Europe Daily News, 01 October 2025

COMPETITION

• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12120 - Infranity / Omnes Capital / PCRE JV)
• Commission clears acquisition of ZT Group by Sanmina (M.12083) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of PCI Pharma by Bain Capital and Kohlberg (M.12109) - Midday Express
• Commission clears creation of joint venture by Ambulanzzentrum des UKE and Philips (M.12068) - Midday Express
• Judgment of the General Court of 1 October 2025 in Case T‑1026/23, Laudamotion GmbH, Vs. European Commission
  Re: Competition - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Aviation sector - Decision rejecting a complaint - Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 773/2004 - Concerted practice - Wet-leased aircraft - Access to the file - Principle of good administration - No Union interest - Probability of establishing the existence of an infringement - Reasonable time - Manifest error of assessment

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Minutes of the Customs programme management - 24 September 2025
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2008 of 30 September 2025 fixing the representative prices, import duties and additional import duties applicable to molasses in the sugar sector from 1 October 2025
• Nigeria and European Union hold inaugural Trade and Investment Dialogue
• Mission Report following the INTA mission to Brasília and São Paulo 21-23 July 2025
• EU seizes counterfeit items worth €3.8 bn in 2024 amid rising e-commerce threats - Midday Express
• Applications Open for the EU Customs Certificate of Recognition – Deadline Extended to December 31!
• Answer given by Mr Šefčovič to a MEP written question - Impact of the EU-US trade agreement on EU climate objectives
  
• Market Readiness Survey: IT service providers are invited to share their views for new EU Customs Data Hub
• WTO - Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - European Union - Health claim made on foods
• WTO - Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - European Union - Pesticide active substances
• WTO - Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - European Union - Pesticide plant protection products
• WTO - Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - European Union - Co-formulants used in plant protection products or adjuvants
• WTO - Committee on Import Licensing - Questions from Brazil to the European Union and to the EU 27 Member States (EUDR)
• WTO - Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures - Subsidies - New and full notification pursuant to article XVI:1 of the GATT 1994 and article 25 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures - European Union : Latvia - Addendum
• DG Okonjo-Iweala welcomes calls of support for WTO, urges meaningful MC14 outcomes
• Greek customs broker caught with €3mn cash in China-linked fraud probe - Bloc’s top prosecutor says investigation highlights ‘massive’ criminal effort to avoid taxes and duties - Financial Times
• EU seeks to deploy Russia’s frozen billions to boost European arms sales - EC President Ursula von der Leyen says a zero-interest reparations loan should be partly used “to strengthen our own defense industry.” - Politico.eu
• Trump’s tariffs give European wineries and US importers a hangover - With U.S. tariffs set at 15% for the foreseeable future, it’s a lose-lose situation for winemakers on both sides of the Atlantic - Politico.eu
• US vows to maintain tariffs regardless of Supreme Court ruling - Jamieson Greer says Trump administration has other ways to impose levies if use of emergency powers is struck down - Financial Times

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Commission opens ‘Choose Europe for Science' call to offer researchers long-term careers in Europe - Midday Express
• Commission awards the 2025 Prizes for the most sustainable, inclusive and beautiful projects under the New European Bauhaus - Midday Express
• EU simplification drive gets tangled in its own red tape - European parliament objects to ‘omnibus’ bills bypassing its procedures - Financial Times

AUTOMOTIVE

• Agenda for: Meeting of the Technical Committee - Motor Vehicles - 07 October 2025
• Report by MEP Zala Tomasic on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2014/32/EU as regards electric vehicle supply equipment, compressed gas dispensers, and electricity, gas and thermal energy meters
• New car registrations: -0.1% in August 2025 year-to-date; battery-electric 15.8% market share - See Acea Statement
• Europe will lose out to China in e-trucks without EU action, warns industry - Heavy vehicle makers have struggled with slow uptake of electric lorries due to lack of infrastructure investment - Financial Times

CHEMICAL

• Commission Regulation amending Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards synthetic polymer microparticles

