Europe Daily News, 15 January 2026

COMPETITION

• Judgment of the Court of 15 January 2026 in Case C‑588/24, Imballaggi Piemontesi SrL Vs. AGCM in the presence of: DS Smith Holding Italia SpA, Associazione Italiana Scatolifici (ACIS)
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Competition - Article 101 TFEU - Prohibition of agreements - Infringement proceedings conducted by national competition authorities - Compliance with a reasonable time limit - Time limit for closing the investigation phase of infringement proceedings - National legislation allowing the national competition authority to unilaterally extend that time limit due to circumstances leading to an extension of the subject matter of those proceedings or the number of undertakings concerned - General principle of the right to good administration - Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union - Principle of effective judicial protection - Rights of defense of undertakings - Principle of effectiveness
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12207 - Ardian / FIH / Milione)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.12187 - SMFG / Jefferies / Japanese Equities JV)
• Commission clears creation of joint venture by John Cockerill, FN Herstal and (M.12130) - Midday Express
• Commission clears creation of joint venture by Umicore and HSAM (M.12205) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of PDVH by EIM (M.12230) - Midday Express
• Answer given by EVP Ribera to a MEP written question - No press conference by Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera on the fine imposed on Google and conflicting messages from the Commission
• Lithuania - Ms Karina Kučaidze-Wencel appointed deputy chairwoman at the competition authority
• Switzerland - COMCO Secretariat launches preliminary investigation into Microsoft
• Turkey - Ongoing investigation on Sahibinden Bilgi Teknolojileri Pazarlama ve Ticaret AŞ terminated following the acceptance of the commitments presented
• UK - CMA launches review of its approach to merger efficiencies

STATE AID

• Judgment of the Court of 15 January 2026 in Case C‑124/24 P, Asociación Profesional de Empresas de Reparto y Manipulado de Correspondencia Vs. European Commission, Kingdom of Spain and Sociedad Estatal Correos y Telégrafos, SA
  Re: Appeal - State aid - Postal service - Compensation for the universal postal service - Decision not to initiate the formal investigation procedure - Action for annulment - Fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU - Legal standing - Condition that the applicant must be individually concerned by the decision - Effective judicial protection - Action brought by a professional association - Inadmissibility of the action for annulment
• Judgment of the Court of 15 January 2026 in Case C‑126/24 P, Uno Organización Empresarial de Logística y Transporte Vs. European Commission, Kingdom of Spain and Sociedad Estatal Correos y Telégrafos, SA
  Re: Appeal - State aid - Postal service - Compensation for the universal postal service - Decision not to initiate the formal investigation procedure - Action for annulment - Fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU - Legal standing - Condition that the applicant must be individually conc & erned by the decision - Effective judicial protection - Action brought by a professional association - Inadmissibility of the action for annulment
• Member States continued focus on EU key priorities amid reduced spending in 2024, State aid Scoreboard shows

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Opinion by MEP Veronika Vrecionovà on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the adjustment of customs duties on the import of certain goods originating in the United States of America and opening of tariff quotas for imports of certain goods originating in the United States of America
  
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/120 of 13 January 2026 fixing the representative prices, import duties and additional import duties applicable to molasses in the sugar sector from 15 January 2026 (CN codes 1703 10 00 {and 1703 90 00)
• WTO - Committee on Safeguards - Notification pursuant to article 12 of the Agreement on Safeguards - United Kingdom - Certain steel products - Supplement
• EU-Mercosur: President Costa to travel to Brazil and Paraguay
• CBAM successfully entered into force on 1 January 2026
• Answer given by Mr Šefčovič to a MEP written question - Unilateral bans on imports from Ukraine

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Free movement of goods - See the EU Fact Sheets

FINANCE

• Commission seeks input for venture and growth capital funds reform - Midday Express
• The European Supervisory Authorities and UK financial regulators sign Memorandum of Understanding on oversight of critical ICT third-party service providers under DORA
• EBA publishes hotfix for reporting framework v4.2

