Europe Daily News, 30 November 2020

EU CORONAVIRUS RESPONSES

HEALTH

• Meeting report - EU Scientific Advice platform on Covid-19 (13 November 2020)
• Answer given by Ms Kyriakides to a MEP written question - Maintaining the food supply chain against the backdrop of increasing COVID-19 infections
• Answer given by Ms Kyriakides to a MEP written question - Tracking of COVID-19 cases

STATE AID

• Commission approves €1.3 million Danish scheme to support air-passenger operations to and from Bornholm and Sønderborg airports (SA.59378) - Midday Express
• Commission approves modified €3.5 billion Greek repayable advances scheme to support companies affected by coronavirus outbreak (SA.59069) - Midday Express
• Commission approves €6 million Danish scheme to support airlines in the context of the coronavirus outbreak (SA.59370) - Midday Express
• Commission approves €9 million Danish scheme to support micro and small self-employed undertakings, freelancers and professional artists affected by cancellation of events due to coronavirus outbreak (SA.58681) - Midday Express
• Commission approves €750 million Portuguese scheme to support companies in sectors particularly affected by the coronavirus outbreak (SA.59450)  - Midday Express

COMPETITION

• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.9940 - AAUK2/MUL/Ballyhoura Wind/CCWFL)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.9946 - MSI/Altice/Lightpath)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.9917 - Liberty/Ascoval/Hayange)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.9909 - ISTA International/Aareal Bank/Objego)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.9988 - SEGRO/PSPIB/SELP /Gonesse Site)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.9848 - CMI/Rockaway/Mr MC/Gjirafa Tech)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10018 - ifm electronic/ Endress+Hauser Group Services/Automation24/Process+Lab Devices Online)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10071 - De Agostini Group/Foodiverse /Alnut)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10048 - Mazda Motor Corporation /Mazda Motor Manufacturing de Mexico)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.9998 - Sumitomo/Tech Mahindra/JV)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10045 - Eurazeo/IK Investment Partners /Questel)
• Commission clears Altice, Allianz and Omers' joint acquisition of Covage, subject to conditions (M.9728) - IP/20/2238
• Commission clears the acquisition of Thiess by CIMIC and Elliott (M.9984) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of MHI Vestas JV by Vestas (M.10013) - Midday Express
• Antitrust: Commission fines Teva and Cephalon €60.5 million for delaying entry of cheaper generic medicine (AT.39686) - IP/20/2220
• EU aims to stop online platforms getting too big for their boots - Brussels competition chief proposes laws to curtail operators that will stop them crushing rivals - Financial Times
  

STATE AID

• Action brought on 16 October 2020 - Ryanair Vs. Commission - Case T-628/20
  Re: annulment of the European Commission’s decision (EU) of 31 July 2020 on State aid SA. 57659 - Spain - Recapitalisation fund
• Action brought on 12 October 2020 - Landwärme Vs. Commission - Case T-626/20
  Re: annulment of Commission Decision C(2020) 4489 final of 29 June 2020 on State aid SA.56125 (2020/N) — ‘Sweden Prolongation and modification of scheme SA.49893 (2018/N)/Tax exemption for non-food based biogas and bio-propane in heat generation’ and SA. 56908 (2020/N) - ‘Sweden Prolongation and modification of biogas scheme for motor fuel in Sweden’
  
• Action brought on 9 October 2020 - Sun West and Others Vs. Commission - Case T-623/20
  Re: annulment of Commission decision SA.40349 (2020/MI2) B2/AD/MKL/D*2020/091023 of 28 July 2020, rejecting their complaint of 2 March 2020 concerning State aid to photovoltaic energy producers by the French State under the pricing decrees of 10 July 2006 and 12 January and 31 August 2010
• Answer given by Ms Vestager to a MEP written question - Excise duty on ‘heat-not-burn’ (HNB) tobacco products
  

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Opinion of Advocate General Hogan  of 26 November 2020 of Case C‑572/18 P, thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel GmbH, thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel Ugo Vs. European Commission
  Re: Appeal - Customs union - Conclusions of the customs expert group - Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 - Article 211(6) - Authorisation for inward processing of certain grain-oriented electrical steel – Examination of the economic conditions - Binding nature of the conclusions of the customs expert group - Act not open to challenge
• Action brought on 2 October 2020 - Airoldi Metalli Vs. Commission (Case T-611/20)
  Re: annulment of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1215 of 21 August 2020 making imports of aluminium extrusions originating in the P.R. of China subject to registration
• Agenda for : 9th meeting of the Tariff Measures Section of the Customs Expert Group of 11 December 2020
• Agenda for: 215th meeting of the Customs Code Committee, Tariff and Statistical Nomenclature Section (Subsection MEC/MISC/TEX) from 14 to 16 December 2020
• Minutes of the 17th meeting of the Customs Expert Group, Section Customs Status and Transit of 07 October 2020
• Parliament agreed to eliminate EU tariffs on lobsters in return for lower US tariffs on a range of EU exports - see the Regulation 
• Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the application of Union tariff rate quotas and other import quotas
• Draft Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 428/2009 by granting a Union General Export Authorisation for the export of certain dual-use items from the Union to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (first reading) - Decision to use the written procedure for the adoption of the legislative act - Decision to derogate from the 8-week period provided for in Article 4 of Protocol 1 on the role of national parliaments in the EU
• Commission delegated Regulation (EU) …/... amending Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 to include the Republic of Uzbekistan among the countries benefiting from tariff preferences under the GSP+
• Extraterritorial sanctions on trade and investments and European responses - Study for the EP INTA
• Answer given by Mr Wojciechowski to a MEP written question - Almond imports from the USA into the EU and their impact on European producers

