EU CORONAVIRUS RESPONSES

HEALTH

TRAVEL

  • COVID-19: Council updates recommendation on non-essential travel from third countries
  • Travel during the pandemic: Commission welcomes adoption of updated framework further facilitating travel to the EU - Midday Express

ECONOMY

  • Answer given by Mr Breton to a MEP written question - Emergency support for manufacturers of personal health products in response to epidemics and pandemics

COMPETITION

  • Agenda for: Working Group on Competition of 23 February 2022
  • Withdrawal of notification of a concentration (Case M.9987 - Nvidia / ARM)
  • Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10625 - Carlyle Group / Macquarie Group / HYCC)
  • Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.10604 - Oxford Properties / Pinebridge Benson Elliot / Sigma)
  • Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.10555 - Adia/ Transurban / AustralianSuper / CPP Investments / WCX)
  • Commission clears acquisition of joint control of Duravant by Carlyle and Warburg Pincus (M.10562) - Midday Express
  • Commission clears acquisition of joint control of Hale by Warburg Pincus and Oxford Properties (M.10601) - Midday Express
  • Commission finds that Hungary's veto over the acquisition of AEGON's Hungarian subsidiaries by VIG breached Article 21 of the EU Merger Regulation (M.10494) - IP/22/1258
  • France - As part of a negotiated procedure, the Autorité fines EDF 300 million euros, and several of its subsidiaries
  • Greece - Hellenic Competition Commission carries out unannounced inspections in the eyewear sector
  • Spain - CNMC launches study on packaging waste management in Spain
  • Switzerland: Asphalt supplier Berag, shareholders fined in Switzerland for restricting competition - See FR, DE & IT version

STATE AID

  • Answer given by EVP Vestager to a MEP written question - State aid for the former Ilva plant in Taranto

TRADE & CUSTOMS

  • Agenda for: Trade Policy Committee (Deputies) of 25 February 2022
  • Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Union Single Window Environment for Customs and amending Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 - Four Column table
  • WTO - Goods barometer signals possible turning point for trade as supply pressures ease

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

  • Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/252 of 21 February 2022 amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1167 in order to specify the testing requirements to be applied to a 48 Volt efficient motor generator integrated in the transmission housing and combined with a 48 Volt/12 Volt DC/DC converter

FINANCIAL SERVICES

  • Consolidated list of persons, groups and entities subject to EU financial sanctions published by DG FISMA as of 22 February 2022 
  • EBA publishes annual assessment of banks’ internal approaches for the calculation of capital requirements
  • EBA concludes its Luanda leaks investigation and points to significant differences in competent authorities’ responses to emerging money laundering and terrorist financing risks
  • EBA updates methodology for assessing third country equivalence of regulatory and supervisory frameworks

AGRICULTURE & FISHERIES

ENERGY

  • Investment Plan for Europe supports new fund to finance energy efficiency in buildings across the EU - IP/22/1266
  • Answer given by Mr Simson to a MEP written question - COVID-19: rising energy prices

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

  • Agenda for: Meeting of the European Union Ecolabelling Board of 09 March 2022
  • Climate Diplomacy: Council calls for accelerating the implementation of the Glasgow COP26 outcomes 
  • European Green Deal: Commission consults on reducing the release of microplastics into the environment
  • 8th Round of Mutual Evaluations - 'The practical implementation and operation of European policies on preventing and combating Environmental Crime' - Follow-up to the Report on Luxembourg
  • Answer given Mr Sinkevičius to a MEP written question - Failure to carry out a transboundary environmental impact assessment of the extension of the life of the Tricastin nuclear power station
  • Answer given Mr Sinkevičius to a MEP written question - Environmental impact assessment and public consultation on the lithium prospecting and exploration programme in Portugal

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

  • Filter cigarettes: the method which has been established by ISO for determining the MRLs for tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide and to which EU law refers is valid and binding on cigarette manufacturers (See CPR No 29/2022 - Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-160/20, Stichting Rookpreventie Jeugd and Others)
  • Agenda for: Working Group on Cosmetic Products - Plenary of 01 March 2022
  • Answer given by Ms Kyriakides to a MEP written question - Derogations for the use of neonicotinoids
  • EMA - European medicines regulatory network adopts EU common standard for electronic product information
  • EMA - Meeting highlights from the Committee for Veterinary Medicinal Products (CVMP) of 15-16 February 2022

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

  • According to Advocate General Rantos, the compliance with international standards of private ships engaged in regular sea search and rescue activities may be monitored by the port State (See CPR No 33/2022 - Opinions of the Advocate General in joined cases C-14/21, C-15/21, Sea Watch)

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

  • Commission to invest €292 million in digital technologies and cyber security
  • Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (IMY) fines Region Uppsala for breaches in its security

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

  • A Member State may exercise its option to declare an application for international protection inadmissible on the ground that the applicant has already been granted refugee status by another Member State (See CPR No 30/2022 - Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-483/20; Commissaire général aux réfugiés and aux apatrides (Unité familiale - Protection déjà accordée)
  • EU law precludes a national rule under which national courts have no jurisdiction to examine the conformity with EU law of national legislation which has been held to be constitutional by a judgment of the constitutional court of the Member State (See CPR No 31/2022 - Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-430/21, RS (Effet des arrêts d’une cour constitutionnelle))
  • Refusal to execute a European arrest warrant: the Court of Justice specifies the criteria permitting an executing judicial authority to assess whether there is any risk of breach of the requested person’s fundamental right to a fair trial (See CPR No 32/2022 - Judgment of the Court of Justice in Joined Cases C-562/21 PPU, C-563/21 PPU; Openbaar Ministerie (Tribunal établi par la loi dans l’État membre d’émission - DFON)
  • The Commission 2021 Rule of Law Report and the EU Monitoring and Enforcement of Article 2 TEU Values - Study for the LIBE Committee
  • Answer given by President Ursula von der Leyen to a MEP written question - Are you still there, Guardian of the Treaties? 

BREXIT

  • Press remarks by Vice-President Šefčovič after the meeting of the Joint Committee of the Withdrawal Agreement
  • Joint Statement by Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, the Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP, co-Chairs of the Joint Committee of the Withdrawal Agreement

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

  • Co-Chairs' Statement - 26th EU-GCC Joint Council and Ministerial Meeting
  • Zimbabwe: Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union
  • Recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk areas is a blatant violation of international law - See Press Statement by President Ursula von der Leyen and President Charles  
  • Coordinated Maritime Presences: Council extends implementation in the Gulf of Guinea for two years and establishes a new Maritime Area of Interest in the North-Western Indian Ocean
  • Recommendation No 1/2022 of the EU-PLO Joint Committee of 31 January 2022 approving the extension of the EU-PA Action Plan
  • Syria: EU imposes restrictive measures on additional five individuals - See Regulation (EU) 2022/237 & Decision (CFSP) 2022/242
  • ISIL/Da'esh and Al-Qaida: two groups and two individuals added to the EU sanctions list over terrorism - See Regulation (EU) 2022/235 & Decision (CFSP) 2022/240
  • Ukraine's territorial integrity: EU sanctions five persons involved in the Russian State Duma elections of September 2021 in illegally-annexed Crimea - See Regulation (EU) 2022/236 &  Decision (CFSP) 2022/241
  • Myanmar/Burma: EU imposes restrictive measures on 22 individuals and 4 entities in fourth round of sanctions - See Regulation (EU) 2022/238,  Regulation (EU) 2022/239 & Decision (CFSP) 2022/243
  • Answer given by HR/VP Borrell to a MEP written question - Consequences of the presence of the private Russian Wagner Group in Mali

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