Europe Daily News, 26 March 2021

EU CORONAVIRUS RESPONSES

HEALTH

• EMA - Meeting highlights from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) 22-25 March 2021
• EMA - COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca – Update on ongoing evaluation of blood clot cases
  
• Answer given by Ms Kyriakides to a MEP written question - Request for publication of advanced purchase agreements (APA) concluded by the Commission with companies manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines

STATE AID

• Updated overview of the State aid rules and public service obligations rules applicable to the air and maritime transport sector during the COVID-19 outbreak
• Commission approves €100 million support in favour of Greek oil and gas company Energean affected by coronavirus outbreak (SA.58824) 

MOBILITY

• Public Consultation - Procedures for alerts and contact tracing of passengers identified through Passenger Locator Forms - Feedback period - 25 March 2021 - 22 April 2021
• Answer given by Mr Reynders to a MEP written question - Lack of coordination of border crossing rules in the Schengen area in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Answer given by Ms Johansson to a MEP written question - Allowing couples without legal documents that prove their relationship to reunite during the pandemic

ECONOMY

• Vaccine production: Commissioner Breton in Spain and Portugal - Midday Express
• Answer given by Mr Gentiloni to a MEP written question - Economic impact of delayed vaccination rollout in the EU

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

COMPETITION

• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.9585 - Outotec/Metso (Mineral Business))
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.10135 - Nordic Capital/Astorg Asset Management/Cytel)
• Commission clears acquisition of joint control over Ucles by Macquarie and Aberdeen (M.10174) - Midday Express
• Austria - Mobile telecommunications market round table: AFCA and RTR raise competition awareness in the sector 

STATE AID

• Answer given by Ms Vestager to a MEP written question - Administration and taxation of Italian ports

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Minutes of the 216th meeting of the Committee (“Combined Nomenclature” sector) of 02 March 2021
• Commission decision authorising the Portuguese Republic to sign and conclude a protocol amending the a bilateral investment agreement with the Republic of Angola
• Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the Joint Committee on Organic Products established by the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Chile on trade in organic products as regards the adoption of its rules of procedure
• Draft - Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) …/... of XXX amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 as regards certain provisions relating to the origin of goods – See the Annex
• EP legislative resolution of 25 March 2021 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council setting up a Union regime for the control of exports, transfer, brokering, technical assistance and transit of dual-use items (recast)
• Draft Recommendation by MEP Bernd Lange on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the Union and the United States of America 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 European Union
• Council Decision (EU) 2021/524 of 22 March 2021 on the signing, on behalf of the Union, of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan pursuant to Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (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 European Union
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/530 of 22 March 2021 concerning the classification of certain goods in the Combined Nomenclature (8509 80 00)
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/531 of 22 March 2021 concerning the classification of certain goods in the Combined Nomenclature (9002 11 00)
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/532 of 22 March 2021 concerning the classification of certain goods in the Combined Nomenclature (8521 90 00)
• Explanatory Notes to the Combined Nomenclature of the European Union (8543 70 90 & 9506 69 90)
• Public consultation - Imports of cultural goods into the EU - rules - Implementing regulation - Feedback period: 24 March 2021 - 21 April 2021
• Joint Report of the 3rd CETA Regulatory Cooperation Forum of 9-10 February 2021
• Report of the 3rd CETA Trade in Goods Committee of 21 January 2021
• Joint Report of the 3rd  Civil Society Forum of 8-9 December 2020
• CETA to support EU-Canada pandemic recovery
• Minutes - EP INTA Committee of 17 & 18 March 2021
• Answer given by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis to a MEP written question - EU-China investment agreement (neutrality) 
• Benefits of EU trade agreements for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) - Briefing for the EP INTA Committee
• WTO - European Union - Safeguard Measures on Certain Steel Products - Communication from the Panel
• WTO - Council for Trade in Goods - Article XXVIII:5 Negotiations - Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union - Communication from the European Union
• WTO - Council for Trade in Goods - Article XXVIII:5 Negotiations - United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union - Communication from the United Kingdom
• WTO - Committee on Market Access - Notification pursuant to the Decision on Notification Procedures for Quantitative Restriction (G/L/59/Rev.1) - European Union – Addendum
• WTO holds online discussion on trade issues in Arab and Middle Eastern region

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Minutes of the SME Envoy Network Meeting of 23 February 2021

FINANCIAL SERVICES

• Public consultation on instant payments - Consultation period: 24 March 2021 - 2 June 2021
• ESMA consults on the framework for EU Money Market Funds 