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Commission publishes its short-term review of the Geo-blocking Regulation - (see the Report) - Midday Express

TAXATION

• Fair and effective taxation: Council adopts conclusions
• Compliance, cooperation and crisis management top agenda of Tax Administration summit
• Agenda of the VAT Expert Group of 30 November 2020
• Agenda and Participants' Submission - Meeting of the Working Group 'Structures of the Taxation Systems' of 03 December 2020

AGRICULTURE & FISHERIES

• CAP transitional regulation: informal deal on how to fund farmers
• Commission welcomes the political agreement on the transitional rules for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) - IP/20/2236

ENERGY

• Speech by Commissioner Simson at the European Hydrogen Forum
• The Commission is today opening a call for applications for electricity and gas projects (PCIs)
• ACER to decide on the definition of capacity calculation regions
• ACER decides methodology for electricity bidding zone review and will evaluate alternative configurations

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• EU greenhouse gas emissions fell in 2019 to the lowest level in three decades - IP/20/2182 & the Report
• Timing of the distribution of free allowances in 2021
• 2021 calendar for transfers of allowances between the EU and Swiss emission trading registries
• Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans’s lecture “The European Green Deal, a stepping stone toward a sustainable future” at Tsinghua University
  

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Flash report - Steering Group on Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Management of Non-Communicable Diseases (25 November 2020)
• ‎Minutes - 23rd meeting of the Expert Group on Health Systems Performance Assessment (HSPA) (26 October 2020)
• ‎2021 planned meetings of Medical Device Coordination Group (MDCG) and subgroups
• Answer given by Ms Kyriakides to a MEP written question - Implementation of the new In Vitro Diagnostics Regulation (IVDR) (EU 2017/746)

TRANSPORT

• Road Transport: European Commission issues explanations on the implementation of Mobility Package 1 - See the Q&A
• Agenda for: 18th meeting of the Expert Group on the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/962 on RTTI of 03 December 2020

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• Norwegian DPA imposes administrative fine to Østfold HF Hospital
• Spanish DPA imposes fine on Telefónica Móviles España
• Commercial surveillance by Google. Long delay in GDPR complaints - See Beuc Statement

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Customs controls: New measures needed to tackle illicit drug production in the EU (see the Report) - Midday Express
• Schengen Forum: Commission launches political debate towards strengthening Schengen and restoring trust - Midday Express
• The state of play of Schengen governance An assessment of the Schengen evaluation and monitoring mechanism in its first multiannual programme - Study for the EP LIBE Committee
• The state of play regarding support for victims of terrorism, particularly in cross-border situations - Report from the German Presidency

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Speech by Christine Lagarde: "The future of money – innovating while retaining trust"
• EU Cohesion policy: Commission and EBRD promote innovative use of data in public procurement involving EU funds - IP/20/2209
• Interview of Yves Mersch with Le Monde
• Interview of Luis de Guindos with Helsingin Sanomat
• Speech by Fabio Panetta: "From the payments revolution to the reinvention of money"
• Interview of Fabio Panetta with Expresso
• How do banking groups react to macroprudential policies? Cross-border spillover effects of higher capital buffers on lending, risk-taking and internal markets - ECB Working Paper Series No.2497
• Interest rate risk and monetary policy normalisation in the euro area - ECB Working Paper Series No.2496 
• Using forecast-augmented VAR evidence to dampen the forward guidance puzzle - ECB Working Paper Series No.2495 
  

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Agenda for Meeting of the Coreper (Part.1) of 04 December 2020
• Agenda for Meeting of the Coreper (Part.2) of 30 November & 02 December 2020
• Portuguese Presidency - Charing of certain Working Parties by other delegations, at the request of the Portuguese Presidency (First half of 2021)
• List of meetings taking place between 1 and 31 December 2020
• European Parliament - Agenda - The Week Ahead from 30 November to 06 December 2020
• The von der Leyen Commission – one year on - see the achievements and the timeline of actions
• Speech by President von der Leyen at the opening ceremony of the academic year of the Bocconi University

BREXIT

• Joint statement following the second meeting of the Withdrawal Agreement Specialised Committee on the Other Separation Provisions

EXTERNAL RELATIONS & FOREIGN AFFAIRS

• Somalia: EU, African leaders and partners discuss security issues at High-Level Somalia Security Event - Midday Express
• Declaration by the HR on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures against ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaeda and persons, groups, undertakings and entities associated with them
• Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Nicaragua
• No way back: Why the transatlantic future needs a stronger EU - In-Depth Analysis for the EP Committee on Foreign Affairs
• Answer given by HR/VP Borrell to a MEP written question - Violation of the Libya arms embargo by Airbus
• EU braced for tension despite fresh faces in White House - Financial Times