EU CORONAVIRUS RESPONSES

HEALTH

STATE AID

  • Commission approves amendment to Swedish scheme, including €189 million budget increase, to support organisers of events affected by the coronavirus pandemic (SA.101687) - Midday Express

TRAVEL

  • Council Recommendation (EU) 2022/290 of 22 February 2022 amending Council Recommendation (EU) 2020/912 on the temporary restriction on non-essential travel into the EU and the possible lifting of such restriction

COMPETITION

  • Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10606 - Mubadala/ Nationale-Nedelanden / Healthcare Activos Management / Healthcare Activos Yield Socimi / Healthcare Activos Investment / Sequêncialternativa) 
  • Commission clears Cerberus' acquisition of HBCE's French retail banking business (M.10595) - Midday Express
  • Italy - AGCM: Green light for FiberCop. TIM, Fastweb, Tiscali and KKR's commitments submitted after the opening of the procedure accepted
  • Slovak Republic - AMO SR approved the merger of undertakings Penta Investments Limited and Medical Group SK, a.s.
  • Spain - The CNMC fines Correos Correos 32.6 million euros for applying an anti-competitive system of discounts to large customers
  • UK - The CMA is investigating the anticipated acquisition of The Drilling Company of 1972 A/S (Maersk Drilling) by Noble Corporation (Noble)

STATE AID

  • Commission authorises a €170 million French scheme to cover the social contributions of agricultural SMEs affected by the April 2021 frost (SA.100730) - Midday Express
  • Commission approves prolongation of two Spanish schemes, with €4 million total budget increase under Recovery and Resilience Facility, to support innovative projects in the forestry sector and in rural areas (SA.101423 and SA.101424) - Midday Express
  • Answer given by EVP Vestager to a MEP written question - Publication of the draft revised guidelines on state aid in the areas of energy, environmental protection and climate protection

TRADE & CUSTOMS

  • Judgment of the Court of 24 February 2022 in Case C‑226/20 P, Eurofer, European Steel Association, AISBL, Vs. European Commission, HBIS Group Serbia Iron & Steel LLC Belgrade
    Re: Appeal - Dumping - Imports of hot-rolled flat products of iron, non-alloy or other alloy steel originating in Brazil, Iran, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine - Termination of the proceedings against imports originating in Serbia - Determination of injury - Cumulative assessment of the effects of imports from more than one third country - Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 - Article 3(4) - Termination of the proceedings without measures - Article 9(2) - ‘Negligible’ imports - De minimis threshold - European Commission’s discretion
  • Notice to importers - Imports of products into the Union under the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement from the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk oblasts of Ukraine
  • Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/269 of 23 February 2022 accepting a request for new exporting producer treatment with regard to the definitive anti-dumping measures imposed on imports of ceramic tableware and kitchenware originating in People’s Republic of China and amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1198
  • Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union in the written procedure by the Participants to the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits amending Annex IV
  • Answer given by Ms Gabriel to a MEP written question - European intellectual property and research and working with China
  • WTO - Russian Federation - Certain Measures Concerning Domestic and Foreign Products and Services - Constitution of the Panel established at the request of the European Union - Note by the Secretariat
  • The EU-Mercosur free trade agreement: A critical analysis and an alternative - TNI

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

  • Judgment of the Court of 24 February 2022 in Case C-532/20, Alstom Transport SA Vs. Compania Naţională de Căi Ferate CFR SA, Strabag AG - Sucursala Bucureşti, Swietelsky AG Linz - Sucursala Bucureşti,
    Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Directive 92/13/EEC - Procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors - Article 1(1) and (3) - Access to review procedures - Article 2c - Time-limits for lodging an appeal - Calculation - Appeal against a decision to admit a tenderer
  • European Battery Alliance moves ahead: new European Battery Academy launched to boost skills for fast-growing battery ecosystem in Europe - IP/22/1256 & Speech by VP Šefčovič
  • Just and sustainable economy: Commission lays down rules for companies to respect human rights and environment in global value chains - IP/22/1145, QaA, FactSheet and Proposal

FINANCIAL SERVICES

  • Court of Justice clarifies the scope of the pre-contractual information disclosure obligation in relation to ‘unit-linked’ group life assurance contracts (See CPR No 36/2022 - Judgment of the Court of Justice in Joined Cases C-143/20, C-213/20, A (Contrats d’assurance « unit-linked ») - Freedom of establishment)

TAXATION 

  • The Council today adopted the revised EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes

EMPLOYMENT & SOCIAL POLICY

  • Spanish legislation excluding domestic workers from unemployment benefit while they are almost exclusively women is contrary to EU law (See CPR No 37/2022 - Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-389/20, TGSS (Chômage des employés de maison) )
  • Investment Plan for Europe supports skills and education in Spain to promote employment - IP/22/1326
  • An ambitious future for Europe's women after COVID-19: mental load, gender equality in teleworking and unpaid care work after the pandemic - Briefing - EP Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality

ENERGY

  • Minutes of the Energy Efficiency Directive (Directive 2012/27/EU) Committee of 20 January 2022
  • Minutes of the 4th meeting of the Committee on the Sustainability of Biofuels, Bioliquids, and Biomass fuels of 03 February 2022
  • Judgment of the Court of February 2022 in Case C-290/20, "Latvijas Gāze" AS, in the presence of: Latvijas Republikas Saeima, Sabiedrisko pakalpojumu regulēšanas komisija
    Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Internal market in natural gas - Directive 2009/73/EC - Article 2(3) - Concept of 'transmission' - Article 23 - Power to decide on the connection of storage facilities, liquefied natural gas regasification facilities and industrial customers to the transmission system - Article 32(1) - Third-party access to the system - Possibility of direct connection of final customers to the natural gas transmission system
  • Answer given by EVP Timmermans to a MEP written question - Advantage enjoyed by China regarding green-energy transition
  • Answer given by Ms Simson to a MEP written question - The energy crisis and the importance of security of supply and affordability of energy

