Europe Daily News, 05 September 2025

COMPETITION

• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.12071 - Agrana / Austria Juice)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.12075 - Mubadala/ Actis / Rezolv Energy JV)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11485 - Brasserie Nationale / Boissons Heintz)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.12022 - Ardian / Burrus Group / Diot Siaci Group)
• Commission clears acquisition of Itínere by Swiss Life and APG (M.12088) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of the retail banking business of Bank Handlowy by Velobank (M.12073) - Midday Express
• France - The Autorité issues a favourable opinion, subject to several reservations, on the operating procedures of the “France Agriclimat” economic interest group
• Portugal - AdC adopted a non-opposition decision in concentration operation 65/2025 - Crest / Cubotónic*Precisão Laser*Alcorsal
• Portugal - AdC adopted a non-opposition decision in concentration operation 59/2025 - ACO II / Transfor
• Romania - Non-Transparent fees and failure to enforce legislation delay necessary construction approval
• Slovakia - PMÚ approved a merger in the field of real estate rental
• Slovakia - PMÚ is assessing a merger in the field of 3D printing of concrete structures
• Slovakia - PMÚ approved a merger concerning the operation of eye clinics and opticians
• UK - Outcomes of merger investigations carried out by the CMA under the Enterprise Act 2002
• UK - The CMA has cleared the anticipated acquisition by EVRi of DHL eCommerce UK, and DHL Group’s acquisition of a minority stake in EVRi
• It’s Google’s world. Regulators are just living in it - The Silicon Valley tech giant looks unstoppable after its fiercest antitrust fights yet - Politico.eu

STATE AID

• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections – SA.115764

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Draft Report by MEP Kris Van Dijck on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2024/823 of 28 February 2024 on exceptional trade measures for countries and territories participating in or linked to the Stabilisation and Association Process
• Trade in agricultural products – accepting supply contracts as a proof of origin for certain tariff rate quotas - Implementing regulation - Feedback period: 04 September 2025 - 02 October 2025
• Answer given by Mr Hansen to a MEP written question - Mandatory declaration of origin for rice
• A stress test for global trade - The WTO core still holds, but members must use this crisis to push reform - Financial Times

EU/MERCOSUR/MEXICO

• Copa-Cogeca Joint Statement  - Commission’s proposal fall short – EU-Mercosur Deal still a threat to sustainability and fair competition
• Copa-Cogeca Statement - The push for EU-Mercosur deal ratification will further deepen the gap between farming communities and the European Commission
• Swift ratification of EU-Mercosur and EU-Mexico free-trade agreements strategic necessity for competitiveness - See the Acea Statement, Policy paper & FactSheet

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Answer given by EVP Séjourné to a MEP written question - Strategic autonomy and EU support for the New Caledonian nickel sector
• Answer given by EVP Séjourné to a MEP written question - Concerns over a potential withdrawal of the proposal for a standard essential patents (SEP) regulation: protecting transparency and fair licensing

AUTOMOTIVE

• ACEA position paper “Made in Europe” Content Requirements
• Car industry calls for EU to copy China and include hybrids in emissions push - Executives also warn Brussels that sticking to 2035 petrol engine ban would severely harm bloc’s largest sector - Financial Times

FINANCE

• Opinion of Advocate General Richard de la Tour of 04 September 2025 in Case C‑81/24 [Jenec] (i); LH Vs. OTP banka d.d., formerly Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling – Approximation of laws - Financial services - Money laundering and terrorist financing - Directive 2014/92/EU - Directive (EU) 2015/849 - Consumer on a list of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) - Refusal by the bank to make a payment and rejection of an application to open a payment account with basic features
• The EBA welcomes feedback on its draft technical package and new enhanced DPM 2.0 glossary

