Europe Daily News, 04 March 2026

COMPËTITION

• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11902 - Omnicon / IPG)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12153 - Aunde Group / Aunde C&S / Aunde AS / Isringhausen Oto)
• Answer given by Mr Dombrovskis to a MEP written question -Universal Music Group’s intended acquisition of Downtown Music
• Answer given by EVP Ribera to a MEP written question - Concerns regarding market dominance and competition in the European streaming sector
• Austria - Market for workwear and protective clothing: Cartel Court imposes a fine of EUR 400,000 on Pfanner Schutzbekleidung GmbH, Protos GmbH, and Anton Pfanner Holding AG for vertical price-fixing
• Poland - The UOKiK investigates the practices of Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne (Polish Power Grid)
• Portugal - AdC identifies constraints to effective railway liberalisation in Portugal
• Portugal - AdC adopted a non-opposition decision in concentration operation Fidelidade / IMGA
• Romania - The Competition Council is analyzing the acquisition of 50% of the share capital of Renovatio Engineering SRL and its subsidiary, ÎCS Energo Continent SRL, Moldova, by Greenvolt International Power SA, Portugal.
• UK - The CMA is investigating the suspected sharing of competitively sensitive information among competing hotel providers

STATE AID

• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections - SA.120989; SA.120533; SA.118372 & SA.106395
• State Aid - Slovenia - State aid SA.43546 (2025/C) (ex 2016/FC) - Alleged aid to Lekarna Ljubljana - Invitation to submit comments pursuant to Article 108(2) of the TFEU
• Commission Staff Working Document & Executive Summary - Evaluation of State aid rules for banks in difficulty

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Judgment of the Court of 05 March 2026 in Case T‑691/24, Agenţia Naţională de Administrare Fiscală (ANAF), Direcţia Generală de Administrare a Marilor Contribuabili Vs. Heineken România S.A.
  Re: Preliminary ruling - Customs union - Common Customs Tariff - Combined Nomenclature - Tariff classification - Heading 2206 - Subheadings 2206 00 31, 2206 00 51, 2206 00 81 and 2206 00 39, 2206 00 59 - Beverages consisting of fermented apple juice, in which the proportion of alcohol derived from plants other than apples is, depending on the type of beverage, at least 48%, 50%, 51%, 52% or 53% in relation to that derived from the fermentation of apples and having the organoleptic characteristics of cider
• Judgment of the General Court of 04 March 2026 in Case T‑379/23, Çolakoğlu Metalurji AŞ, Vs. European Commission supported by Eurofer, European Steel Association, AISBL
  Re: Dumping - Imports of certain hot rolled stainless steel sheets and coils consigned from Türkiye - Extension to those imports of the definitive anti-dumping duty imposed on certain hot rolled stainless steel sheets and coils originating in Indonesia - Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/825 - Circumvention - Concept of ‘assembly operation’ - Concept of ‘completion operation’ - Article 13(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 - Error of law
• Agenda for: Meeting of the Trade Policy Committee (Deputies) - 05 March 2026
• Minutes of the 4th Meeting of the Trade Committee under the EU - Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) - 26 September 2025
• EU Trade organisational chart updated on 03 March 2026
• The Hearing Officer in Trade Proceedings - An independent office for good administration in trade proceedings - See the FaQ
• EU-Ecuador Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement - See the Final text of the agreement
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/479 of 3 March 2026 imposing a definitive countervailing duty on imports of biodiesel originating in the Indonesia following an expiry review pursuant to Article 18 of Regulation (EU) 2016/1037 of the European Parliament and of the Council
• EU’s Ribera says Trump can’t break trade relations with Spain - Madrid barred the U.S. from using jointly operated military bases on Spanish soil to attack Iran, sparking fury from the U.S. president - Politico.eu

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Raw materials: Council adopts position to reinforce the security of supply and the circularity of EU industry
• Commission proposes Industrial Accelerator Act to strengthen industry and create jobs in Europe - Q&A; Factsheet
  - Proposal for a Regulation on establishing a framework of measures for accelerating industrial capacity and decarbonisation in strategic sectors (Industrial Accelerator Act) & Annexes
  - Impact assessment report accompanying the COM(2026)100 Proposal for Regulation & Executive summary
  - Subsidiarity Grid Accompanying the COM(2026)100 Proposal for the Regulation

FINANCE

• Market Integration and Supervision Package - Policy debate
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) …/... amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/980 as regards the reduced content and the standardised format and sequence of the EU Follow-on prospectus and the EU Growth issuance prospectus
• Commission Decision (EU) 2026/477 of 3 March 2026 updating Annex A to the Monetary Agreement between the European Union and the Principality of Monaco
• Commission Decision of 3 March 2026 amending the Annex to the Monetary Agreement between the European Union and the Principality of Andorra ((EU) 2026/475); the Vatican City State ((EU) 2026/476) and the Republic of San Marin ((EU) 2026/478)

EMPLOYMENT & SOCIAL AFFAIRS

• Decision (EU) 2026/454 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 February 2026 on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers following an application from Belgium – EGF/2025/006 BE/Audi

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

• Eurovignette: Council clarifies and simplifies EU rules on road tolls and user charges for heavy duty vehicles

DIGITAL, DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSCURITY

• Commission publishes for feedback draft guidance to assist companies in applying the Cyber Resilience Act
• Commission announces €75 million EURO-3C Project to build a federated Telco-Edge-Cloud infrastructure for digital sovereignty
• Commission registers European Citizens' Initiative calling for a European social media platform
• Harmonised transparency reports under the DSA bring enhanced clarity on content moderation practices online
• Answer given by EVP Virkkunen to a MEP written question - Arbitrary investigation of Grok/X
• EDPB - Conference on cross-regulatory cooperation in the EU (17 March) - See the full conference programme

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Agenda for: Justice and Home Affairs Council (Home Affairs & Justice) - 05 & 06 March 2026
• Investigation Emily: EPPO strikes against criminal network behind multimillion VAT fraud involving sales of luxury cars

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• 'Digital finance: catalyst for European transformation' - keynote speech by the Eurogroup President, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, at the EIB Group Forum 2026
• Keynote speech by President António Costa at the EIB Group Forum 2026
• President of the Eurogroup, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, travels to Luxembourg
• ECB - Euro area bank interest rate statistics: January 2026
• Stablecoins and monetary policy transmission - ECB Working Paper Series No.3199

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Possible items for Commission agendas from 10 March 2026 to 27 May 2026
• Commission's 2025 General Report highlights EU actions for citizens and businesses in a year marked by profound changes

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Zimbabwe

EU/UK RELATIONS

• Agenda for: Working Party on the United Kingdom - 05 & 06 March 2026
• Starmer’s UK-EU reset suffering from ‘lack of direction’, MPs warn - Commons foreign affairs committee calls on prime minister to ‘end secrecy’ around push to improve bilateral relations - Financial Times