Europe Daily News, 01 April 2022

EU RESPONSE TO COVID-19

HEALTH

• Data on the daily number of new reported COVID-19 cases and deaths by EU/EEA country - ECDC
• Data on hospital and ICU admission rates and current occupancy for COVID-19 - ECDC
• Data on COVID-19 vaccination in the EU/EEA - ECDC

STATE AID

• Commission approves a Greek scheme to support the economy in the context of the coronavirus pandemic (SA.102304) - Midday Express
• Commission approves €2 million Estonian scheme to support cultural events and concert organisers affected by the coronavirus pandemic (SA.102162) - Midday Express

COMPETITION

• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.10613 - Porsche Austria / Wolfgang Denzel Auto / Saubermacher Dienstleistung / JV)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.10644 - Towerbrook Capital Partners  / New Mountain Capital / Cloudmed Solutions / R1 RCM)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10689 - OCP Group / Koch Industries  / JORF Fertilizer Company)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10218 - Gauselmann/GreentubeJV)
• Belgium - Competition Authority confirms an inspection in the bovine meat sector
• Cyprus - Notification of a concentration concerning the acquisition of Alchemer LLC by KKR & Co. Inc via Alpha Purchaser LLC
• France - The European Commission refers to the Autorité de la concurrence the examination of the effects in France of the acquisition of control of McKesson Europe by the Phoenix Group
• Greece - Memorandum of Understanding with the Competition Council of the Kingdom of Morocco (“Conseil de la Concurrence du Royaume du Maroc”)
• Hungary - The GVH imposed fines for involvement in a public procurement cartel
• Poland - Bid rigging - two decisions of the President of UOKiK, imposing penalties totalling nearly PLN 330,000
• Romania - The Competition Council has cleared the transaction by which Eco Euro Doors S.R.L. is by Roca Investments S.A., through Doorsrock4 S.R.L..
• UK - CMA - Investigation into a capacity sharing agreement between P&O Ferries and DFDS
• UK - CMA - Resilience and Competition Policy: Economics working paper 

STATE AID

• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda of the Working Party on Customs Union of 06 April 2022
• Agenda for: Trade Policy Committee (Services & Investment) of 06 April 2022
• Agenda for: Customs 2027 Programme - Update and enrichment of ECICS of 03 May 2022
• Agenda for: 14th meeting of the Customs Project Group on the Digitalisation of Cultural Goods of 04 May 2022
• Agenda for: Customs Programme - CLEN discussion meeting of the participants in the CLEN Proficiency Test on Polymers and Products of Chapter 39 of 10 May 2022
• Notice to economic operators, importers and exporters - Russia and Belarus
• Opinion by MEP Gilles Lebreton on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market
• Making available on the Union market as well as export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010
  - Draft Opinion  by MEP Karin Karlsbro Amendments 393 - 396
  - Draft Opinion by MEP Anna Cavazzini
  - Draft Report by MEP Christophe Hansen
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) /... concerning the classification of certain goods in the Combined Nomenclature (CN: 2309 90 31 & 2309 90 51)
• Ex post evaluation of the implementation of the trade agreement between the EU and its Member States and Colombia, Peru and Ecuador - Final report : executive summary
• Ex-post evaluation of the impact of trade chapters of the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements with six partners - Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia: final report
• EU knocks down barriers to exports of ceramic tiles
• GSP+ monitoring mission visited Uzbekistan
• WTO - Items proposed for consideration at the next meeting of Dispute Settlement Body of 08 April 2022
• WTO - General Council endorses final decision on Bali tariff rate quota underfill mechanism
• WTO - New statistics dashboard provides graphical presentation of trade and tariff data
• UK proposes anti-dumping measures on Cold Rolled Flat Steel from China and Russia be kept
• UK - Guidance - The UK trade remedies investigations process

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Minutes of Ad-hoc Meeting of the European Innovation Council Board of 27 January 2022
• Summary of European Commission Decisions on authorisations for the placing on the market for the use and/or for use of substances listed in Annex XIV to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the REACH - 4-Nonylphenol, branched and linear, ethoxylated (4-NPnEO)
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/518 of 13 January 2022 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/985 as regards its transitional provisions for certain agricultural and forestry vehicles fitted with engines in the power range greater than or equal to 56 kW and less than 130 kW in order to address the impact of the COVID-19 crisis
• Commission strengthens market surveillance: opening of new laboratories for testing emissions from motor vehicles - IP/22/2111 & FactSheet

FINANCIAL SERVICES

• Agenda for: Commission Expert Group on Banking, Payments and Insurance of 05 April 2022
• Crypto assets: new rules to stop illicit flows in the EU
  