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

  • Commission Delegated Directive (EU) of 13 December 2021 amending, for the purposes of adapting to scientific and technical progress, Annex III to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for the use of mercury:
    - cold cathode fluorescent lamps and external electrode fluorescent lamps for special purposes (2022/274)
    - in other High Pressure Sodium (vapour) lamps for general lighting purposes (2022/275) 
    - in single capped (compact) fluorescent lamps for general lighting purposes (2022/276) 
    - in single capped (compact) fluorescent lamps for general lighting purposes < 30 W with a lifetime equal to or above 20000 h (2022/277)
    - in metal halide lamps (2022/278)
    - in other discharge lamps for special purposes (2022/279) 
    - in other low pressure discharge lamps (2022/280)
    - in single capped (compact) fluorescent lamps for special purposes (2022/281)
    - in non-linear tri-band phosphor lamps (2022/282)
    - in High Pressure Sodium (vapour) lamps with improved colour rendering index for general lighting purposes  (2022/283) 
    - in double-capped linear fluorescent lamps for general lighting purposes (2022/284)
    - in fluorescent lamps for other general lighting and special purposes 2022/287)
  • Answer given by Mr Sinkevicius to a MEP written question - Update of EU guidance on the classification of waste

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

  • Combatting tobacco consumption among young people: Member States may impose administrative sanctions on economic operators who infringe the prohibition on sales to minors, such as suspension of their trading licence for a period of 15 days (See CPR No 38/2022 - Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-452/20, Agenzia delle dogane e dei monopoli and Ministero dell'Economia e delle Finanze)

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

  • Minutes of the Meeting of the Expert Group on Aviation Safety of 17 February 2022

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

  • Judgment of the Court of 24 February 2022 in Case C-175/20, 'SS' SIA Vs. Valsts ieņēmumu dienests
    Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data - Regulation (EU) 2016/679 - Article 2 - Scope - Article 4 - Concept of 'processing' - Article 5 - Principles relating to processing - Purpose limitation - Data minimisation - Article 6 - Lawfulness of processing - Processing necessary for Article 6 - Lawfulness of processing - Processing necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest by the controller - Processing necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject - Article 23 - Limitations - Processing of data for tax purposes - Request for communication of information relating to advertisements for the sale of vehicles placed online - Proportionality
  • Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/254 of 17 December 2021 pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the adequate protection of personal data by the Republic of Korea under the Personal Information Protection Act
  • EDPB adopts reply to LIBE on the 2nd Additional Protocol to the Cybercrime Convention, Guidelines on Codes of Conduct as a tool for international transfers, letter on AI liability and designates representatives to ENISA’s Stakeholder Cybersecurity Certifi
  • EDPB response to Mr Juan Fernando López Aguilar regarding the request for an EDPB opinion on the final draft of the Second Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime on Enhanced Co-operation and Disclosure of Electronic Evidence
  • BSA Statement on the EU Data Act Proposal

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

  • European Commission publishes enhanced surveillance report for Greece - IP/22/1313 - See the Institutional Paper 170 
  • A study on the EBA stress test results: influence of bank, portfolio, and country-level characteristics - ECB Working Paper Series No.2648
  • Monetary policy, macroprudential policy and financial stability - ECB Working Paper Series No.2647
  • ECB - Monetary and macro-prudential policies: trade-offs and interactions - Research Bulletin No.92

BREXIT

  • Advocate General Collins: British nationals who enjoyed the benefits of Union citizenship do not retain those advantages following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU (See CPR No 39/2022 - Opinion of the Advocate General in the Case C-673/20, Préfet du Gers and Institut National de la Statistique and des Études Économiques)
  • Decision No 1/2022 of the Joint Committee established by the Agreement on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community of 21 February 2022 amending the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community
  • Decision No 2/2022 of the Joint Committee established by the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community of 21 February 2022 amending Decision No 7/2020 establishing a list of 25 persons who are willing and able to serve as members of an arbitration panel under the Agreement
  • Minutes of First meeting of the Trade Partnership Committee under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement - 21 February 2022
  • Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: customs – Factsheet
  • Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: supply of medicines – Factsheet
  • Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: stakeholder engagement – Factsheet
  • Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: sanitary and phytosanitary goods (sps) – Factsheet

FUTURE OF EUROPE

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

  • Joint Statement by the Members of the European Council
  • Press Statement by HR/VP Josep Borrell on Russia's aggression against Ukraine
  • President von der Leyen gave a press statement in which she strongly condemned Russia's aggression against Ukraine
  • Ukraine: Declaration by the HR on behalf of the European Union on the invasion of Ukraine by armed forces of the Russian Federation  
  • Press statement of President Charles Michel of the European Council and President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission on Russia's unprecedented and unprovoked military aggression of Ukraine
  • EU adopts package of sanctions in response to Russian recognition of the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine and sending of troops into the region - see the Full Package of Sanctions
  • Afghanistan: humanitarian airlift flights provide vital medical aid - Midday Express

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