Europe Daily News, 20 January 2022

EU CORONAVIRUS RESPONSES

HEALTH

• Data on COVID-19 vaccination in the EU/EEA - ECDC
• Data on hospital and ICU admission rates and current occupancy for COVID-19 - ECDC
• Data on the daily number of new reported COVID-19 cases and deaths by EU/EEA country - ECDC
• ECDC - Combined indicator: 14-day notification rate, testing rate and test positivity, updated 20 January 2022
• Data for the maps in support of the Council Recommendation on a coordinated approach to the restriction of free movement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the EU/EEA - ECDC

STATE AID

• Commission approves €2 million Cypriot scheme to support tour operators affected by the coronavirus pandemic (SA.10127) - Midday Express
• Commission approves three Portuguese schemes to support companies in Azores in the context of the coronavirus pandemic (A.63265, SA.63546 & SA.6354) - Midday Express 

EMPLOYMENT

• Proposal for Council Implementing Decision amending Implementing Decision (EU) amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1354 granting temporary support under Regulation (EU) 2020/672 to the Portuguese Republic to mitigate unemployment risks in the emergency following the COVID-19 outbreak - Statement by Denmark
• Proposal for Council Implementing Decision amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1561 granting temporary support under Regulation (EU) 2020/672 to Hungary to mitigate unemployment risks in the emergency following the COVID-19 outbreak - Statement by Denmark 

COMPETITION

• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10564 - Apollo / Missguided)
• Call for evidence: EU Competition law - Revision of the market definition notice - Feedback period: 19 January 2022 - 16 February 2022
• Commission publishes final report on consumer Internet of Things sector inquiry (IoT) - IP/22/402, see the Final Report and its accompanying Staff Working Document
• Commission preliminarily concludes Hungary breached Article 21 of the EU Merger Regulation by vetoing the acquisition of AEGON's Hungarian subsidiaries by VIG (M.10494)  - Midday Express 
• Vestager: Metaverse poses new competition challenges - Politico.eu

STATE AID

• Judgment of the Court of 20 January 2022 in Case C-594/19 P, Deutsche Lufthansa AG Vs.. European Commission, Land Rheinland-Pfalz
  Re: Appeal - State aid - Aid to airports and airlines - Decision classifying the measures in favour of Frankfurt-Hahn airport as State aid compatible with the internal market and finding that there was no State aid in favour of the airlines using that airport - Inadmissibility of an action for annulment - Fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU - Natural or legal person not directly and individually concerned by the decision at issue - Effective judicial protection
• Greece is ordered to make a lump sum payment of €5 500 000 and periodic penalty payments of over €4 000 000 for every six months’ delay for failure to recover State aid granted to Larco (See CPR No.8/2022 - Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-51/20 - Commission Vs. Greece - Ferronickel)
• Commission approves 2022-2027 regional aid map for Austria - IP/22/409

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Judgment of the Court of 20 January 2022 in Case C‑891/19 P, European Commission Vs. Hubei Xinyegang Special Tube Co. Ltd, ArcelorMittal Tubular Products Roman SA, Válcovny trub Chomutov a.s., Vallourec Deutschland GmbH
  Re: Appeal - Dumping - Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/804 - Imports of certain seamless pipes and tubes originating in China - Definitive anti-dumping duty - Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 - Article 3(2), (3) and (6), and Article 17 - Determination of injury - Examination of the effect of dumped imports on the prices of like products sold on the EU market - Analysis of price undercutting - Application of the product control number (PCN) method - Obligation of the European Commission to take into account the different market segments relating to the product under consideration and all sales of like products by the sampled EU producers
• Opinion of Advocate General Emiliou of 20 January 2022 in Case C‑599/20, UAB ‘Baltic Master’ Vs. Muitinės departamentas prie Lietuvos Respublikos finansų ministerijos, Vilniaus teritorinė muitinė
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Customs union - Community Customs Code - Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 - Article 29(1)(d) - Determination of the customs value - Concept of ‘related persons’ - De facto control - Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 - Article 143(1)(b), (e) and (f) - Article 181a - TARIC heading
• Agenda for: Working Party on Trade Questions of 25January 2022
• Notice of initiation of an expiry review of the anti-dumping measures applicable to imports of certain aluminium road wheels originating in the People’s Republic of China
• Explanatory Notes to the Combined Nomenclature of the European Union (CN: 9503 00 41)
• Answer given by EVP Dombrovskis to a MEP written question - Conclusion in December of the European investigation into dumping in the steel wind-turbine towers sector
• Answer given by EVP Dombrovskis to a MEP written question - Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies through trade policy
• WTO report looks into steps taken to boost LDCs’ participation in international trade
• Biden initiates fervently sought steel talks with U.K. - The negotiations to ease tariffs on U.K. steel and aluminum come as the administration continues to unwind Trump-era trade policies – Politico.eu