TAXATION

• Agenda for: Working Party on tax questions (Direct taxation) - 06 October 2025
• Agenda for: Working Party on tax questions (Indirect taxation) - 17 October 2025
• Agenda for: Working Party on tax questions (Indirect taxation - Excise duties/Energy taxation) - 14 October 2025
• Decision adopted on the appointment of New Members of the VAT Expert Group
• Making Europe’s savings work: Better investment opportunities for European citizens to strengthen the European economy

ENERGY

• Judgment of the General Court of 1 October 2025 in Cases T‑600/23 and T‑612/23, Bundesnetzagentur für Elektrizität, Gas, Telekommunikation, Post und Eisenbahnen (BNetzA), (Case T‑600/23), Federal Republic of Germany, (Case T‑612/23) Vs. European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), supported by European Commission
  Re: Energy - Internal market for electricity - Regulation (EU) 2015/1222 - Regulation (EU) 2019/943 - Allocation of cross-zonal capacity between bidding zones and congestion management - Determination of common regional methodologies for the calculation of daily and intraday capacity - Proposals from the transmission system operators of the ‘Core’ capacity calculation region - Internal critical network elements - Economic efficiency - Power transfer distribution factor (PTDF) - Decision of the Board of Appeal of ACER
• Minutes of the Electricity cross-border Committee meeting - 23 September 2025
• Answer given by Mr Jørgensen to a MEP written question - Simplifying Regulation (EU) 2024/1787 on methane
• Answer given by Mr Jørgensen to a MEP written question - High energy prices in south-eastern Europe due to interconnection bottlenecks
• Answer given by Mr Jørgensen to a MEP written question - The EU energy network strategy: ideology, centralisation and the burden on consumers
• Answer given by Mr Jørgensen to a MEP written question - Resilience and improvement of the EU’s electricity grid infrastructure – drawing lessons from the Iberian Peninsula blackout

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Position of the Council at first reading with a view to the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Soil Monitoring and Resilience (Soil Monitoring Law) – Statement of the Council's reasons – Adopted by the Council on 29 September 2025

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

• Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive (EU) 2015/2302 to make the protection of travellers more effective and to simplify and clarify certain aspects of the Directive - 4 column table
• Council Decision (EU) 2025/1997 of 25 September 2025 on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the Joint Committee established by the Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine on the carriage of freight by road as regards the continuation of the Agreement

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Agenda for: 6th meeting of the Digital Decade Committee - 09 October 2025
• European Cybersecurity Month 2025 kicks off with focus on phishing threats - Midday Express
• EU consistently targeted by diverse yet convergent threat groups - See ENISA Statement
• EDPS Recognised for Accountability at GPA Awards

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Ukraine receives further €4 billion from EU's contribution to G7 Loan - Midday Express
• ECB - Euro area bank interest rate statistics: August 2025
• The impact of capital requirements on bank capital - ECB Working Paper Series No.3128
• Durability, essentiality, and the transmission of monetary policy to household consumption - ECB Working Paper Series No.3127
• Speech by ECB's Frank Elderson: From charting the course to staying the course: the path ahead for climate and nature risk supervision

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Possible items for Commission agendas from 7 October to 25 November 2025

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Commissioner Šuica travels to Tunisia to reinforce cooperation and discuss the Pact for the Mediterranean - Midday Express

EU/RUSSIA/UKRAINE

• Judgment of the General Court of 1 October 2025 in Case T‑343/24, Maria Albot Vs. Council of the European Union
  Re: CFSP - Restrictive measures taken in view of actions destabilizing Moldova - Freezing of funds - Restrictions on admission to the territory of Member States- Lists of persons, entities, and bodies to whom the freezing of funds and economic resources applies or who are subject to restrictions on admission to the territory of Member States - Maintenance of the applicant's name on the lists - Association with persons included on the lists - Article 1(1)(b) and Article 2(1)(b) of Decision (CFSP) 2023/891 - Article 2(3)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2023/888 - Obligation to state reasons - Plea of illegality - Error of assessment - Freedom to conduct a business - Right to property - Freedom of association - Freedom of expression - Non-contractual liability
• Russia/Ukraine: Statement by the Spokesperson on the safety situation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP)
• Russia: Statement by the spokesperson on the withdrawal from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
• Answer given by Ms Albuquerque to a MEP written question - The impact of EU sanctions on public health, especially in low- and middle-income countries