Europe Daily News, 23 April 2026

COMPETITION

• Opinion of Advocate General Medina of 23 April 2026 in Case C-14/24 P, European Commission Vs. Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD, Bulgartransgaz EAD, Bulgargaz EAD
  Re: Appeal - Competition - Abuse of a dominant position - Internal market in natural gas - Decision finding an infringement of Article 102 TFEU - Refusal to grant access - Bronner case-law - Potential competitor - Single and continuous infringement - Rights of the defence
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12431 - Eurazeo / Netco)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12307 - Trafigura / GM / Los Guindos Generacion)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.12316 - IG4 Group / Petrobras / Braskem)
• Commission unconditionally approves RTL's acquisition of Sky DACH (M.12076)
• Commission clears acquisition of Clearwater Analytics by Warburg Pincus and Permira (M.12339) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of Tecomet and Orchid by Charlesbank and Nordic Capital (M.12319) - Midday Express
• Hungary - The Competition Authority (GVH) is investigating companies involved in the distribution and sale of dietary supplements
• Hungary - They were 12 days late in announcing the merger, resulting in a fine - The GVH acts impartially in all cases, in accordance with the relevant laws
• Norway - The Competition Authority has approved the remedies in Karo Healthcare’s acquisition of Aco Hud Nordic
• Spain - The CNMC has approved the referral of the Siemens Logistics/Vanderlande Industries transaction to the European Commission
• UK - The CMA is seeking views on the anticipated acquisition by Liberty Global, Telefónica and InfraVia, through their JV nexfibre, of Substantial (including Netomnia, Brsk, Brsk ISP and YouFibre)
• UK - The CMA is seeking views on the anticipated acquisition by eBay Inc. of Depop Limited

STATE AID

• The Court of Justice upholds the annulment of the Commission’s decision to approve Germany’s recapitalisation of Lufthansa, amounting to €6 billion, during the COVID-19 pandemic (See CPR No.62/2026 - Judgment of the Court in Case C-457/23 P, Deutsche Lufthansa Vs. Ryanair and Condor Flugdienst)
• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections – SA.117918 & SA.121982
• Commission approves €37 million Croatian State aid measure to support the construction of an industry centre for the gaming sector (SA.113992) - Midday Express
• Commission approves €36 million Estonian State aid scheme to support energy-intensive companies (SA.121622) - Midday Express

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for: Law Enforcement Working Party (Customs) - 28 April 2026
• Twenty-Seventh Annual Report according to Article 8(2) of Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP defining common rules governing the control of exports of military technology and equipment - See Annex 1; 2; 3; 4 & 5
• EU majority resists French call to overhaul US trade deal - Ahead of a second round of negotiations, Germany leads opposition to calls from Paris and EU lawmakers to add safeguards to the transatlantic trade accord - Politico.eu

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Judgment of the Court of 23 April 2026 in Case C-887/24, YH Vs. Widl GmbH
  Re: Preliminary ruling - Approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to machinery - Technical standards and regulations - Directive 98/37/EC - Machine equipped with normal and emergency stop devices - Essential health and safety requirements - Risks to the health and safety of persons - Unintentional or intentional triggering of one of the stop devices – Blocking of the emergency stop device - Appropriate action capable of unblocking the emergency stop device

CHEMICALS

• Summary of European Commission Decisions on authorisations for the placing on the market for the use and/or for use of substances listed in Annex XIV to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the REACH: chromium trioxide C(2026) 2471; C(2026) 2472; C(2026) 2304; C(2026) 2264 & C(2026) 2279

FINANCE

• Consumer credit: a bank may not charge interest on sums used to pay costs associated with such credit (See No.63/2026 - Judgment of the Court in Case C-744/24 - Bank Polska Kasa Opieki)
• Judgment of the Court of 23 April 2026 in Case C‑204/25, Kempen Advies Beerse BV, Compagnie LLC BV, FP Verzekeringen BV, OL Vs. Bank Nagelmackers NV
  Re: Preliminary ruling - Directive 86/653/EEC - Article 15(2) - Article 19 - Independent commercial agents - Notice period - Date of termination of the commercial agency contract

EMPLOYMENT & SOCIAL AFFAIRS

• The EU Council and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on new rules aimed at modernising the coordination of social security systems in the EU

AGRICULTURE & FISHERIES

• Commission launches public consultation on European Ocean Act - Midday Express
• Brussels set to lure Iceland into EU with fishing policy exceptions - More flexibility over contentious marine issue with Reykjavik could tempt other ‘like-minded’ countries to join bloc - Financial Times

ENERGY

• Remarks by EVP Ribera and Commissioner Jørgensen at the press conference on AccelerateEU
• EU rethinks opposition to Arctic oil and gas drilling - U-turn by Brussels would be bitterly contested by environmental groups - Financial Times

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: Working Party on International Environment Issues (Climate change) - 30 April 2026

HEALTH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Evaluation of the Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/EU), the Tobacco Advertising Directive (2003/33/EC) and other related tobacco control policies across the EU - See Executive Summary & Opinion of the RSB

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Agenda for: Horizontal Working Party on Cyber Issues - 27 April 2026
• Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/883 of 21 April 2026 on the harmonisation of radio spectrum for use by radiodetermination applications in the 116-260 GHz frequency band
• Answer given by Mr McGrath to a MEP written question - Application of Article 80(1) of the GDPR in Germany and status of complaint CHAP(2020)3321
• Opinion of Advocate General Szpunar of 23 April 2026 in Case C‑164/25, T–2 družba za ustvarjanje, razvoj in trženje elektronskih komunikacij in opreme d.o.o. Vs. Telekom Slovenije, d.d.
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Directive 2014/61/EU on measures to reduce the cost of deploying high-speed electronic communications networks - Access to existing physical infrastructure - Obligation to ensure that either party is entitled to refer a dispute to the competent national dispute settlement body - Requirement to discontinue the proceedings before the national dispute settlement body if a claim is brought before a court - Principle of effectiveness - Right to an effective remedy

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Gambling: According to Advocate General Emiliou, the request from an Austrian Court for a preliminary ruling concerning a new provision in the Maltese Gaming Act is inadmissible (See CPR No.65/2026 - Advocate General’s Opinion in Case C-683/24, Spielerschutz Sigma)
• Advocate General Emiliou: the Italy-Albania Protocol is compatible with EU legislation on return and asylum procedures, provided that migrants’ rights are fully protected (See CPR No.64/2026 - Advocate General’s Opinion in Case C-414/25 [Sedrata])

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Commission disburses €1.18 billion to Greece under NextGenerationEU - Midday Express
  
• Commission greenlights Poland's fourth payment request for €7.2 billion under NextGenerationEU

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• The Council today appointed Kirsten Joppe as new head of mission for the European Union Partnership Mission in Moldova (EUPM Moldova)
• Answer given by the Council to a MEP written question - State of play regarding the partial suspension of the Association Agreement with Israel
• Answer given by the Council to a MEP written question - Addition of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to the EU list of terrorist organisations