Europe Daily News, 24 April 2023

COMPETITION

• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11006 - ONE / Macquarie / YTI)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11090 - EFMS / SK Square / SK Shieldus)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11083 - KBR / Sun Capital / Homesafe JV)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11070 - Chemours International / Fumatech / JV)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.10971 - ILS / Danx / JV)
• Belgian - The Competition Authority approves the acquisition of sole control of Visser & Smit Hanab NV by Verbraeken Drilling Infra NV
• Germany - Bundeskartellamt - List of Notified Merger Projects
• Germany - Case report: Release of the acquisition of the limited partner's shares in TER Transportbeton Ennepe-Ruhr and the shares in Klaus Heinz Management and Klaus Heinz Handels-GmbH by Holcim Westbeteiligungs GmbH
• Poland - UOKiK has imposed a fine of more than PLN 820 thousand on APCOA Parking Polska and requested clarifications from ATPark and Europark
• Romania - Competition Council discusses with companies that intend to be part of the voluntary agreement to reduce milk prices
• Spain - CNMC proposes that Aena take measures to avoid conflicts of interest with Enaire in the forthcoming liberalisation of control towers
• UK - Broadcom, VMware ‘issues statement’ published by UK CMA
• UK - The CMA is investigating the completed acquisition by Bestway Panacea Holdings Limited of Lexon UK Holdings Limited and Asurex Limited.

STATE AID

• Commission approves €450 million Spanish scheme to support gas-intensive manufacturing companies in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine (SA.106016) - Midday Express

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Trade Policy Committee (Deputy Members) - 27 April 2023
• EU-CETA - Joint Report of the Meeting of Bilateral Dialogue on Raw Materials - 15 November 2022
• Working Documents - Commission Expert Group on Trade and Sustainable Development - 31 March 2023
• Answer given by EVP Dombrovskis to a MEP written question - French exports of cyber-surveillance tools to Egypt and EU rules on the export of dual-use items
• WTO - Items proposed for consideration at the next meeting of Dispute Settlement Body - 28 April 2023
  
• Europe has to be much clearer when it comes to China - While business leaders still salivate at the size of the Chinese market, the EU will struggle to wield a credible geo-economic policy - Financial Times

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on machinery products - Outcome of the European Parliament's first reading (Strasbourg, 17 to 20 April 2023)
• Answer given by Mr Schmit to a MEP written question - Exemptions in the car industry and EU climate policy

FINANCIAL SERVICES

• Agenda for: Att. Financial Services (Financial Services) - (MiFIR/MiFID) - 03 May 2023
• Amendments to AIFMD and UCITSD: Managing risks and protecting investors - See the EP Briefing
• Amendments to MiFID II and MiFIR: The EU's markets in financial instruments - See the EP Briefing

EMPLOYMENT & SOCIAL POLICY

• Answer given by Mr Schmit to a MEP written question - Exemptions in the car industry and EU climate policy
  

AGRICULTURE & FISHERIES

• Agenda for: Agriculture and Fisheries Council - 25 April 2023
  - Necessary actions that need to be taken to counteract the market disturbances in the EU Member States most impacted by increased imports of agri-food products from Ukraine - Information from the Polish delegation, on behalf of the Bulgarian, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian and Slovak delegations
• Agenda for: Working Party on Genetic Resources and Innovation in Agriculture (Genetic Resources) - 08 May 2023
• Report from the Commission in accordance with Article 75(6) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 on new marketing standards for cider and perry and for dried leguminous vegetables and soya bean
• Minutes of Special Committee on Agriculture - 17 April 2023
• Minutes of the Expert group EU Milk Market Observatory - 28 March 2023
• Minutes of the Expert group EU Meat Market Observatory - 02 March 2023
• Answer given by Mr Wojciechowski to a MEP written question - Ban on imports of sugar from beets treated with neonicotinoid
• Answer given by Mr Wojciechowski to a MEP written question - Serious crisis in the Spanish and European beekeeping market

ENERGY

• Report from the Commission on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission pursuant to Directive (EU) 2018/2001/EU on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources
• President von der Leyen and Commissioner Simson at the North Sea Summit - See Speech by Ms Simson - Midday Express
• EU strategic autonomy: Four energy crisis challenges - See the EP Briefing
• Answer given by Ms Simson to a MEP written question - LNG imports and oversupply
• Answer given by Ms Simson to a MEP written question - Heating costs and need for assistance in Western Macedonia
• Answer given by Ms Simson to a MEP written question - Advertising by electricity suppliers and the Guarantees of Origin scheme
• Answer given by Ms Simson to a MEP written question - Tackling the energy crisis’s impact on the health sector to keep providing decent patient care