EMPLOYMENT & SOCIAL POLICY

• Employment and Social Developments in Europe - Quarterly Review analyses the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the self-employed
• Adult skills - Individual Learning Accounts: a tool to improve access to training - Feedback period - 23 March 2021 - 20 April 2021 

ENERGY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Energy of 30 March 2021
• ACER consults on the amended statutory documents of ENTSO-E
• The EU’s Renewable Energy Directive: Will the third time be a charm? – See ePure Statement

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: Working Party on the Environment of 29, 30 and 31 March 2021
• Recommendation for a Council Decision authorising the Commission to negotiate, on behalf of the Union, amendments to the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention) - See the Annex 
• Parliament urges EU to take drastic action to reduce marine litter
• Auto industry CEOs discuss CO2 with Timmermans - See ACEA Statement

HEALTH, FOOD PRODUCT & SAFETY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Pharmaceuticals and Medical devices of 30 March 2021
• Commission welcomes entry into force of EU4Health programme - IP/21/1344 & QaA
• Joint ECDC, EFSA and EURL Lm report: European Listeria typing exercise (ELiTE)
• Tick-borne encephalitis - Annual Epidemiological Report for 2019 - ECDC
• Pioneering project describes molecular epidemiology of listeriosis in humans and Listeria monocytogenes in food - ECDC
• Zika virus disease - Annual Epidemiological Report for 2019 - ECDC
• COPA and COGECA welcome the market oriented approach considered by the European Commission to develop its new organic action plan

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Connectivity Toolbox: Member States agree on best practices to boost timely deployment of 5G and fibre networks

DATA PRIVACY CYBERSECURITY

• Agenda for: Horizontal Working Party on cyber issues of 26 March 2021
• Intensifying Negotiations on Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Flows: A Joint Press Statement by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders
• EP Resolution - Commission evaluation report on the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation two years after its application 
• Answer given by Mr Reynders to a MEP written question - Preventing WhatsApp from once more abusing its users' personal data
• ENISA releases new guidelines to facilitate the reporting of security incidents by national telecom security authorities
• Germany - The BfDI presents 29th Activity Report

TRANSPORT

• Opinion of Advocate General Campos Sànchez-Bordona of 25 March 2021 in Case C-144/20, AS LatRailNet, Latvijas dzelzceļš VAS VS. Valsts dzelzceļa administrācija
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Rail transport - Single European railway area - Railway infrastructure charging - Directive 2012/34/EU - Article 32(1) - Charge for the minimum access package - Mark-ups - Conditions for levying the mark-up -Competitiveness - Ability of the market to bear the mark-up
• Public consultation - Electric vehicle charging - standards for recharging points for e-buses - Feedback period: 23 March 2021 - 20 April 2021

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Judgment of the Court of 25 March 2021 in Case C-307/19, Obala i lučice d.o.o. Vs. NLB Leasing d.o.o.,
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Applicable law - Regulation (EC) No 864/2007 and Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 - Scope ratione temporis - Lack of jurisdiction of the Court - Article 94 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court - Judicial cooperation in civil matters - Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 - Article 1(1) - Substantive scope - Concept of 'civil and commercial matters' - Article 7, Article 7(1) - Concepts of 'matters relating to a contract' and 'provision of services' - Article 24(1) - Concept of 'tenancies of immovable property' - Regulation (EC) No 1393/2007 - Service of judicial and extrajudicial documents - Notaries acting in the context of enforcement proceedings - Proceedings for the recovery of a day's parking ticket for a vehicle in an on-street parking space 
  
• Public consultation -Combating terrorism – evaluation of EU rules - Feedback period - 24 March 2021 - 16 June 2021
• Eurojust ensures operational continuity in spite of coronavirus restrictions, with further increase in new cases - See the Annual Report 2020

ECB, EURO & ECONIOMY

• Statement by the members of the Euro Summit, 25 March 2021
• Speech by Isabel Schnabel: Paving the path to recovery by preserving favourable financing conditions 

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• List of meetings taking place between 1 and 30 April 2021
• 19th Revised List of meetings taking place between 1 and 31 March 2021
• Statement of the members of the European Council, 25 March 2021

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Introductory remarks by President Charles Michel at the videoconference of EU leaders with US President Biden
• Empowering Africa: Parliament defines strategy for a new EU-Africa partnership, see the EP Resolution
• Enlargement reports: MEPs fully support Western Balkans' European future - see the Reports for Kosovo; Albania; Serbia & North Macedonia 
• Answer  given by Mr Várhelyi to a MEP written question - Turkey and the European Union