Europe Daily News, 05 October 2022

COMPETITION

• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.10696 - Aramco Overseas Company / BP Europa / Lotos-Air BP Polska)
• Commission clears acquisition of Tambur by Länsförsäkringar Bank, SBAB Bank, SEB, Handelsbanken, Swedbank, Danske Bank and Nordea (M.10766) - Midday Express
• Germany - Bundeskartellamt - List of Notified Merger Projects
• Greece - Memorandum of Partnership between the HCC and the Egyptian Competition Authority
• Greece - Cosmetics and personal care sector: Case prioritization and assignment to a Commissioner-Rapporteur
• Romania - The Competition Council assesses the transaction by which The Sherwin-Williams Company, USA, intends to take over Industria Chimica Adriatica S.p.A., Italy
• Romania - The Competition Council assesses the transaction by which Ceres Pharma NV takes over Dacia Plant SRL from Radu Ionescu - Heroi and Călin Ioan Ianța
• Spain - Start of disciplinary proceedings against Ecoembes for possible abuse of its dominant position in the market
• UK - The CMA has published its final recommendation to the Secretary of State on the Motor Vehicle BER revision

STATE AID

• Commission approves €292.5 million Italian measure under Recovery and Resilience Facility to support STMicroelectronics in construction of a plant in the semiconductor value chain - IP/22/5970
• Commission approves €1 billion German measure to support Salzgitter decarbonise its steel production by using hydrogen - IP/22/5968
• Commission approves €21.1 million Italian measure to support Poste Italiane in deploying recharging infrastructure (SA.101781) - Midday Express
• Commission authorises a €52.9 million Belgian scheme to support rail transpor (SA.102429) - Midday Express

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Trade Policy Committee (Services & Investment) - 05 October 2022
• Agenda for: Working Party on Trade Questions - 11 October 2022
• European Parliament legislative resolution of 4 October 2022 on the 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
• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on exceptional trade measures for countries and territories participating in or linked to the Stabilisation and Association process (codification)
• Council Decision on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the Trade Committee established by 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 Annexes 10-A and 10-B to the Agreement
• Draft Decision of the EU-Korea Trade Committee on the amendment of Annexes 10-A and 10-B to 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
• Notice of initiation of an expiry review of the anti-dumping measures applicable to imports of certain hot-rolled flat products of iron, non-alloy or other alloy steel originating in the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Federation and Ukraine
• Council Decision (EU) 2022/1851 of 29 September 2022 on the position to be taken on behalf of the Union within the Joint Committee established by the Framework Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Mongolia, of the other part, concerning the establishment of a specialised working group on development cooperation
• WTO - Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - European Union - Carcinogenic, mutagenic and reproductive toxicants (CMR)
• WTO - Trade growth to slow sharply in 2023 as global economy faces strong headwinds
• United States: Economic indicators and trade with EU - see the EP Briefing
• US set to impose sweeping export controls to rein in Chinese chipmakers - Rules will slow efforts to obtain semiconductors for supercomputers and military use - Financial Times

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Commission Delegated Directive (EU) .../ amending Directive 2009/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the updating of the list of defence-related products in line with the updated Common Military List of the European Union of 21 February 2022
• Judgment of the General Court of 5 October 2022 in Case T‑711/20, Puma SE, Vs. European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), and CMS Costruzione macchine speciali SpA
  Re: EU trade mark - Opposition proceedings - International registration designating the European Union - Figurative mark CMS Italy - Earlier international figurative marks representing a feline bounding towards the left and earlier international figurative mark PUMA - Relative ground for refusal - Detriment to reputation - Article 8(5) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 8(5) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001) - Similarity of the signs - Proof of reputation - Overall assessment
  

FINANCIAL SERVICES

• Climate finance: Council adopted conclusions ahead of COP27
• Minutes of the 6th meeting of the Non-performing Loans Advisory Panel - 23 September 2022
• Answer given by Ms McGuinness to a MEP written question - Chinese acquisitions of real estate in the EU
• Answer given by Ms McGuinness to a MEP written question - Compliance of cruise shipping with the second delegated act of the Taxonomy Regulation

TAXATION

• European Parliament resolution of 4 October 2022 on the impact of new technologies on taxation: crypto and blockchain (2021/2201(INI)) 

AGRICULTURE & FISHERIES

• Agenda for: Expert Group for the European Food Security Crisis Preparedness and Response Mechanism - 24 October 2022
• Agenda for: Expert Group for Agricultural Markets, in particular concerning aspects falling under the single CMO Regulation
  - Subgroup pig carcass classification -14 October 2022
  - Subgroup beef carcass classification -14 October 2022
  - Horizontal Questions -12 October 2022
• Agriculture: Latest short-term outlook report: EU agricultural markets remain stable despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine - See the Report
• Forest fires: €170 million to reinforce rescEU fleet - IP/22/5967
• Answer given by Mr Wojciechowski to a MEP written question - Follow-up question to question E-000651/2022 - Delegated act on the production of organic salt
• Answer given by Mr Wojciechowski to a MEP written question - Increase in farm subsidies in response to natural disasters and rising cost
• European Union beef sector: Main features, challenges and prospects - see the EP Briefing

