification of certain requirements and procedures for chemical products (Amendments 606 - 607)
• Answer given by EVP Séjourné to a MEP written question - Committee for Socio-economic Analysis opinion delays and implications for the adoption of the EU-wide PFAS restriction

TAXATION

• EU updates list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, highlighting commitment to global tax good governance standards
• Answer given by Ms Roswall to a MEP written question - Taxing the super-rich
• Call for evidence: Simplifying EU rules on direct taxation – omnibus - Proposal for a directive - Feedback period: 16 February 2026 - 16 March 2026

ENERGY

• Commission notice related to the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/124 on the average market price for Russian crude oil over the monitoring period (15 July 2025 until 15 December 2025) and the new price cap level for Russian crude
• The Commission seeks views on how to simplify legislation on energy efficient products
• Clean and just energy transition: New study provides tools to assess emerging energy technologies
• EVP Ribera and Commissioner Jørgensen to discuss energy security, affordability and sustainability with global partners - Midday Express
• Drivers of electricity prices across households and energy-intensive industries and their importance for the EU’s decarbonisation objectives - ECB Economic Bulletin Issue 1, 2026

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• EU Council adopts new directive on substances to be monitored in water
• Answer given by Ms Roswall to a MEP written question - Circular economy – Scrap steel from end-of-life ships

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Agenda for: Meeting of the Antici Group (Simplification: Omnibus X: Food and feed safety) - 20 February 2026
• Commission launches “BE READY” European Partnership to strengthen pandemic preparedness research ecosystem

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Telecommunications & Information Society - 19 February 2026
  
• Report by MEP Reinier Van Lanschot on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directives 2000/14/EC, 2011/65/EU, 2013/53/EU, 2014/29/EU, 2014/30/EU, 2014/31/EU, 2014/32/EU, 2014/33/EU, 2014/34/EU, 2014/35/EU, 2014/53/EU, 2014/68/EU and 2014/90/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards digitalisation and common specifications - A10-0023/2026
• Draft Report by MEP Arba Kokalari, Michael McNamara on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulations (EU) 2024/1689 and (EU) 2018 /1139 as regards the simplification of the implementation of harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (Digital Omnibus on AI)
• Commission launches investigation into Shein under the Digital Services Act - Financial Times
• Two years of Digital Services Act allows 50 million content moderation decisions by platforms to be reversed
• EVP Virkkunen in India for summit on artificial intelligence - Midday Express
• Commission seeks experts for forum on Frontier AI
• Open consultation: Digital Networks Act - Proposal for a regulation - Feedback period: 16 February 2026 - 14 April 2026
• Answer given by EVP Virkkunen to a MEP written question - Telecom consolidation – European Commission
• Answer given by EVP Virkkunen to a MEP written question - European digital sovereignty and the drafting process of the ‘Digital Omnibus’
• Answer given by EVP Virkkunen to a MEP written question - Risks posed to minors by WhatsApp Channels and the platform’s possible classification as a VLOP under the DSA
• Digital violence against women: bff and HateAid file DSA complaints against platforms

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• EDPB - Reply to the civil society open letter in response on recent spyware abuse cases in the EU
• The ENISA Cybersecurity Exercise Methodology aims to empower and guide organisations in developing effective cybersecurity exercises from start to finish
• EDPS  - Extension of interim rules to combat child sexual abuse online must address shortcomings and prevent indiscriminate scanning - See the Opinion 7/2026
• EU Parliament blocks AI tools over cyber, privacy fears - AI features on EU devices sent data to cloud, prompting the Parliament’s IT support to switch them off - Politico.eu
• EU privacy watchdog opens probe into Elon Musk’s X over sexualised AI images - ‘Large-scale’ inquiry is latest sign of how regulators are scrutinising the group’s Grok chatbot - Financial Times

EURO, ECB & ECONOMY

• Agenda for: Council of the European Union (Economic & Financial Affairs) - 17 February 2026
• Main results of the Eurogroup - 16 February 2026
  - Remarks by Commissioner Dombrovskis at the Eurogroup press conference
  - Ministers of the euro area reconfirm Tuomas Saarenheimo as President of the Eurogroup working group
  - Remarks by Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis on the euro area recommendation, the international role of the euro, and global imbalances
• Bayesian inference in IV regressions - ECB Working Paper Series No.3189
• A structural model of capital buffer usability - ECB Working Paper Series No.3188
• Overcoming structural barriers to the green transition - ECB Economic Bulletin Issue 1, 2026

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Collaboration between the European Union and the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen
• Ukrainian Authorities, with EU support, Continued consultations with partners in Austria and the Czech Republic on Institutional preparedness and engagement of citizens abroad
• Europe’s path to security without the US - The heads of Nato and EU Commission offer competing visions. Both have a point - Financial Times