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Agenda for: Working Group on Competitiveness & Growth
  - Public Procurement of 25 January 2022 
  - Internal Market /DSA of 25 January 2022
• UN Regulation No 26 - Uniform provisions concerning the approval of vehicles with regard to their external projections
• Answer given by Mr Breto  to a MEP written question - Threat to food supply in the EU due to fertiliser shortage
• Industrial Policy for the 21st Century: Lessons from the Past - Discussion Paper No.157

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

• Intellectual property: Statement by EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton welcoming the provisional application of the Unitary Patent
• Unitary Patent agreement finally entered into force - see BusinessEurope Statement

FINANCIAL SERVICES

• Minutes of: Company Law Expert Group (CLEG) and targeted stakeholders: Action 12 of the Capital Markets Union Action Plan of 25 November 2021
• ESMA launches a Common Supervisory Action with NCAs on valuation of UCITS and open-ended AIFs

EMPLOYMENT & SOCIAL POLICY

• According to Advocate General Richard de la Tour, the indexation of the family allocation and tax advantages granted by Austria to workers whose children permanently reside in another Member State is contrary to EU law (See CPR No.11/2022 - Opinion of the Advocate General in the Case C-328/20 - Commission Vs. Austria (Indexation des prestations familiales))
• European Globalisation Adjustment Fund: €2.8 million to support dismissed workers in the Spanish car industry - IP/22/403
• Speech by President von der Leyen at the European Women on Boards' Gender Diversity Award

ENERGY

• Informal Meeting of Environment & Energy Ministers: highlights for the Commission - just transition, energy prices, energy efficiency, hydrogen and the fight against deforestation - Midday Express
• Commission discusses security of gas supply with EU countries at the Gas Coordination Group meeting
• EU overachieves 2020 renewable energy target
• European natural gas imports - See Bruegel Datasets 

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Chemicals: Commission seeks views on revision of REACH Regulation, the EU's legislation on chemicals - Consultation period: 20 January 2022 - 15 April 2022

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Protecting consumers from misleading reviews: 55% of screened websites violate EU law - IP/22/394 & FactSheet
• Health Union: a stronger role for the European Medicines Agency - see the EP Statement
• Campaign to limit medicine shortages gets boost with new European Medicines Agency role - See Beuc Statement

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

• Opinion of Advocate General Emiliou of 20 January 2022 in Case C‑589/20, JR Vs. Austrian Airlines AG
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Air transport - Montreal Convention - Article 17(1) - Liability of air carriers for death or bodily injuries sustained by passengers - Requirements of a causal ‘accident’ taking place ‘in the course of any of the operations of … disembarking’ - Passenger falling on the boarding stairs whilst disembarking - Article 20 - Contributory negligence defence - Failure of the passenger to hold on to the handrails
• Minutes - First meeting of the Specialised Committee on Aviation Safety of 23 November 2021
  

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Speech by EVP Vestager on the Digital Services Act
• Speech by Commissioner Thierry Breton on the Digital Services Act

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• Prevention of money laundering and protection of privacy and personal data - Advocate General Pitruzzella confirms the validity of the regime of public access to information on beneficial owners of companies  (See CPR No.12/2022 - Opinions of the Advocate General in joined cases C-37/20 - Luxembourg Business Registers, C-601/20, Sovim)
• Agenda for: Working Party on Horizontal Cyber Issues of 21 January 2022
• EDPB adopts Guidelines on Right of Access and letter on cookie consent
• EDPB response to French associations on the cookie consent requirement

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Agenda of the 9th meeting of the EU/UK Specialised Committee on Citizens' rights of 24 January 2022
• Advocate General Collins: EU law precludes a national provision or practice according to which national courts have no jurisdiction to examine if a provision of national law, that a decision of the constitutional court of the Member State has found to be constitutional, is in conformity with EU law (See CPR No.13/2022 - Opinion of the Advocate General in the case C-430/21 - RS - (Effet des arrêts d’une juridiction constitutionnelle))
• A third-country national does not lose his or her long-term resident status if his or her presence in the territory of the European Union is limited, during a period of 12 consecutive months, to only a few days (See CPR No.10/2022 - Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-432/20 - Landeshauptmann von Wien)
• The Court confirms the Commission's decision to register the proposed European Citizens' Initiative "Minority SafePack - one million signatures for diversity in Europe" (See CPR No.9/2022 - Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-899/19 - Romania Vs. Commission)

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• ‘State of the World' Special Address by President von der Leyen at the World Economic Forum
• Implementation of the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure: State of play January 2022 - Study for the EP ECON Committee

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Minutes of the Meeting of the Coreper of 8 & 10 December, 19 December and 21 & 22 December 2021
• Speech by VP Šefčovič on behalf of President von der Leyen at the European Parliament on the presentation of the programme of the French Presidency
• MEPs debated the French Presidency’s priorities with Emmanuel Macron

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures against Syria
• French Presidency of the Council of the European Union - Working Party on Humanitarian Aid & Food Aid (COHAFA) - Work Programme of Trio Presidency France - Czech Republic - Sweden 1 January 2022 - 30 June 2023