Europe Daily News, 09 September 2022

COMPETITION

• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10658 - Norsk Hydro  / Alumetal)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10702 - KPS Capital Partners / Real Alloy Europe)
• Commission clears acquisition of Perstorp by PCG (M.10797) - Midday Express
• Commission clears creation of joint venture between Daimler Truck, NextEra Energy and BlackRock (M.10791) - Midday Express
• Poland - Selling kia cars - proceedings of the President of The Office Of Competition And Consumer Protection on price fixing
• Portugal - Portuguese Competition Authority's Google investigation moves to the European Commission
  
• Romania - The Competition Council makes recommendation for medicines and dietary supplements
• Romania - The Competition Council assesses the transaction by which SD Biosensor, Inc. and SJL Partners, LLC take over Meridian Bioscience, Inc.
• UK CMA - Morrisons / McColl’s merger only raises concerns in a small number of local areas
• UK CMA has accepted undertakings in lieu of reference for the anticipated merger between Noble Corporation and Maersk Drilling - Full text decision -  (8.9.22)
• UK CMA has provisionally cleared the anticipated acquisition by London Stock Exchange Group plc of Quantile Group Limited - Summary & Notice of provisional findings (9.9.22)

STATE AID

• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections
• Commission approves €4 billion Romanian scheme to support companies in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine (SA.103626) - IP/22/4904
• Commission approves €19.8 million Croatian aid measure in favour of IE-Energy (SA.64374) - Midday Express

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Joint meeting of the CUP SGs Facilitation and Customs controls - 30 September 2022
• Agenda for: 236th Meeting of the Customs Code Committee - Tariff and Statistical Nomenclature (Sub-section Agriculture/Chemistry) - 20 September 2022
• Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union in the Trade Committee of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part, as regards the amendment of the Annexes 10-A and 10-B of the Agreement
• Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union in the EU-CTC Joint Committee established by the Convention of 20 May 1987 on common transit procedure as regards amendments to that Convention
• Decision No 1/2022 of the Joint Council established by the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the SADC EPA States, of the other part, of 26 July 2022 on the adjustment of the reference quantities for certain products eligible for safeguard measures listed in Annex IV to the EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement
• Decision No 2/2022 of the Joint Council established under the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the SADC EPA States, of the other part of 26 July 2022 on the request from Angola pursuant to Article 119(1) of the EPA

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Agenda - 8th Meeting of the Horizon Europe Programme Committee - the European Innovation Council (EIC) and European Innovation Ecosystems - 15 September 2022
• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2019/631 as regards strengthening the CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and new light commercial vehicles in line with the Union’s increased climate ambition - First trilogue
• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulations (EU) 2018/841 as regards the scope, simplifying the compliance rules, setting out the targets of the Member States for 2030 and committing to the collective achievement of climate neutrality by 2035 in the land use, forestry and agriculture sector, and (EU) 2018/1999 as regards improvement in monitoring, reporting, tracking of progress and review - First trilogue
• ECHA - Have your say: Nine proposals to identify new substances of very high concern

FINANCIAL SERVICES

• Loans denominated in foreign currency: if the consumer objects, the national court may not replace an unfair term relating to the conversion price with a supplementary provision of national law (See CPR Nº 144/2022 - Judgment of the Court of Justice in Joined Cases C-80/21, C-81/21, C-82/21 D.B.P. (Crédit hypothécaire libellé en devises étrangères))
• Opinion of Advocate General Rantos of 8 September 2022 in Case C‑707/20, Gallaher Limited Vs. The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Articles 49, 63 and 64 TFEU - Transfer of assets within a group of companies - Company resident in one Member State having a parent company established in another Member State and a sister company established in a third State - Transfer of the intellectual property rights of the resident company to the sister company for consideration equal to the market value - Exemption from tax or imposition of tax, depending on the State in which the beneficiary company has its seat 