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Access to environmental information (anonymous requests): Member States may require prior identification in order to ensure the proper functioning of procedures, even though EU law does not impose such a requirement (See CPR No.4/26, Judgment of the Court in Case C-129/24, Coillte Cuideachta Ghníomhaíochta Ainmnithe)
• Public consultation: Ecodesign requirements for local space heaters – amendments to Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/1103 (implementing act) - Regulation - Feedback period: 15 January 2026 - 12 February 2026
• Call for evidence: Use of genetic resources and the sharing of benefits arising from their use – evaluation of EU rules - Evaluation - Feedback period: 14 January 2026 - 11 February 2026

CONSUMER PROTECTION

• Cancellation of a flight: the refund of the airline ticket price must include the commission collected by an intermediary at the time of purchase (See CPR No.3/26, Judgment of the Court in Case C-45/24, Verein für Konsumenteninformation (Commission collected by anintermediary))
• Online games of chance: a player may, as a general rule, rely on the law of his or her country of residence when bringing an action to establish liability in tort or delict on the part of the directors of a foreign provider that does not hold the required licence (See CPR No.2/26, Judgment of the Court in Case C-77/24 | [Wunner])

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• EU invests over €307 million into artificial intelligence and related technologies - Midday Express
• Answer given by EVP Virkkunen to a MEP written question - EU guidelines and the influencing of AI chatbots
• Answer given by EVP Virkkunen to a MEP written question - Big Tech dominance and AI exploitation undermining Europe’s independent mediah
• European NGOs denounce stranglehold of US giants behind digital simplification ‘omnibus’

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Commission provides €1 billion in macro-financial assistance to Egypt
• Commission greenlights Lithuania's fifth payment request for over €360 million under NextGenerationEU

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Speech by President von der Leyen at the New Year's Reception of the Presidents of the Commission and the European Council
  
• Speech by President António Costa at the New Year's reception co-hosted by the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• EP group leaders express unequivocal support to Greenland and Denmark
• President Costa to travel to India for a high-level summit on 27 January 2026

EU/SYRIA

• Judgment of the General Court of 14 January 2026 in Case T-176/24, Feras Al Akhras Vs. Council of the European Union
  Re: CFSP - Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Syria - Freezing of funds - Restrictions on entry into the territory of the Member States - Lists of persons, entities and bodies subject to the freezing of funds and economic resources and subject to restrictions on entry into the territory of the Member States - Inclusion and maintenance of the applicant’s name on the lists - ‘Family membership’ criterion - Criterion of ‘association with members of the Assad or Makhlouf families’ - Plea of illegality - Obligation to state reasons - Communication of the restrictive measures - Error of assessment - Proportionality - Freedom to conduct a business - Right to property
• Judgment of the General Court of 14 January 2026 in Case T-403/24, Issam Anbouba Vs. Council of the European Union
  Re: CFSP - Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Syria - 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 and who are subject to restrictions on admission to the territory of Member States - Retention of the applicant's name on the lists - Criterion of 'influential businessperson operating in Syria' - Presumption of links with the Syrian regime - Fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime - Error of assessment - Obligation to state reasons - Rights of defense - Right to a fair trial - Right to effective judicial protection - Proportionality - Right to property - Right to privacy - Damage to reputation
• Judgment of the Court of 15 January 2026 in Case C‑494/24 P Issam Anbouba Vs. Council of the European Union
  Re: Appeal - CFSP - Restrictive measures due to the situation in Syria - List of persons subject to the freezing of funds and economic resources - List of persons subject to restrictions on entry and transit through the territory of the European Union - Retention of the applicant’s name on the relevant list

EU/RUSSIA/UKRAINE

• Judgment of the General Court of 14 January 2026 in Case T-232/24, Euro Asia Cargo Private Ltd, Vs. Council of the EU supported by French Republic and by European Commission
  Re: CFSP - Restrictive measures adopted in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine - Prohibitions relating to dual-use goods and technology - Lists of persons, entities and bodies subject to the prohibitions - Inclusion and maintenance of the applicant’s name on the lists - Annex IV to Decision (CFSP) 2014/512 and Annex IV to Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 - Right to be heard - Obligation to state reasons - Error of assessment - Freedom to conduct a business
• New dynamic mechanism to lower price cap for Russian crude oil to $44,10 per barrel - see Regulation (EU) 2026/124, the Notice & Guidance - Midday Express
• Answer given by Ms Albuquerque to a MEP written question - Missing frozen Russian funds in Denmark