TAXATION

• Judgment of the Court of 04 September 2025 in Case C‑726/23, SC Arcomet Towercranes SRL Vs. Direcţia Generală Regională a Finanţelor Publice Bucureşti, Administraţia Fiscală pentru Contribuabili Mijlocii Bucureşti
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Taxation - Common system of VAT - Directive 2006/112/EC - Scope of VAT - Article 2(1)(c) - Concept of ‘supplies of services for consideration’ - Commercial services provided within the same group of companies - Transfer price - Articles 168 and 178 - Right to deduct VAT - Supporting documents
• Opinion of Advocate General Kokott of 04 September 2025 in Case C‑121/24, ‘Vaniz’ EOOD Vs. Direktor na Direktsia ‘Obzhalvane i danachno-osiguritelna praktika’ - Veliko Tarnovo
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Taxation - VAT - Directive 2006/112/EC - Article 205 - Article 273 - Failure to pay declared VAT - Joint and several liability of a third party - Insolvency and deletion of a taxable person from the commercial register - Principle of legal certainty - Principle of proportionality

ENERGY

• Commissioner Jørgensen announces first 2 sectorial tripartite contracts (offshore wind and grids, and storage sectors)
• Commission facilitates landmark grant agreement of more than €645 million for the Bornholm Energy Island interconnector between Denmark and Germany
  
• Nuclear roadblocks could hinder the EU’s climate goals - Policymakers hope resurgent energy source will enable Europe’s decarbonisation drive but there are challenges - Financial Times

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• EVP Ribera participates in the second Africa Climate Summit ahead of COP30 on 7-8 September - Midday Express
• Answer given by Mr Hoekstra to a MEP written question -  Costs of ETS and ETS2
• Answer given by Mr McGrath to a MEP written question - Update of guidelines to combat greenwashing in accordance with Directive (EU) 2024/825

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Europe enters the exascale supercomputing league with ‘JUPITER'
• Public consultation and call for evidence on the evaluation and review of the Chips Act - Feedback period: 05 September 2025 - 02 November 2025
• Qualified electronic ledgers - Implementing regulation - Feedback period: 05 September 2025 - 03 October 2025
• Qualified electronic archiving services - Implementing regulation - Feedback period: 04 September 2025 - 02 October 2025
• Qualified certificates for website authentication - Implementing regulation - Feedback period: 04 September 2025 - 02 October 2025
• Qualified trust service providers – requirements on compliance and security - Implementing regulation - Feedback period: 04 September 2025 - 02 October 2025
• Advanced electronic signatures and seals – formats to be recognised by public sector bodies - Implementing regulation - Feedback period: 04 September 2025 - 02 October 2025
  
• Brussels should encourage Apple to buy American, not European - The EU ought to be wary of interest in Mistral from the US tech behemoth - Financial Times

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• Commission proposes to create area of free and safe data flows between the EU and Brazil - see the Draft Adequacy Decision - Midday Express
• French SA: Cookies and advertisements inserted between emails: GOOGLE fined 325 000 000 EUR by the CNIL
• French SA: Cookies placed without consent: SHEIN fined 150 000 000 EUR by the CNIL

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the ‘Periclis V’ programme for the period 2028-2034 - See the Annex and Working Document 1 & 2
• Proposal for a Council Regulation extending to the non-participating Member States the application of the Regulation establishing the ‘Periclis V’ programme 
• Speech by Piero Cipollone: The digital euro: ensuring resilience and inclusion in digital payments
• Speech by Philip R. Lane: Essay on the digital euro
• Public debt, iMPCs & fiscal policy transmission- ECB Working Paper Series No.3106
• Nonlinearities and heterogeneity in firms response to aggregate fluctuations: what can we learn from machine learning? - ECB Working Paper Series No.3107

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Draft Report by MEP Michał Szczerba on EU-US political relations - Amendments 1 - 294
• Statement by President von der Leyen following the meeting of the Coalition of the Willing in Paris
• Commissioner Síkela visits Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea to strengthen the EU-Pacific partnership - Midday Express
• Norway is increasingly disadvantaged outside EU, foreign minister says - Espen Barth Eide and centre-right rival say Oslo is vulnerable while it remains outside bloc but neither plan a vote on joining - Financial Times