Europe Daily News, 22 January 2021

EU CORONAVIRUS RESPONSES

• Statement and Oral conclusions by President von der Leyen at the joint press conference with President Michel, following the EU Leaders' videoconference

HEALTH

• Council Recommendation on a common framework for the use and validation of rapid antigen tests and the mutual recognition of COVID-19 test results in the EU  
• Council agrees on strengthening the use of rapid antigen tests and on the mutual recognition of COVID-19 test results

STATE AID

• Commission approves €12 billion German umbrella scheme to compensate companies for damages suffered due to coronavirus outbreak (SA.60045) - IP/21/185
• Businesses miss out on Covid cash after UK sticks to EU state-aid rules - Companies angry at being locked out of £4.6bn grant scheme because they have already passed agreed cap on support - Financial Times

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Improving gender equality during and after COVID-19 crisis - See the EP Statement

ECONOMY

• AFME: Equity and hybrid markets hold solution to European COVID-19 corporate recapitalization 

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Coronavirus: EU delivers personal protective equipment to North Macedonia and Mongolia - Midday Express

COMPETITION

• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.9984 - CIMIC/Elliott/Thiess) 
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.9911 - Voith/PCSH/TSA) 
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.10034 - Pizarreño/Maderas Arauco/E2E JV) 
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.9892 - Leonardo/Thales/VSB)  
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10105 - FSN Capital/Obton Invest/Obton Group)  
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10131 - Partners Group/Warburg Pincus/Ecom Express Private) 
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M. 10117 - A.P. Moller/APMH Invest/Faerch Group)
• Summary of Commission Decision of 14 July 2020 relating to a proceeding under Article 101 of the TFEU (Case AT.40410 - Ethylene)
  - Opinion of the Advisory Committee on restrictive agreements and dominant positions 
  - Final Report of the Hearing Officer 
• Summary of Commission Decision of 11 June 2019 declaring a concentration incompatible with the internal market and the functioning of the EEA Agreement (Case M.8713 - Tata Steel/ ThyssenKrupp/JV)
  - Opinion of the Advisory Committee on restrictive agreements and dominant positions 
  - Final Report of the Hearing Officer 
• Commission clears acquisition of Calisen by BlackRock, Mubadala and Goldman Sachs (M.10107) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of Hyundai Assan Otomotive Sanayi by Hyundai Motor Company (M.10074) - Midday Express

STATE AID

• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections
• Commission invites comments on revision of the Communication on the enforcement of State aid rules by national courts  - Midday Express
  
• ePURE’s position on revision of Energy and Environmental State aid guidelines - public consultation  

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Customs Union Working Party of 27 January 2021
• Agenda for: Trade Policy Committee (Full Members) of 29 January 2021 
• Joint Report of the 3rd meeting of the CETA Committee on Government Procurement held on 25-26 November 2020
• EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) - preamble
  - Section I: Objectives and general definitions
  - Section II: Investment liberalisation
  - Section III: Regulatory framework
  - Sub-section 2: Transparency
  - Section IV: Investment and sustainable development
  - Section V: Dispute settlement
  - Annex I: Rules of procedure for state-to-state dispute settlement
  - Annex II: Code of conduct for members of arbitral tribunals and mediators in state-to-state disputes
  - Section VI: Institutional and final provisions
  
• WT/DS595 - European Union - Safeguard Measures on Certain Steel Products from Turkey - First Written Submission by the European Union
• WTO - Group of members issue joint pledge on humanitarian food purchases

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Opinion of Advocate General Campos Sanchez-Bordona of 21 January 2021 in Joined Cases C‑721/19 and C‑722/19, Sisal SpA (C‑721/19), Stanleybet Malta Ltd,
  Magellan Robotech Limited (C‑722/19), Vs. Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli, Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, interveners: Lotterie Nazionali Srl, Lottomatica Holding Srl
  Re: Preliminary-ruling proceedings - Freedom of establishment - Freedom to provide services - Restrictions - Directive 2014/23/EU - Articles 3 and 43 - Public procurement - Procedures for selection of concessionaire - Instant lotteries - National legislation providing for the renewal of a concession without issuing a call for tenders - Alteration of the terms of the concession - Substantial modifications - Right of access to the system of remedies
• Strengthening the resilience of the Single Market 
• Multi-country cooperation on recovery and resilience plans to secure “European added value”  

