Europe Daily News, 11 March 2026

COMPETITION

• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12338 - Phillips 66 / Lindsey Refinery Assets)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11992 - MEF / Retelit / Telecom Italia Sparkle)
• Commission clears acquisition of Lecta by Apollo Funds (M.12333) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of Ryan by Neuberger, Ares, Founder and Onex (M.12322) - Midday Express
• Cyprus - Notification of a concentration in relation to the acquisition of the share capital of Semrush Holdings Inc. from Adobe Inc. via Fenway Merger Sub Inc.
• France - Aggregates sector in Wallis and Futuna: the Autorité de la concurrence sanctions BTP Sud for imposing unfair trading conditions on the Administration supérieure du Territoire
• Poland - UOKiK investigates the practices of Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne
• Portugal - EQT notifies the acquisition of exclusive control over CICAP
• Portugal - Vinci Energies Portugal notifies the acquisition of control over AMT – Consulting
• Romania - The Competition Council assesses the transaction through which Otokar Otomotiv ve Savunma Sanayi A.Ş., Turkey, intends to acquire Automecanica S.A., Romania.
• Slovak Republic - The PMÚ uncovered a cartel of cable manufacturers and suppliers, imposing fines of almost €100 million
• UK - The CMA has cleared the anticipated acquisition by CRH (UK) Ltd of Gibson Bros Ltd, Gibson Quarries (Banbridge) Ltd, Gibson (Banbridge) Ltd, T.H.Moore (Contracts) Ltd, Gibson Bros (Ireland) Ltd and M P Coleman Ltd

STATE AID

• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections – SA.117469; SA.121147; SA.121067; SA.121271; SA.121022 & SA.120765
• Commission approves €260 million Belgian State aid for carbon capture and storage project (SA.119030)
• Commission approves €70 million Spanish State aid scheme to support digitalisation of print media (SA.119861) - Midday Express

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• March infringements package: key decisions
• New laws seek to boost the competitiveness of EU so-called small “mid-cap” (SMC) enterprises as they grown beyond SME status with targeted measures

INDUSTRIAL ACCELERATOR ACT

• Agenda for: Working Party on Competitiveness & Growth (Industry - IAA Proposal) - 16 March 2026
• Consultation: Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act - speeding up decarbonisation - Proposal for a regulation - Feedback period: 11 March 2026 - 06 May 2026

AUTOMOTIVE

• Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and of the Council on the assessment of the durability performance of heavy-duty vehicles with regard to emissions

CHEMICALS

• ECHA’s Socio-Economic Analysis Committee agrees its draft opinion on PFAS restriction proposal - ECHA/NR/26/14 - See the Q&A

FINANCE

• The European Commission has today raised €9 billion of EU-Bonds in its 3rd syndicated transaction for 2026
• Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and of the Council on the preparedness in the EU financial sector
• Banking Prudential: Submission of the Draft Implementing Technical standards on the supervisory reporting of Third Country Branches under the minimum harmonisation regime of Directive 2013/36/EU
• EU financial markets enter 2026 amid high-risk environment - ESMA: Trends, Risks and Vulnerabilities (TRV) Report, No.1, 2026 & Statistical Annex
• EBA - Decision on adoption of EUAN Charter on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

TAXATION

• Commission decides to refer Spain to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to transpose VAT measures into national law
• Tax incentives, renovation and less red tape to tackle the EU’s housing crisis

ENERGY

• Commission presents measures to increase EU's energy independence and affordability - Q&A and FactSheet
  - Report on Energy Efficiency financing in Europe: An assessment of public spending for energy efficiency and the energy performance of buildings
  - Commission Recommendation with practical guidance on one-stop shops services for energy efficiency and the energy performance of buildings
  - Commission Recommendation on unlocking private investment in energy efficiency
• Commission launches strategy to accelerate clean energy investment
  - Clean Energy Investment Strategy (COM/2026/116)
• Commission unveils strategy to bring Europe’s first SMRs online by the early 2030s - Q&A
  - Strategy to accelerate the development and deployment of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs)  (COM/2026/117)
  - Speech by President von der Leyen at the Nuclear Energy Summit 
  - Remarks by EVP Ribera and Commissioner Jørgensen on new measures on citizens and energy, clean energy investment and small modular
• Commission to boost access to affordable and clean energy for all Europeans
  - Citizens’ Energy Package (COM/2026/115)
• EU-Qatar: Meeting confirms ongoing energy cooperation
• Europe explores capping natural gas prices - European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen mulls measures to ease impact of Iran war shocks - Financial Times

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Meeting of the Council (Environment) - 17 March 2026
  - Key principles for a balanced and effective EU Climate Resilience Framework - Information from Belgium
• Consultation: The environmental omnibus - Proposal for a regulation - Feedback period : 11 March 2026 - 06 May 2026
• DIGITALEUROPE’s views on simplifying and harmonising environmental regulation
• EBB Briefing paper on the Water Framework Directive review and revision

AGRICULTURE  & FOOD

• Agenda for: Working Party on Agricultural Products -18 March 2026
• Commission launches platform to promote women in agriculture - Midday Express
• Consultation: Measures related to specific plant pests - Implementing regulation - Feedback period: 10 March 2026 - 07 April 2026
• Consultation: Amendment of protective measures against pests of plants - Implementing regulation - Feedback period: 10 March 2026 - 07 April 2026
• Council's position in view of the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on forest reproductive material - Letter from the Chair of the EP's AGRI Committee

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Very large online platforms and very large online search engines designated pursuant to Article 33(4) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Single Market For Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act)
• Protecting copyrighted work and the EU’s creative sector in the age of AI - See the EP Statement
• International Women’s Day: call to act against cyberbullying - See the EP Statement

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• The 22nd European Remembrance Day for Victims of Terrorism
• Summary of Conclusions - Preventing radicalisation in Slovakia: Security and community pathways via layered prevention strategies
• Commissioner Brunner visits Armenia to strengthen EU partnership and support reforms under visa liberalisation dialogue - Midday Express

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Main results: Economic and Financial Affairs Council - 10 March 2026
  - Council recommendation endorsing the national medium-term fiscal-structural plan of Ireland
  - Implementing decision amending Estonia’s RRP
  - Information from France on the carbon border adjustment mechanism
• President of the Eurogroup, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, to visit the Netherlands
• MEPs approved the nomination of Boris Vujčić as Vice‑President of the European Central Bank
• ECB - Eurosystem unveils Appia roadmap for Europe’s Tokenised finance
• ECB - Consolidated financial statement of the Eurosystem as at 6 March 2026
• Pandemic-era inflation dynamics in the euro area: the role of policy and non-policy demand and energy and non-energy supply factors - ECB Working Paper Series No.3201

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Speech by President von der Leyen at the European Parliament plenary debate in preparation of the European Council meeting of 19-20 March 2026 and on the US-Israel military operations against the Iranian regime, its consequences and the need to support the people of Iran
• Statement by EVP Virkkunen and Commissioner Micallef on Russia's participation at the "Venice Biennale Art Exhibition"  - Financial Times

EU/UK RELATIONS

• Agenda for: Working Party on the United Kingdom (attaché) - 13 March 2026
• Fifth meeting of the Specialised Committee on Road Transport under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement
• Report: From a Common Understanding to Common Ground: Building a UK-EU Strategic Partnership fit for the future
• UK-EU alignment and divergence: the road ahead - See the Report
• The impact of Brexit on immigration to the UK - See CER Insight