• EBA Risk Dashboard indicates limited direct impact on EU banks from the Russian invasion of Ukraine but also points to clear medium-term risks
• ESMA publishes the list of instruments (ISINs) that will complement the results of the annual transparency calculations for equity and equity-like instruments on 8 April 2022
• ESMA sees EMIR and SFTR data quality improve following coordinated actions

TAXATION

• Draft Report by MEP Aurore Lalucq - Ensuring a global minimum level of taxation for multinational groups in the Union - Amendments 49 - 263

AGRICULTURE & FISHERIES

• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European Union geographical indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products, and quality schemes for agricultural products, amending Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013, (EU) 2017/1001 and (EU) 2019/787 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 – See Annexes I, II & III 

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: International Environment Group (Chemicals/Synergies) of 07 April 2022
• Agenda for: 18th Meeting of the Nature Directives Sub-Expert Group of 05-06 April 2022
• Agenda for: Meeting relating to the implementation of Ambient Air Quality Directives of 05 April 2022
• Draft Minutes of the Council of the European Union (Environment) of 17 March 2022
• Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/520 of 31 March 2022 amending Regulation (EC) No 1418/2007 concerning the export for recovery of certain waste listed in Annex III or IIIA to Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council to certain countries to which the OECD Decision on the control of transboundary movements of wastes does not apply
• Commission awards over €1 billion to innovative projects for the EU climate transition - IP/22/2163
• Commissioner Ferreira in Poland to focus on cohesion policy support for refugees and negotiations of new investment programmes - Midday Express
• Vast majority of Europe’s urban population remains exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution – see EEA Briefing

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Presentations and recording - HPP Webinar: Fighting access to health inequalities by improving health worker retention and task shifting policies (29 March 2022)
• SCHEER - Final Opinion on "Draft Environmental Quality Standards for Priority Substances under the Water Framework Directive"
  - Thiamethoxam; Thiacloprid; Clothianidin & Acetamiprid
• Save the date: 22 June 2022 - One-day conference on the new Regulation on Health Technology Assessment (HTA)
• Flash report and presentations - Meeting of the Subgroup on Cancer (11 February 2022)
• EFSA - Peer review of the pesticide risk assessment of the active substance Aspergillus flavus strain MUCL54911
• EFSA - Avian influenza overview December 2021 - March 2022
• EFSA - Pest categorisation of Malacosoma disstria
• EMA establishes Cancer Medicines Forum with academia to optimise cancer treatments in clinical practice

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

• Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down for certain road vehicles circulating within the Union the maximum authorised dimensions in national and international traffic and the maximum authorised weights in international traffic (codification) - Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee

DIGITAL SINGLE MARKET & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Telecommunications & Information Society of 05 April 2022
• Minutes of the 22nd meeting of the eCommerce expert group of 26 February 2021

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• Summary of the Opinion of the European Data Protection Supervisor on the Proposal for Regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising
• Spanish SA imposes a fine on Vodafone España, for a loss of confidentiality related to mobile phone sim card duplicate and a lack of accountability
• Spanish SA imposes a fine on Telefónica Móviles España, for a loss of confidentiality related to mobile phone sim card duplicate
• Spanish SA imposes a fine on Xfera Móviles, for a loss of confidentiality related to mobile phone sim card duplicate

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Possible items for College agendas 30 March – 27 July 2022

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Draft Minutes of the Council of the European Union (Foreign Affairs) of 21 March 2022
• Commissioner Lenarčič in Finland to participate in high-level meeting on Syria - Midday Express
• Sharing best practices from the European Union to improve public finances in Mexico and fight inequality - see EEAS Statement
• Global Gateway: Commission strengthens partnerships for sustainable investments with Niger, Ivory Coast and Ghana - IP/22/2219
• Scaling up sustainable finance in low and middle-income countries: Call for applications for the selection of members of the high-level expert group 
  
  RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE

• General questions concerning sanctions adopted following Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine - 31 March 2022
• FaQs on Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts related matters concerning sanctions adopted following Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine - 30 March 2022
• FaQs on Article 5b of Council Regulation (EU) No 833-2014 on deposits acceptance adopted following Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine - 31 March 2022
• FaQs on financing and financial assistance for trade concerning sanctions adopted following Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and Belarus' involvement in it - 31 March 2022
• Commission adopts proposal for conversion of hryvnia banknotes by people fleeing Ukraine - Midday Express
• Ukraine: making iteasier and quicker for Member States to use cohesion funding to support immediate needs of refugees - Midday Express
• EU/US: Joint Press Release by the EEAS and U.S. Department of State on the First High-Level Dialogue on Russia
• Advice to sponsors on managing the impact of the war in Ukraine on clinical trials - see EMA Statement