Europe Daily News, 07 March 2023

COMPETITION

• Commission authorises joint venture between Renault and Minth Group (M.11005) - Midday Express
• Commission clears creation of joint venture by Magna and Minth (M.10998) - Midday Express
• Commission authorises the acquisition of Trescal by EFMS (M.11011) - Midday Express
• Belgium - Prior Notification of a concentration CC-22-0045 - AG Insurance / Touring Club Royal de Belgique
• Poland - UOKiK imposed fines for collusive bidding on two companies from Kraków
• Slovak Republic - PMÚ SR has initiated administrative proceedings regarding a possible cartel agreement between manufacturers and suppliers of telecommunication and energy cables
• Spain - The CNMC approves Alcampo's acquisition of several supermarkets of the Dia group subject to commitments (03 March 2023)
• UK - CMA’s investigation into Eville & Jones’ acquisition of Vorenta has raised competition concerns in the provision of various veterinary public health inspections
  

STATE AID

• Commission approves amendment to Italian guarantee scheme, including up to €3 billion budget increase, in context of Russia's war against Ukraine (SA.106335) - IP/23/1484
• Answer given by Ms Vestager to a MEP written question - Concerns over compatibility with EU State aid rules putting the brakes on renewable energy development
• Answer given by Ms Vestager to a MEP written question - EU state aid rules for chip manufacturers
• EU foreign subsidies instrument: Keep administrative burden low for instrument to be effective - See BusinessEurope Comments

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Working Party on Customs Union - 14 March 2023
• Agenda for: Meeting of the Dual Use Goods Working Party - 14 March 2023
• Agenda for: 2nd EU-Singapore FTA Trade & Sustainable Development public stakeholders' Forum - 23 March 2023
• Agenda for: 6th meeting of Ukraine  EU Trade and Sustainable Development Sub-Committee - 09 March 2023
• Report on the third round of negotiations for data flows and privacy under the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement - 17 & 20 February 2023
• Joint Activity Report to the 4th Meeting of the EU-Japan EPA Joint Committee - 06 March 2023
• On 1 March 2023, the EU launched the second release of its Import Control System 2 (ICS2), the new advance cargo information and risk management platform
• Agriculture: Record value of EU agri-food trade in November 2022
• Minutes - Meeting of the EP INTA Committee - 08 December 2022
• Recommendation by MEP Bernd Lange on the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Agreement between the EU and the United States of America pursuant to Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994 relating to the modification of concessions on all the tariff rate quotas included in the EU Schedule CLXXV as a consequence of the United Kingdom`s withdrawal from the European Union
• WTO - DG Okonjo-Iweala: Delivering meaningful outcomes at MC13 “not beyond our reach”

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Agenda for: Meeting of the EP ITRE Committee - 09 March 2023
  
• Commission Recommendation (EU) 2023/498 of 1 March 2023 on a Code of Practice on standardisation in the European Research Area
• Commission Recommendation (EU) 2023/499 of 1 March 2023 on a Code of Practice on the management of intellectual assets for knowledge valorisation in the European Research Area
• Draft Opinion by MEP Ilan De Basso on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market
• Secure space-based connectivity programme: Council gives its final approval
• Creating a proportionate Product Liability Directive - see DigitalEurope Policy Paper
• ACEA Position paper on "Critical Raw Materials Act"

CHEMICAL

• Transition pathway for the chemical industry - Created by GROW.F.2 - Last update: 06 March 2023
• ECHA - Minutes of the 81st Meeting of the Member State Committee (MSC-81) - 07 & 08 February 2023
• Answer given by Mr Breton to a MEP written question - Continued production of fluoropolymers in the European Union 
• Revision of the EU Regulation on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures - Briefing for the EP ENVI Committee

FINANCIAL SERVICES

• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a European single access point providing centralised access to publicly available information of relevance to financial services, capital markets and sustainability - Initial position of the three Institutions prior to commencement of trilogues
• Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending certain Directives as regards the establishment and functioning of the European single access point - Initial position of the three Institutions prior to commencement of trilogues
• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending certain Regulations as regards the establishment and functioning of the European single access point - Initial position of the three Institutions prior to commencement of trilogues
• Answer given by Ms McGuinness to a MEP written question - Exclusion of book tokens from the scope of the new anti-money laundering regulation
• Minutes of the Commission Expert Group on European Financial Data Space - 24 January 2023
• ESMA and ACER update Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen cooperation

EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION & SOCIAL POLICY

• Agenda for: Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council (Education) - 07 March 2023
• EPSCO Council on 13 March 2023
  - Tripartite Social Summit Information from the Presidency and the Commission
  - Presentation of recommendations stemming from the mission of Special Advisor Asscher on Ukraine - Information from the Commission
• European Education Area: 16 new Erasmus+ Teacher Academies will promote excellence in teacher education - Midday Express

ENERGY

• Minutes of the Gas Coordination Group - 16 February 2023
• Ukraine Support Task Force reports a successful delivery from a Czech gas distributor to Ukraine

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Minutes of the Climate Change Expert Group - Maritime formation - 19 January 2023
• Thirteenth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention (OEWG-13) (Geneva, 21-23 February 2023) - Compilation of statements
• Council adopts agreement with Guyana to tackle illegal logging
• SMEunited - Fluorinated gases: regulation must be workable

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Commissioner Kyriakides welcomes Council vote on the Medical Device Regulation extension
• European Parliament - COVI workshops: EU crisis preparedness and response and “long COVID”

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Land Transport - 08 March 2023

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• Summary of the Opinion of the EDPS on the proposals for Regulations on the collection and transfer of advance passenger information (API)

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Minutes of the 2nd meeting of the expert group on the implementation of the Firearms Directive - 18 January 2023
• Security Union: The renewed Schengen Information Systems enters into operation - IP/23/1505

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• EIF and Santander sign InvestEU-backed agreement to guarantee up to €250 million in loans for companies in Portugal - IP/23/1524
• Eurogroup statement on the updated draft budgetary plan of Latvia
• ECB Consumer Expectations Survey results - January 2023
• Has the euro changeover really caused extra inflation in Croatia?
• The climate and the economy - ECB Working Paper Series No.2793
• SMEunited supports reform of economic governance framework and fiscal rules

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Raising the stakes on constitutional reform: The European Parliament triggers treaty change - see EPC Discussion Paper

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• European Peace Facility: Council adopts an assistance measure to support the Nigerien Armed Forces in conjunction with the EU military partnership mission in Niger
• International Women's Day: EU takes landmark decisions, but women's rights are under attack globally - IP/23/1487
• EU-UN cooperation: EU announces support to the UN reform for more efficiency in partner countries - Midday Express
• Answer given by HR/VP Borrell to a MEP written question - Common security and defence policy – Making the Rapid Deployment Capacity operational

RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE

• Political and Security Committee Decision (CFSP) 2023/495 of 28 February 2023 on the acceptance of a third State’s contribution to the European Union Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine) (EUMAM Ukraine/1/2023)
• Answer given by HR/VP Borrell to a MEP written question - Rights of Romanians in Ukraine