ENERGY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Energy - 06 October 2022
• Communication from the European Commission on an agreement between the Member States, the EU, and the European Atomic Energy Community on the interpretation of the Energy Charter Treaty - See the Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union and of the Euratom in the 33rd meeting of the Energy Charter Conference
• Commissioner Simson in Slovakia to discuss energy situation with local policymakers and stakeholders - Midday Express
• EU4Energy strengthens knowledge of EaP students in clean energy transition - See CEER Statement
• Charles Michel: The EU needs a genuine energy union now - All 27 states must work together if we are to get prices down and fix the cracks exposed by Putin - Financial Times
• EU funding disputes over energy spell trouble ahead Premium content - Modest deal in Luxembourg cannot hide fundamental differences among Europe’s capitals - Financial Times

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: EP ENVI Committee - 10 October 2022 - (See the Work in Progress)
  - Draft report by MEP Silvia Sardone, Jutta Paulus on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on methane emissions reduction in the energy sector and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/942
• The COP27 Climate Change Conference - see the EP Study
• Parliament backs deal to reduce harmful chemicals in waste - See the EP resolution on PoPs 
• Answer given by Mr Sinkevicius to a MEP written question - Classification of lithium as a ‘category 1A reproductive toxin’ and inclusion of this critical substance in European battery supply chains
• Expenditure on preventing biological invasions is far below environmental damage costs
• Benefits of agri-environment wildflower areas vary according to the surrounding landscape
• Estimating environmental damage from key resources required for EU low-carbon transition
• Abandoned agriculture in the Valencia Region, Spain: a transition to woodland and scrubland over a 50-year period

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• European Health Union: HERA sets up a Dynamic Purchasing System for more effective joint procurement of PPE to counter health threats
• SCHEER - Draft Agenda of the 3rd plenary meeting, Luxembourg, 12-13 October 2022

DIGITAL SINGLE MARKET

• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) /... establishing the lists of reserved and blocked domain names under the .eu top-level domain in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/517 of the European Parliament and of the Council
• 2023-2027 EU secure connectivity programme: Building a multi-orbital satellite constellation - see the EP Briefing

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• EDPB - Coordinated Supervision Committee Report of Activities 2020-2022 

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Main results of the Economic & Financial Affairs Council - 04 October 2022
  - Remarks by EVP Dombrovskis at the ECOFIN Press conference
• Debt-equity bias reduction allowance (DEBRA) - see the EP Briefing
• Protection of EU budget: MEPs warn Commission to “not compromise” with Hungary
• NextGenerationEU: Council gives go-ahead to national plan of the Netherlands - Midday Express
• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2021/241 as regards REPowerEU chapters in recovery and resilience plans and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 , Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, Directive 2003/87/EC and Decision (EU) 2015/1814 - General Approach
• Is the EU money market fund regulation fit for purpose? Lessons from the COVID-19 turmoil - Working Paper Series No.2737
• ECB - Households and non-financial corporations in the euro area: second quarter of 2022
• ECB - Euro area quarterly balance of payments and international investment position: second quarter of 2022
• EU current account deficit €37.4 bn - €43.4 bn surplus for trade in service - Second quarter of 2022 - Stat111/2022
• Household saving rate down to 13.7% in the euro area - Business profit share decreases to 39.8% - First release for the second quarter of 2022 - Stat110/2022

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Protection of EU budget: MEPs warn Commission to “not compromise” with Hungary

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• European Year of Youth 2022: EU adopts the first Youth Action Plan in EU External Action to strengthen engagement with young people worldwide - IP/22/5884, QaA & Opening remarks by VP Šuica and Commissioner Urpilainen
• Access to water as a human right: Remarks on behalf of HR/VP Josep Borrell at the EP debate
• Georgia: Statement by the Spokesperson on the new round of the Geneva International Discussions
• Horn of Africa: Remarks on behalf of HR/VP Josep Borrell at the EP debate on the EU’s strategic relationship and partnership with the region

RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE

• Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1848 of 4 October 2022 amending Regulation (EU) No 692/2014 concerning restrictive measures in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol
• Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/1852 of 4 October 2022 amending Decision (CFSP) 2020/1656 on Union support for the activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the areas of nuclear security and in the framework of the implementation of the EU Strategy against Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction
• Amending Letter No.1 to the Draft General Budget 2023 - Additional measures to address the consequences of the Russian war in Ukraine Union Civil Protection Mechanism reinforcement Updated estimated needs for agricultural expenditure Other adjustments and technical updates
• Draft Amending Budget No 5 to the Draft General Budget 2022 - Additional measures to address the consequences of the Russian war in Ukraine Union Civil Protection Mechanism reinforcement Reduction in payment appropriations and update of revenues Other adjustments and technical updates
• Speech by President von der Leyen at the European Parliament Plenary on Russia's escalation of its war of aggression against Ukraine
• EU agrees oil price cap in new Russia sanctions plan - Von der Leyen confirms new sanctions package and vows to keep ‘making the Kremlin pay.’ - Politico.eu