Europe Daily News, 08 March 2024

• Greece - Clearance of the concentration concerning the acquisition by Foodcorp Investments and Grigoris SA of joint control over 1904 SA
• Greece - Clearance of the concentration concerning the acquisition by the Public Power Corporation of sole control over Dixons South - East Europe
• Malta - Notification of a concentration between Neofarma Pharmaceutical Ltd (Qormi), Neofarma Sales and Marketing (Qormi), Pharmabart Ltd (Qormi) and MGC Distributors Limited (Attard)
• Portugal - The AdC and CNMC agree on the importance of using digital tools to support investigations
• UK - Following a provisional clearance in February, the CMA is now allowing the proposed deal between Arçelik and Whirlpool to go ahead.
• UK - The CMA announced the launch of its merger inquiry by notice to the Parties (Pennon / Sumisho Osaka Gas Water UK)
• UK - The CMA’s initial investigation has found that TLS’ purchase of Tereos UK & Ireland could result in higher sugar prices
• UK - CMA - Merger inquiry outcome statistics

STATE AID

• Commission approves €1.1 billion Italian State aid scheme to support investments in equipment necessary to foster the transition to a net-zero economy (SA.112546) - IP/24/951
• Commission authorises €90 million French state aid scheme to support organic farmers in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine (SA.112829) - Midday Express
• Call for evidence - Block exemption regulation on the application of Articles 93 and 108 of the Treaty to State aid for the land transport sector - Proposal for a regulation - Feedback period: 06 March 2024 - 03 April 2024
• Answer given by EVP Vestager to a MEP written question - Revision of the list of sectors eligible for aid for indirect emission costs under the EU Emissions Trading System in Guideline (2020/C 317/04)

TRADE CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Working Party on the United Kingdom - 13 March 2024
• Agenda for: Working Party on European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - 12 March 2024
• Agenda for: Trade Policy Committee (Generalised System of Preferences (GSP)) - 11 March 2024
• Council Decision on the signing, on behalf of the Union, and provisional application of the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Kyrgyz Republic, of the other part
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) …/... accepting a request for new exporting producer treatment with regard to the definitive anti-dumping measures imposed on imports of electric bicycles originating in the People's Republic of China and amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/73
• Commission Implementing Regulation amending Commission Implementing Regulations (EU) 2020/761 and (EU) 2020/1988 regarding the creation, modification and management of certain tariff quotas following the interim agreement on trade between the European Union and the Republic of Chile
• Commission Implementing Regulation amending Implementing Regulations (EU) 2020/761 and (EU) 2020/1988 as regards the creation, modification and management of certain tariff quotas following the trade agreement between the European Union and New Zealand
• Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Agreement between the European Union, Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Kingdom of Norway on an EEA Financial Mechanism for the period May 2021 - April 2028, the Agreement between the Kingdom of Norway and the European Union on a Norwegian Financial Mechanism for the period May 2021 - April 2028, the Additional Protocol to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Kingdom of Norway and the Additional Protocol to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and Iceland – see also Annex 1,2,3 & 4
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/804 of 7 March 2024 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/265 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of ceramic tiles originating in India and Türkiye
• Council Decision (EU) 2024/829 of 4 March 2024 on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Angola
• EU delays stricter rules on imports from deforested areas - Every country to be designated as standard risk to give them more time to adapt to regulation - Financial Times
• The EU’s carbon tax may devastate a country it is trying to keep alive: Ukraine - Ukrainian steel and iron firms need EU buyers more than ever. But a looming EU tax in 2026 will cost them millions if rapid changes aren’t made - Politico.eu

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Competitiveness & Growth (Industry) - 13 March 2024
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) …/... of 4.3.2024 amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards adding processed manure as a component material in EU fertilising products - See the Annex

CRMA

• Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials and amending Regulations (EU) No 168/2013, (EU) 2018/858, (EU) 2018/1724 and (EU) 2019/1020

CHEMICAL

• ECHA’s Biocidal Products Committee (BPC) adopted five opinions on active substances and three on Union authorisations.