FINANCIAL SERVICES

• EBA publishes final draft technical standards to identify investment firms’ risk takers and to specify the instruments used for the purposes of variable remuneration
• Banking Union: Postponed Basel III reforms - Briefing - EP ECON Committee
• News of vaccines drove record net sales of UCITS equity funds in November – Efama Statement 

TAXATION

• EU tax haven blacklist is not catching the worst offenders – see the EP Statement & the EP Resolution 

EMPLOYMENT & SOCIAL POLICY

• Judgment of the Court of 21 January 2021 in Case C-843/19, Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social (INSS) Vs. BT
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Social policy - Equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security - Directive 79/7/EEC - Article 4(1) - Voluntary and early retirement - Early retirement pension - Eligibility - Amount of pension to be received must be at least equal to the statutory minimum amount - Proportion of workers of each sex excluded from early retirement - Justification of any particular disadvantage for female workers - Objectives of the social policy of the Member State concerned
  
• MEPs: Access to adequate housing should be a fundamental European right 
• 'Right to disconnect’ should be an EU-wide fundamental right, MEPs say 
• Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025: Parliament’s reaction and input - see the EP Statement  

ENERGY

• The European Commission has opened a consultation on proposed electricity market reforms in Bulgaria 

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: Working Party on International Environment Issues (Biodiversity) of 28 January 2021 
• Espoo Convention: 8th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context and 4th session of the meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (virtual, 8-11 December 2020) - Information from the Presidency and the Commission  

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Agenda for meeting of the PAFF Committee: 
  - section Phytopharmaceuticals – Legislation of 25-26 January 2021
  - section Plant Health of 28-29 January 2021
• Open Consultation: Maize MON 87427 x MON 87460 x MON 89304 x 1507 x MON 87411 x 59122 
• The Commission authorises 8 genetically modified crops for use as food and feed - Midday Express 

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• Answer given by Mr Reynders to a MEP written question - Data transfers to the US in the framework of FATCA and the GDPR 
• Answer given by Mr Reynders to a MEP written question - Publication of data concerning the ODR platform  
• Answer given by Mr Reynders to a MEP written question - Chinese intelligence activities in Europe

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

• Roadmap - Bus and coach drivers - EU rules on driving and rest times - Feedback period: 21 January 2021 - 18 February 2021 

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Amendment to the Council Framework Decision on Joint Investigation teams - (Proposal for a directive) - Feedback period: 21 January 2021 - 18 February 2021 
• Amendment to the Directive on the European Investigation Order in criminal matters - (Proposal for a directive) - Feedback period: 21 January 2021 - 18 February 2021  

BREXIT

• Commission proposes to amend the EU's 2021 budget to accommodate the Brexit Adjustment Reserve - Midday Express

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• EU financial aid (macro-financial assistance) - analysis of several evaluations (2010-20) - (Staff working document) - Feedback period: 21 January 2021 - 18 February 2021 
• Results of the ECB Survey of Professional Forecasters in the first quarter of 2021 
• Euro banknote counterfeiting at historically low level in 2020
• ECB's Christine Lagarde, Luis de Guindos: Introductory statement to the press conference, see also the Monetary policy decisions 
• Do bank insiders impede equity issuances? - ECB Working Paper Series No.2511
• EIB Investment Report 2020/2021: European Union is leading the way in green technology investment 
• Economic dialogue with the President of the Eurogroup - In-Depth Analysis - EP ECON Committee
• Government debt up to 97.3% of GDP in euro area - Up to 89.8% of GDP in EU
• Seasonally adjusted government deficit at 5.8% of GDP in the euro area and 5.6% of GDP in the EU

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• 11th revision of the List of meetings taking place between 1 and 31 January 2021 
• Speech by Michel Barnier to the European Movement Ireland – European of the Year Award 2020 

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• EU/Turkey: HR/VP Josep Borrell with Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on the way forward in mutual relations - See the Speech   
• Iraq: Statement by the Spokesperson on the attacks in Baghdad 
• Cuba: HR/VP Josep Borrell talks to Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez 
• Vietnam: Speech on behalf of HR/VP Josep Borrell at the EP debate 
• Parliament demands significantly tighter EU sanctions against Russia
• Readout of the telephone conversation between President Charles Michel and Russian President Vladimir Putin