ENERGY

• Answer given by Ms Simson to a MEP written question - Oil and gas imports from Saudi Arabia and Qatar
• EU spars over proposal to cap Russian gas prices - Some countries worry that singling out Moscow would lead Putin to stop all deliveries to Europe - Financial Times
• Why energy ministers cannot agree on gas price caps Premium content - Emergency council seen more as a venting than decision-making exercise - Financial Times
• High gas prices help Gazprom compensate for supply cuts - Russian state group has kept sufficient deliveries to Europe to ensure bumper profit this year - Financial Times
• Brussels aims to relax state aid rules to ease energy sector cash crunch - Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager says plan for rapid action is a ‘no-brainer’ - Financial Times

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: Working Party on International Environment Issues
  - Biodiversity - 14 September 2022
  - Whaling - 15 September 2022
• The Court provides clarification on the concept of captive breeding of specimens of Hyacinth Macaw (See Nº 143/2022 - Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-659/20, Ministerstvo životního prostředí (Perroquets Ara hyacinthe))

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Public consultation - Amending Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2019/6 to adapt it to technical and scientific progress - Delegated regulation - Feedback period: 07 September 2022 - 05 October 2022
• Evidence on food information – Empowering consumers to make healthy and sustainable choices - Midday Express
• Answer given by Ms Kyriakides to a MEP written question - Nitrites in cooked pork meats: what protection does the EU public have?
• Answer given by Ms Kyriakides to a MEP written question - Acute leukaemia in children: call for the use of certain pesticides to be restricted
• ECDC - Yersiniosis - Annual Epidemiological Report for 2020
• ECDC - Overview of the implementation of COVID-19 vaccination strategies and deployment plans in the EU/EEA
• ECDC - Monkeypox (MPX) Reporting Protocol 2022
• ECDC - Shigellosis - Annual Epidemiological Report for 2020

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

• Judgment of the Court of 8 September 2022 in Case C‑614/20, Lux Express Estonia AS Vs. Majandus- ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 - Public passenger transport services by rail and by road - Imposition by means of general rules of an obligation to carry certain categories of passenger free of charge - Obligation for the competent authority to grant public service compensation to operators - Calculation method
• Answer given by Ms Valean to a MEP written question - European air transport – a catastrophe

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• Cyber-attacks: Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union expressing solidarity with Albania and concern following the July malicious cyber activities
• Answer given by Ms Johansson to a MEP written question - Concerns raised by the European Data Protection Supervisor about Europol and the protection of personal data
• Answer given by Mr Reynders to a MEP written question - Request for clarification regarding user privacy on the TikTok platform
• Answer given by Ms Valean to a MEP written question - Interoperability of toll systems and data protection

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Public consultation - Travel – digitalising travel documents to make travelling easier - Proposal for a regulation - Feedback period: 08 September 2022 - 06 October 2022

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• NextGenerationEU: European Commission endorses the Netherlands' €4.7 billion recovery and resilience plan - IP/22/5397, QaA & Statement by President von der Leyen
• Answer given by Mr Gentiloni to a MEP written question - Lack of transparency regarding final beneficiaries of Recovery and Resilience Facility
• Making a virtue out of necessity: the effect of negative interest rates on bank cost efficiency - ECB Working Paper Series - No.2718
• The impact of the COVID-19 shock on euro area potential output: a sectoral approach - ECB Working Paper Series - No.2717

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• SOTEU 2022: the Commission publishes an overview of past year's actions

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Statement by President Charles Michel upon the passing of Queen Elizabeth II
• Mozambique: Press remarks by HR/VP Josep Borrell after his meeting with President Filipe Nyusi
• EUCAP Sahel Niger: mission extended until 30 September 2024 with an adjusted mandate
• Statement on the International Day to Protect Education from Attack - 2022

RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE

• Council adopts full suspension of visa facilitation with Russia
• Answer given by Mr Gentiloni to a MEP written question - Basing EU commitment on Ukraine’s ability to repay loans