FINANCE

• Directive (EU) 2024/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 February 2024 amending Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments
• EU mistake opens 18-month window for unlimited dark trading - Brussels rushes to update new legislation after oversight in new rules - Financial Times

TAXATION

• Judgment of the Court of 07 March 2024 in Case C-341/22, Feudi di San Gregorio Aziende Agricole SpA Vs. Agenzia delle Entrate
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Taxation - Common system of VAT - Directive 2006/112/EC - Right to deduct VAT - Concept of taxable person - Principle of fiscal neutrality - Principle of proportionality - Non-operating company - National legislation denying the right of deduction, refund or offsetting of input VAT

ENERGY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Energy - 12 March 2024
• Council Decision on the withdrawal of the Union from the Energy Charter Treaty

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Judgment of the Court of 07 March 2024 in Case C-234/22, Roheline Kogukond MTÜ, Eesti Metsa Abiks MTÜ, Päästame Eesti Metsad MTÜ, Sihtasutus Keskkonnateabe Ühendus Vs. Keskkonnaagentuur
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Environment - Aarhus Convention - Directive 2003/4/EC - Right of access to environmental information - Exceptions - Data relating to the location of permanent sample plots used to draw up a forest inventory
• Answer given by Mr Sinkevicius to a MEP written question - EU ban on the trade in seal products

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Public Health - 13 March 2024
• Answer given by Ms Kyriakides to a MEP written question - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in wild boar meat from Upper Austria

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

• Judgment of the Court of 07 March 2024 in Case C-582/22, Die Länderbahn GmbH, Prignitzer Eisenbahn GmbH, Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn GmbH Vs. Federal Republic of Germany, intervening parties: DB Netz AG
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Rail transport - Directive 2012/34/EU - Access to railway infrastructure - Charges - Article 56 - Single national regulatory body for the railway sector - Powers - Review of the infrastructure charges whose period of application has expired - Power to declare invalidity with effect ex tunc and to order the reimbursement of charges
• 2023 figures show stalling progress in reducing road fatalities in too many countries - IP/24/1361

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs), CEN, CENELEC and ETSI, joined forces with ENISA, the EU Agency for Cybersecurity, to organise their 8th Cybersecurity Standardisation Conference
• The NIS Cooperation Group with the support of the ENISA, the European Commission and the European External Action Service updated the compendium on elections cybersecurity.

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Commission Recommendation (EU) 2024/779 of 26 February 2024 on Secure and Resilient Submarine Cable Infrastructures
• EU conservatives embrace UK-style asylum plan - Ursula von der Leyen backs policy to force asylum seekers to settle outside bloc - Financial Times

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Lagarde signals June rate cut as ECB lowers inflation forecast - ECB president wants ‘more evidence’ to be sure inflation has been tamed and says it will have ‘a lot more’ data in 3 months - See the Speech by Christine Lagarde, Luis de Guindos: Monetary policy statement (with Q&A) & Monetary policy decisions - Financial Times
• Public guarantees, private banks’ incentives, and corporate outcomes: evidence from the COVID-19 crisis - ECB Working Paper Series No.2913
• ECB - Statement by the ECB Governing Council on advancing the Capital Markets Union
• ECB staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area, March 2024
• Interview with Financial Times of ECB's Isabel Schnabel

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Message by President von der Leyen on the occasion of the International Women's Day
• Press statement by President von der Leyen with Cypriot President Christodoulides in Larnaca
• Joint Statement from the European Commission, the Republic of Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and the United Kingdom Endorsing the Activation of a Maritime Corridor to Deliver Humanitarian Assistance to Gaza
• Europe is at last adjusting to the new reality in Ukraine - The failure of Kyiv’s counteroffensive has led to a reckoning in western capitals – Financial Times