EU CORONAVIRUS RESPONSES

HEALTH

ECONOMY

  • Omicron adds to doubts over ECB’s commitment to further stimulus - Debate inside central bank reflects questions over new variant’s impact on inflation - Financial Times

COMPETITION

  • Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10519 - Blackstone / Interplex)
  • Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.10496 - Cremer / Clyde Investments / Cremer Sustainable Foods JV)
  • Competition: EU-US launch Joint Technology Competition Policy Dialogue to foster cooperation in competition policy and enforcement in technology sector* - IP/21/6671
  • Commission clears acquisition of Motus by Thoma Bravo and Permira (M.10517) - Midday Express
  • Commission clears acquisition of sole control of PPD by Thermo Fisher (M.10304) - Midday Express
  • Commission clears acquisition of sole control of MetLife Greece and MetLife Poland by NN (M.10447) - Midday Express
  • Commission clears acquisition of joint control of Western Oil by Phillips 66 and Fortress Investment Group (M.10550) - Midday Express
  • UK watchdog threatens in-depth probe of Veolia’s takeover of Suez - Regulator fears merged entity of waste and water companies could lead to higher prices - Financial Times

STATE AID

  • Judgment of the Court of 08 December 2021 in Case T-623/20, Sun West and Others Vs. European Commission
    Re: State aid - Production of electrical energy from photovoltaic installations - Obligation to purchase electricity at a price higher than the market price - Rejection of a complaint - Article 12(1), second subparagraph, and Article 24(2) of Regulation (EU) 2015/1589

TRADE & CUSTOMS

  • Agenda for: Trade Policy Committee (Services & Investment) of 10 December 2021
  • Commission notice concerning the application of the transitional rules of origin providing for diagonal cumulation between the applying Contracting Parties in the pan-Euro-Mediterranean (PEM) zone
  • Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2169 of 2 December 2021 opening a tariff quota for the year 2022 for the import into the Union of certain goods originating in Norway resulting from the processing of agricultural products covered by Regulation (EU) No 510/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council
  • Commission imposes anti-dumping duties on Chinese aluminium converter foil imports - See Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2170
  • EU strengthens protection against economic coercion - IP/21/6642, QaA, see the Process explainer, the Communication, the Proposal for a Regulation & Remarks by EVP Dombrovskis
    - Impact Assessment Report and its Executive Summary and the Regulatory Scrutiny Board Opinion
    - DG Trade anti-coercion website
    - Stakeholder feedback following adoption European Parliament legislation tracking page
    - Joint declaration of the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament on an instrument to deter and counteract coercive actions by third countries
  • The EU and Singapore agree to strengthen bilateral partnership on digital trade - Joint Statement
  • Answer given by EVP Dombrovskis to a MEP written question - Chinese investment in a major European container hub: HHLA Container Terminal Tollerort in Hamburg, Germany

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

  • Answer given by Mr Breton to a MEP written question - Spike in nitrogen fertiliser prices in Member States
  • First assessments of regulatory needs for groups of chemicals published - ECHA/NR/21/28
  • Majority of inspected products sold online breach EU chemicals laws - ECHA/NR/21/29
  • UK plans further 2-year delay to post-Brexit chemicals safety regime - Environment secretary says government ‘minded’ to extend deadline for registrations on new database to October 2025 - Financial Times

FINANCIAL SERVICES

  • Directive (EU) 2021/2167 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2021 on credit servicers and credit purchasers and amending Directives 2008/48/EC and 2014/17/EU
  • Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) …/... of 29.11.2021 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/815 as regards the 2021 update of the taxonomy laid down in the regulatory technical standards on the single electronic reporting format - See the Annex
  • EBA updates on monitoring of CET1 capital instruments
  • ESMA - Guidelines on methodology oversight function and record keeping requirements
  • ESMA - Guidelines on Settlement Fails Reporting
  • US overtakes EU as biggest financial services export market for Britain - Slowdown in UK trade with bloc following Brexit countered by rise in outflow to other countries - Financial Times

TAXATION

  • Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 2006/112/EC as regards rates of value added tax - General approach

AGRICULTURE & FISHERIES

  • Agenda for: High-level conference to discuss the future of animal welfare - 09 December 2021

EMPLOYMENT & SOCIAL POLICY

  • Media seminar on improving the working conditions in platform work, 9 December
  • Platform directive delivers workers their rights - See ETUC Statement

