Europe Daily News, 24 October 2022

COMPETITION

• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.10902 - FEV Consulting / Mitsubishi  Corporation /JV)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.10347 - Synthos / Trinseo (Synthetic Rubber Business))
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.10725 - SK Capital Partners / Polymer Additives Holdings)
  
• Commission clears acquisition of exclusive control of Maticmind and SIO by CVC (M.10904) - Midday Express
• Commission clears merger of Vipps and MobilePay, and the acquisition of joint control of the merged entity by Danske Bank, DNB, SB1, Eika, Balder and Vipps Holding (M.10935) - Midday Express
• Belgium - Competition Authority reviews in an amicus curiae a sponsorship contract between the Royal Belgian Billiard Federation and a supplier of billiard ball

STATE AID

• Commission approves prolongation of Polish resolution scheme for cooperative and small commercial banks (SA.103943) - Midday Express
• Commission approves €22.5 million Dutch scheme to encourage freight traffic to shift from road to inland waterways and rail (SA.100463) - Midday Express
• Commission Regulation (EU) / amending the Annexes to Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013 as regards their adaptation to reflect the provisions of 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 and its Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland (Competition/State aid) 

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Customs Union Working Party - 27 October 2022
• Report from the ACP-EU Council of Ministers to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on the implementation of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement in 2019-2022
• Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EU) No 389/2012 as regards the exchange of information maintained in the electronic registers concerning economic operators who move excise goods between Member States for commercial purposes
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2001 of 21 October 2022 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of aspartame originating in the People’s Republic of China, following an expiry review pursuant to Article 11(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 of the European Parliament and of the Council
• WTO - Agenda for: Dispute Settlement Body - 26 October 2022

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Working Party on Competitiveness & Growth (Industry) - 26 October 2022
• Electronic identification schemes notified pursuant to Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market
• Common charger: EU ministers give final approval to one-size-fits-all charging port
• Supporting SMEs in challenging times: Enterprise Europe Network gathers Annual Conference in Prague - Midday Express
• Aligning the product liability directive with the circular economy and emerging technologies - see EPRS Briefing 

FINANCIAL SERVICES

• Agenda for: Working party on Financial Services and the Banking Union (Basel III) - 26 October 2022
• Commission launches first Academy for digital finance supervisory authorities - Midday Express 

ENERGY

• Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the energy performance of buildings (recast) - General approach
• Commissioner Simson and energy ministers to advance work on high energy prices and speed up building renovations (political guidance from EU leaders) - Midday Express
• European Hydrogen Week 2022: Boosting the uptake of hydrogen through the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance - Midday Express
• EU’s long road to capping energy prices Premium content - Leaders’ agreement will still take weeks to translate into concrete measures - Financial Times
• Romania offers cautionary tale on pitfalls of energy subsidies - As Bucharest struggles to make promised refunds to utilities, energy groups warn they face a cash flow crisis - Financial Times

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: Working Party on International Environment Issues (Biodiversity) - 27 October 2022
• Draft agenda for: 10th meeting of Horizon Europe PC Climate, Energy and Mobility - 25 October 2022
• Conclusions on the preparations for the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP 27) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, 6-18 November 2022) - Approval
• Council formally adopts further restrictions to ‘forever chemicals’ in waste
• Zero Pollution: Europeans seriously worried about air quality and call for stronger action - IP/22/6307 & Eurobarometer Survey
• Losses from climate change: €145 billion in a decade - Eurostat

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/2002 of 21 October 2022 amending Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 as regards maximum levels of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in certain foodstuffs
• Action brought on 4 August 2022 - Genzyme Europe Vs. Commission - Case T-483/22
  - annul the decision that avalglucosidase alfa does not qualify as a ‘new active substance’, as contained in, or at least implied by, Commission Decision C(2022) 4531 final of 24 June 2022;
  - annul Article 5 of that Commission Decision, providing that the medicinal product Nexviadyme - avalglucosidase alfa shall not be classified as an orphan medicinal product;
• Action brought on 31 August 2022 - PAN Europe Vs. Commission - Case T-536/22
  Re: annulment of the decision, validly communicated to the applicant on 18 July 2022, rejecting the request for internal review of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2049 of 24 November 2021 renewing the approval of the active substance cypermethrin as a candidate for substitution in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market, and amending the Annex to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011
• Council adds new building blocks to European Health Union
• European Health Union: building a stronger EU health response - IP/22/6363
• Council adopts law on the emergency framework regarding medical countermeasures
• Health: HERA and CEPI agree on stronger cooperation in the development of medical countermeasures - Midday Express
• World Polio Day: Joint statement by Commissioners Stella Kyriakides, Jutta Urpilainen and Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Dr Andrea Ammon
• ECDC - Laboratory support for SARS-CoV-2 virus neutralisation in the EU/EEA - a pilot study       

DATA PRIVACY CYBERSECURITY

• Decision of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) of 14 October 2022 amending the Rules of Procedure of the EDPS of 15 May 2020
• During its October plenary, the EDPB adopted:
  - EDPB Letter to the EU Commission on procedural aspects that could be harmonised at EU level
  - Opinion 28/2022 on the Europrivacy criteria of certification regarding their approval by the Board as European Data Protection Seal pursuant to Article 42.5 (GDPR)
  - Statement 04/2022 on the design choices for a digital euro from the privacy and data protection perspective
  - Guidelines 8/2022 on identifying a controller or processor’s lead supervisory authority
  - Guidelines 9/2022 on personal data breach notification under GDPR

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

• Directive (EU) 2022/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on uniform procedures for checks on the transport of dangerous goods by road (codification) 

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Ukraine: International Expert Conference hosted by the Commission and G7 Presidency reaffirms unwavering commitment to support Ukraine's recovery - IP/22/6336
  

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Conclusions of the European Council meeting - 20 & 21 October 2022 - Remarks by President Charles Michel
• Speech by President von der Leyen at the Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2022 
• Agenda for: Meeting of the Coreper (Part.1 & Part.2) - October 2022