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: Working Party on the Environment - 24, 25 and 28 April 2023
• Agenda for 15th Meeting of the CEG/MSP on Protecting and Restoring the World’s Forests, including the EU Timber Regulation and the FLEGT Regulation - 04 May 2023
• European Green Deal: New EU-Norway Green Alliance to deepen cooperation on climate, environment, energy and clean industry - IP/23/2391 & Statement by President von der Leyen
• Environmental management & performance – recognising parts of Ecoprofit, the Austrian environmental management scheme - Implementing decision - Feedback period: 24 April 2023 - 22 May 2023
• Answer given by Mr Sinkevičius to a MEP written question - Offshore wind farm in the central Adriatic
• Answer given by Mr Sinkevičius to a MEP written question - The challenge of recycling old wind turbine blades in the EU
• Answer given by Mr Sinkevičius to a MEP written question - The life-cycle assessment and the environmental impact of products
• Answer given by Mr Sinkevičius to a MEP written question - Strategic environmental assessment for the Salerno-Reggio Calabria high-speed railway line
• Answer given by Mr Sinkevičius to a MEP written question - Treatment of portable and light means of transport batteries in the new regulation on batteries

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Joint statement by Commissioner Kyriakides, the WHO and UNICEF at the European Immunization Week 2023 and beyond - See EMA Statement
• Answer given by Mr Breton to a MEP written question - Regulation of cosmetic products
• Answer given by Ms Kyriakides to a MEP written question - Embodied carbon labelling for food products
• Answer given by Ms Kyriakides to a MEP written question - Amoxicillin shortage and relocation of medicine production to Europe 
• EFSA - Preparatory work for the update of the tolerable upper intake levels for vitamin D
• EFSA - Scientific Opinion - Safety and efficacy of a feed additive consisting of endo‐1,4‐β‐glucanase produced by Trichoderma citrinoviride IMI 360748 (Hostazym C) for use in all poultry species for fattening and reared for laying/breeding, ornamental birds and piglets (weaned and suckling) (Huvepharma NV)
• EFSA - Scientific Opinion - Re‐evaluation of sucrose esters of fatty acids (E 473) as a food additive in foods for infants below 16 weeks of age and follow‐up of its previous evaluations as food additive for uses in foods for all population groups
• ECDC Reports: Threat of outbreaks in EU/EEA countries due to persistent gaps in vaccination coverage
• ECDC: Annual Epidemiological Report on Communicable Diseases in Europe - 2022
• EMA - Meeting highlights from the Committee for Veterinary Medicinal Products (CVMP) - 18-20 April 2023
• EMA - Single-arm trials as pivotal evidence for the authorisation of medicines in the EU - Public Consultation on a Reflection paper

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• Agenda for: 79th EDPB meeting - 26 April 2023

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

• EU Cohesion Policy: More than €190 million for a better railway infrastructure in Slovakia  - Midday Express

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Agenda for: JHA Counsellors and Experts (Violation of restrictive measures) - 28 April 2023
• European Commission VP Věra Jourová visits Eurojust to discuss Ukraine accountability efforts
• Action against criminal network dealing with human trafficking, pimping and money laundering - Eurojust

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• ECB and EIOPA call for increased uptake of climate catastrophe insurance
• Policy options to reduce the climate insurance protection gap - ECB Discussion Paper
• Decisions taken by the Governing Council of the ECB (in addition to decisions setting interest rates)
• Euro money market statistics and the €STR: Expansion of reporting population - ECB Press Release
• Speech by ECB 's Fabio Panetta at an event on “Integration, multilateralism and sovereignty: building a Europe fit for new global dynamics”
• ECB to keep raising interest rates unless wage growth slows, says official - Belgian central bank governor ‘not surprised’ if eurozone key rate increased to 4% - Financial Times

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Agenda for: Meeting of the Coreper (Part.1 & Part.2) - 26 & 28 April 2023
• 'This is Europe' debate in the European Parliament: Speech by Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, 19 April 2023

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Global Gateway workshops for Latin America-Caribbean and Asia-Pacific
• EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum in Stockholm (13 May 2023) - Request by the Swedish Delegation
• HR/VP Josep Borrell travels to Colombia - Midday Express
• Answer given by HR/VP Borrell to a MEP written question - Law on ‘transparency of foreign influence’ in Georgia
• Lula’s stance on Ukraine war mars his Iberian trip - Brazilian president’s intransigence highlights EU’s difficulty convincing global south to hold Russia accountable - Financial Times