Europe Daily News, 18 February 2026

COMPETITION

• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12284 - Brookfield / Oaktree)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11942 - Deutsche Post / CTT / JVs)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11871 - Kingdom of Denmark / Kobenhavns Lufthavne)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.12306 - Nylim / Kartesia)
• Commission clears acquisition of Energia by Ardian (M.12196) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of NVL by Rheinmetall (M.12244) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of Smiths Detection by CVC (M.12276) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of AURES Holdings by EPEI (M.12293) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of Goldman Sachs TFI by ING Group (M.12257) - Midday Express
• Summary notice concerning the initiation of an in-depth investigation in case FS.100143 - Goldwind, pursuant to Article 10(3)(d) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2560
• Austria - Supreme Cartel Court clears merger in the railway coupler market
• Denmark - Ruling: Sydbank has violated the Competition Council's injunction
• Finland - The FCCA is investigating an arrangement whereby Sponforest Group Oy, part of the Sponsor Capital group of companies, will acquire Kuljetus Villman Oy's timber transport business
• France - The General Rapporteur of the Autorité de la concurrence indicates that an unannounced inspection was carried out in the private passenger transport sector
• France - The Autorité de la concurrence closes its review of the acquisition of 43 Colruyt stores by Groupement Les Mousquetaires, with three clearances subject to the divestiture of three stores to one or more competing retailers
• France - Online video content creation: the Autorité de la concurrence examines the relationship between creators, audiences, commercial partners and platforms and calls on platforms to improve transparency and vigilance in their commercial relations
• Ireland - Notification of concentration - M/26/010 – Melior Equity Partners/Progress Systems
• Romania - The Competition Council assesses the transaction through which UMB STEEL S.R.L. intends to take over the assets belonging to ArcelorMittal Hunedoara S.A.
• ERT calls for modernised EU Merger Guidelines to unlock efficiencies, innovation and competitiveness

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 of 11 February 2026 amending Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 as regards the elimination of the threshold-based customs duty relief
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/347 of 17 February 2026 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of sweetcorn originating in the Kingdom of Thailand, following an expiry review pursuant to Article 11(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 of the European Parliament and of the Council
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/362 of 17 February 2026 making imports of benzyl alcohol originating in the People’s Republic of China subject to registration with a view to allowing the levy of anti-dumping duties on the imports subject to registration
• Joint Report of the 7th Meeting of the CETA Committee on Trade in Goods - 15 & 16 October 2025
• Answer given by  Mr Šefčovič to a MEP written question - Provisional tariffs imposed by China on EU dairy products
• Answer given by  Mr Šefčovič to a MEP written question - Stepping up trade defence instruments
• WTO Members discuss new approaches, share experiences on reforming fossil fuel subsidies

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Minutes of the 14th meeting of the Expert Group on EU Transfers of Defence-related Product - 11 February 2026
• Fertilizers Europe reports limited impact of CBAM on European fertilizer market - Fertilizers Europe statement
• Von der Leyen’s industry master plan runs into trouble - Nine European Commission departments pan the Industrial Accelerator Act, leaving the landmark proposal in a tough spot - Politico.eu

CHEMICALS

• Agenda for: Meeting of the REACH Committee - 25 & 26 February 2026
• ECHA - Minutes of the 93rd Meeting of the Member State Committee (MSC-93) - 10 February 2026

FINANCE

• Communication from the Commission - Guidance concerning the treatment of equity exposures incurred under legislative programmes according to Article 133(5) of Regulation (EU) No 575/ 2013
• Commission appoints Ms Astrid Cousin and Mr Didier Millerot as a new Directors in its Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union - Midday Express
• ESMA supports the simplified European Sustainability Reporting Standards and suggests targeted adjustments
• ESMA - Statement on Reshaping performance: Implementation of IFRS 18 Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements
• EBA issues Opinion to the European Commission on the draft amended European Sustainability Reporting Standards

AGRICULTURE & FISHERIES

• Meeting of the “Agriculture and Fisheries” Council - 23 February 2026 
  - Difficulties that the EU pig sector is facing - the need for an exceptional aid - Information from Romania, supported by Hungary and Poland
• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on cooperation among enforcement authorities responsible for the enforcement of Directive (EU) 2019/633 on unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain - Outcome of the EP's first reading (Strasbourg, 9 to 12 February 2026) of 16.2.2026

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: 131st Meeting of the Climate Change Committee - 23 February 2026
  - Draft Commission Implementing Decision (EU) …/… amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/2126 as regards the setting out of the annual emission allocations for Member States for the period from 2026 to 2030
• Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to Article 294(6) of the TFEU concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2000/60/EC establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy, Directive 2006/118/EC on the protection of groundwater against pollution and deterioration and Directive 2008/105/EC on environmental quality standards in the field of water policy
• Commissioners Roswall and Hansen host implementation dialogue on environmental legislation - Midday Express
• EU Council adopts improved water quality standards – but weakens cornerstone EU law to protect water - See the EEB Statement

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) …/... repealing Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/30
• Commission appoints Mr Prabhat Agarwal as new Director in its Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology - Midday Express
• Answer given by  Executive Vice-President Virkkunen to a MEP written question - Penalties based on the Digital Services Act against the platform X

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• EDPB identifies challenges hindering the full implementation of the right to erasure
  - Report on Coordinated Enforcement Action, implementation of the right to erasure by controllers
  - Report on stakeholder event on anonymisation and pseudonymisation of 12 December 2025
• Advancing into Practice: Third Meeting of the AI Act Correspondents Network - See EDPS Blog
• Answer given by Mr McGrath to a MEP written question - GDPR supervision of public broadcasters – supervisory independence and scope of Article 85 GDPR

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Main Results of the Economic & Financial Affairs Council - 17 February 2026
  - Remarks by Commissioner Dombrovskis at the ECOFIN press conference
  - EU annual budget 2027: Council sets guidelines for next year's EU budget 
  - Economic governance: Council approves flexibility for Austria to increase defence spending
• ECB and ONCE Foundation launch collaboration to ensure digital euro is accessible for everyone
• Presentation by ECB's Piero Cipollone on Digital euro
• Christine Lagarde to leave ECB before the end of her 8-year term - Central banker wants to give Macron and Merz chance to pick successor before French presidential election - Financial Times

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2026/325 of 27 October 2025 amending Directive 2009/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the updating of the list of defence-related products in line with the updated Common Military List of the European Union of 24 February 2025
• Zimbabwe: Council renews arms embargo and lifts travel bans and assets freeze - See Council Regulation (EU) 2026/384 & Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/383
• Armenia: Council appoints new Head of Mission for European Union Mission in Armenia - See Decision (CFSP) 2026/399
• Commission supports the EU's eastern regions bordering Russia, Belarus and Ukraine - See the Communication, Factsheet & Remarks by EVP Fitto
• EU announces over €81 million in humanitarian aid as conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo pushes Great Lakes crisis to new extremes
• Commissioner Šuica travels to Washington DC to attend the meeting of the Board of Peace on Gaza - Midday Express
• Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Kallas to a MEP written question - US pressure on Greenland and respect for international law