Europe Daily News, 17 March 2026

COMPETITION

• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12380 - Capvest / TSG
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12366 - Liberty Global / Telefónica / Substantial)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12373 - CPP Investments / I Squared / Inkia Energy)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12314 - Biomarin Pharmaceutical / Amicus Therapeutics)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12367 - Liberty Global / Telefónica / Infravià / Netomnia and BRSK Assets)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.12322 - Neuberger / Ares / Onex / Founder / Ryan)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.12287 - TPG / Vitality / Softbank / Cambridge Mobile Telematics)
• Commission approves acquisition of IDV and Astra by Leonardo (M.12158) - Midday Express
• Italy - The AGCM launches market investigation and call for inputs into Quantum Computing

STATE AID

• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections – SA.121163; SA.121569 & SA.115174
• Commission reviews State aid rules for banks in difficulty (Feedback period: 17 March 2026 - 14 April 2026) - Midday Express

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Trade Policy Committee (Experts - Services and Investment) - 17 March 2026
• Agenda for: Meeting of EP INTA Committee - 18 & 19 March 2026
  - Non-application of customs duties on imports of certain goods - See the Draft Report
  - 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 - See the Draft Report
  
• Minutes of the Eleventh Meeting of the EU-Pacific interim Economic Partnership Agreement (iEPA) Trade Committee Meeting - 29 & 30 January 2026
• Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/560 of 16 March 2026 terminating the anti-dumping procedure concerning imports of certain cast iron articles originating in India and Türkiye
• Colombia has revoked all anti-dumping duties on imports of EU frozen fries from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Answer given by Executive Vice-President Séjourné to a written question - Dumping at sea and involving the Sámi people in EU decision-making
• Answer given by Executive Vice-President Séjourné to a written question - The need to support the European pulp and paper industry and address the EU’s growing dependence on third countries for paper recycling and production

FINANCE

• Agenda for: Commission Expert Group on Banking, Payments and Insurance - 25 March 2026
• Agenda for: 45th meeting of the Member States Expert Group on sustainable finance - 19 March 2026
• Answer given by Ms Albuquerque to a MEP written question - EU-based banks, including Raiffeisen and UniCredit, still operate in Russia, raising concerns about sanctions circumvention and undermining EU credibility
• ESMA - Statement on Significant benchmarks notified under Article 24(2) of the Benchmark Regulation - MSCI Limited

TAXATION

• Commission Decision regarding the follow-up to National Parliaments' Opinions - reply to Senato Della Repubblica (IT) - COM(2025)580_COM(2025)581 final (Excise duty applied to tobacco and related products)

ENERGY

• Joint statement by President von der Leyen and President Costa on the Druzhba pipeline
  - Letter by President Costa and President von der Leyen to President Zelenskyy, 16 March 2026
  - Letter from President Zelenskyy to President Costa and President von der Leyen, 17 March 2026
• Public consultation opens on Projects of Energy Community Interest 2026
• What the world can learn from Ireland’s battle to power data centres - The country is a canary in the coal mine for dealing with the strains of a boom in energy demand - Financial Times
• Spain warns EU against suspending carbon market to try to lower energy prices - Energy minister says suspending ETS in response to oil price surge would be a ‘big error’ - Financial Times

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: Antici Group (Simplification - Omnibus VIII: Environmental Omnibus) - 20 March 2026
• 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP15) (Campo Grande, Brazil, 23-29 March 2026) - First EU coordination - 22 March 2026
• Submission & Working Documents for the Civil Dialogue Group (CDG) on Environment and Climate Change - 09 March 2026
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/55 of 17 December 2025 amending Regulation (EU) 2017/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards mercury-added products subject to manufacturing, import and export prohibitions
• Commission launches call for evidence on primary EU water legislation (Feedback period: 17 March 2026 - 14 April 2026) - Midday Express
• Commission seeks feedback on revision of criteria for sustainable economic activities - Midday Express

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Call for evidence: EU global health resilience initiative - Communication - Feedback period: 16 March 2026 - 13 April 2026

EMA

• Meeting highlights from the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) 9 - 12 March 2026
• Meeting highlights from the Committee for Veterinary Medicinal Products (CVMP) 10-12 March 2026

EFSA

• Safety evaluation of blue galdieria extract as a food additive
• Statement on the targeted review of certain existing MRLs of concern for lambda‐cyhalothrin

SCCS 

• Draft Agenda of the 13th plenary meeting, Luxembourg - 26 March 2026
• Minutes of the Working Group meeting on Methodologies - 27 February 2026

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Council Decision (EU) 2026/580 of 24 November 2025 on the signing and conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Agreement between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation establishing a framework for the participation of the Swiss Confederation in European Union crisis management operations
• Agreement between the EU and the Swiss Confederation establishing a framework for the participation of the Swiss Confederation in European Union crisis management operations
• Council Decision (EU) 2026/643 of 23 February 2026 on the signing of the Agreement between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation on the transfer of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime

DATA PRIVACY & DIGITAL

• Commission makes available €200 million for submarine cable and digital infrastructure projects - Midday Express
• Answer given by Mr McGrath to a MEP written question - Data privacy and security risks posed by AI and browser extensions harvesting AI chat conversations

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Possible items for Commission agendas from 25 March 2026 to 27 May 2026

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Main results of the Foreign Affairs Council - 16 March 2026
  - Council adopts conclusions on advancing the EU’s capacity to counter hybrid threats
  - Disarmament: Council adopts decision supporting African capacities towards a mine-free continent - See Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/584

• Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/612 of 16 March 2026 in support of a global reporting mechanism on illicit conventional arms and their ammunition to reduce the risk of their diversion and illicit transfer (‘iTrace VI’)
• Keynote speech by HRVP Kaja Kallas at the 2026 Conference on Countering Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference: ‘From Insight to Impact’
• Commission delivers additional €189 million under the Reform and Growth Facility for Moldova - Midday Express

EU/RUSSIA/UKRAINE

• Russian hybrid threats: 4 individuals added to EU sanctions list for information manipulation activities - See Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/646 and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/647
• Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine: Council sanctions 9 individuals responsible for Bucha massacre - See Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/614 and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/613
• Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine: EU extends individual listings over Ukraine's territorial integrity for a further six months - See Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/696 and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/695  

OTHER EU SANCTIONS

• Iran: Council sanctions an additional 16 persons and 3 entities over serious human rights violations - See Council Implementing Decision (CFSP) 2026/645 and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/648
• Cyber-attacks against the EU and its member states: Council sanctions 3 entities and 2 individuals - See Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/588 and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/ 589