ENERGY

  • Energy consumption of cyclonic bagless vacuum cleaners: the General Court dismisses Dyson Ltd’s claim for compensation for alleged loss (See CPR Nº 218/2021 - Judgment of the General Court in Case T-127/19, Dyson and Others Vs. Commission)
  • Answer given by Ms Simson to a MEP written question - The Commission’s failure to act in response to record-high gas prices in the EU market
  • US to demand halt to Nord Stream 2 if Russia invades Ukraine - Washington asks Berlin to back threat to gas pipeline to deter Putin from military action - Financial Times

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

  • Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning batteries and waste batteries, repealing Directive 2006/66/EC and amending Regulation (EU) No 2019/1020 - Progress report
  • Ambient Air Quality Expert Group meeting - Implementation of NEC Directive - Presentation
  • New, data driven and user-friendly tool to support decarbonisation in the EU
  • Europe’s urban population remains at risk due to levels of air pollution known to damage health - See the EEA Statement

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

  • Main Results of Employment, Social Policy, Health & Consumer Affairs (Health) Council of 6-7 December 2021
  • EU pledges €2.5 billion to combat malnutrition with partner countries - IP/21/6644
  • EFSA - Assessment of animal diseases caused by bacteria resistant to antimicrobials: sheep and goats
  • SCHEER - Minutes of the Working Group meeting on Draft Environmental Quality Standards for the Water Framework Directive Priority Substances & groundwater quality standards
  • SCHEER - Minutes of the Working Group meeting on the safety of Titanium Dioxide in toys of 10 November 2021
  • SCHEER - Minutes of the Working Group on the safety of Cobalt in toys of 16 November 2021
  • EU-US cooperation should make consumer markets fairer and safer, says transatlantic consumer movement - See Beuc Statement

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

  • Commission makes software available to all to benefit businesses, innovators and areas of public interest - IP/21/6649, see the Draft Commission Decision
  • Europe needs to wake up to the costs of hosting massive data centres - Meanwhile, companies must be more transparent in their planning applications - Financial Times 

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

  • Agenda for: Council of the European Union (TTE - Transport) of 9 December 2021 
    - Air Connectivity - the way forward - Information from the Cyprus delegation, on behalf of the Cypriot, Bulgarian, Estonian, Greek, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese and Slovak delegations
  • Uber grapples with multiple challenges to business model in Europe - Brussels proposals and UK court ruling put pressure on ride-hailing app - Financial Times

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

  • Police Cooperation Code: Boosting police cooperation across borders for enhanced security - IP/21/6645, QaA &  the Third Progress report 
    - Proposal for a Council Recommendation on operational police cooperation (see also the annex to the proposal and the synopsis report of stakeholder consultations)
    - Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on information exchange between law enforcement authorities of Member States (see the impact assessment and its executive summary)
    - Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on automated data exchange for police cooperation (see also the impact assessment and its executive summary)
  • Commissioner Ferreira participates to the presentation of the successful reform of the judicial system in Cyprus - Midday Express
  • VPSchinas and Commissioner Johansson taking part in Justice & Home Affairs Council tomorrow - Midday Express
  • Judicial spats set to delay EU recovery funds to Poland and Hungary - Heated legal wrangling with Brussels means tens of billions of euros unlikely to be disbursed this year - Financial Times 

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

  • Main results of Economic & Financial Affairs Council of 7 December 2021 - See also the List of adopted “A Items” - Remarks by EVP Dombrovskis
  • Christine Lagarde: Interview with Che Tempo Che Fa
  • Consolidated financial statement of the Eurosystem as at 3 December 2021
  • Benefits of macro- prudential policy in low interest rate environments - ECB Research Bulletin - No.90
  • ECB Working Paper Series - No.2624
  • New German finance minister signals openness on EU fiscal rules - Christian Lindner says stability should be combined with ‘growth and investment’- Financial Times 

FUTURE OF EUROPE

  • Minutes of the Meeting of the Coreper of 17 & 19 November 2021
  • Future of Europe: Panel recommendations on European democracy and values - See the EP Statement

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

  • Main results of the 4th meeting of the EU-Kosovo Stabilisation and Association Council of 7 December 2021 - See the Joint press statement
  • Gulf of Guinea Action Plan 2015-2020 - Fifth Implementation Report for the year 2019
  • Afghanistan: EU delivers 150 tonnes of aid via Humanitarian Air Bridge and supports repatriation - Midday Express
  • Address by President Charles Michel to the European Defence Agency annual conference
  • Speech by President von der Leyen at the EU Ambassadors Conference 2021 via videoconference