Europe Daily News, 18 January 2024

• Commission accepts commitments by Renfe opening up competition in online rail ticketing in Spain - IP/24/201
• Commission clears acquisition of Go-Ahead by ÖBB (M.11327) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of Liberty Seguros by Generali (M.11234) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of energyRe Giga-Projects by Elia, Glentra, and energyRe Holdings (M.11409) - Midday Express
• Austria - Façade construction cartel: BWB applies to the Cartel Court to impose an appropriate fine on Riegerbau GmbH
• Belgium - The Competition Authority approves the acquisition of the Mazuin Group by the Steveny Group
• Estonia - Entrepreneurs suspected of being part of the grain cartel must pay over 300,000 euros to the government
• Finland - PostNord Strålfors and Edita Prima abandoned a merger notified to the FCCA
• France - The Autorité de la concurrence publishes a new procedural notice on its leniency programme
• Lithuania - Four priority sectors under the Competition Council's spotlight
• Lithuania - The Competition Council aims to identify possible competition issues in the electric vehicle charging sector
• Switzerland - COMCO investigates relative market power in the automotive sector - see FR, DE & IT version
• UK - CMA wins appeal on legal challenge to overseas information requests
• Advocate General Medina: the Court should confirm that the Commission erred in applying the AEC test with respect to HP and Lenovo (See CPR No.13/2024 - Opinion of the Advocate General in the case C-240/22 P - Commission Vs. Intel Corporation)
  

STATE AID

• Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU - Cases where the Commission raises no objections - SA.110322; SA.106897; SA.110664; SA.110474; SA.110574; SA.110576; SA.107504; SA.109334; SA.100561; SA.110829; SA.110320; SA.110877; SA.110956; SA.110282; SA.106493; SA.108886; SA.108661; SA.108987 & SA.108058
• EFTA Surveillance Authority Decision No 086/23/COL of 21 June 2023 on alleged State aid to Gagnaveita Reykjavíkur (Iceland)
• Commission approves €1.46 billion Czech State aid schemes to support prevention of spread of poultry and pig diseases - IP/24/223
• ESA approves budget increase to Norwegian aid scheme for alternative fuels infrastructure

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Opinion of advocate General Collins of 18 January 2024 in Case C‑104/23; A GmbH & Co. KG Vs. Hauptzollamt B
  Re: Reference for a preliminary ruling - Customs union - Common Customs Tariff - Combined Nomenclature - Classification of goods - Tariff heading 9406 - Concept of prefabricated buildings - Calf hutches - Classification under subheading 9406 00 80
• Agenda for: Trade Policy Committee (Deputy Members) - 25 January 2024
• Agenda for: Trade Policy Committee (Services & Investment) - 24 January 2024
• Decision No 1/2023 of the EU-Bosnia and Herzegovina Stabilisation and Association Council of 11 December 2023 amending the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, of the other part, by replacing Protocol 2 thereto concerning the definition of the concept of originating products and methods of administrative cooperation
• European Parliament validates its recommendations for an ambitious new partnership between EU and New Delhi - see the EP Resolution
• Implementation of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) - see the EP Resolution

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Advocate General Medina: the transparency of ‘floor clauses’ in mortgage loan contracts can be reviewed in the context of a collective action (See CPR No.12/2024 - Opinion of the Advocate General in the case C-450/22 - Caixabank and Others)
• MEPs adopt new law banning greenwashing and misleading product information

FINANCE

• Anti-money laundering: Council and Parliament strike deal on stricter rules - see the EP Statement
• Commission welcomes political agreement on the first Anti-Money Laundering Regulation and new Anti-Money Laundering Directive - Midday Express
• ESAs publish first set of rules under DORA for ICT and third-party risk management and incident classification

TAXATION

• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/163 of 12 December 2023 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 as regards the deletion of the Cayman Islands and Jordan from the table in point I of the Annex

AGRICULTURE & FISHERIES

• Council (Agriculture & Fisheries) on 23 January 2024
  - The re-evaluation of the Annexes of Habitats Directive as regards certain Large Carnivore Populations - Information from the Finnish delegation, supported by the Austrian, Czech, Greek, Italian, Latvian, Romanian, Slovak and Swedish delegations
  - Sanctions on Russian food and agricultural product imports into the European Union in order to further weaken Russia’s ability to wage its war against Ukraine - Information from the Latvian delegation on behalf of the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian delegations
• Agenda for: Expert Group for Technical Advice on Organic Production (EGTOP) - Subgroup Fertilisers - 30 & 31 January 2024
• Commissioner Wojciechowski attends “Grüne Woche” trade fair and Global Forum for Food and Agriculture - Midday Express

EMPLOYMENT & SOCIAL POLICY

• A worker who was not able to take all of his or her days of paid annual leave before resigning is entitled to an allowance in lieu of that leave (See CPR No.10/2024 - Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-218/22 - Comune di Copertino)

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: Meeting of the Climate Change Committee - 01 February 2024
• Heavy-duty vehicles: Council and Parliament reach a deal to lower CO2 emissions from trucks, buses and trailers
• Adaptation to climate risks, a just transition and the circular economy were at the heart of discussions between Environment Ministers in Brussels
• The EU got its first climate report card. It’s not good - In its verdict on the EU’s Green Deal progress, a science advisory body says Europe needs to make massive changes - Politico.eu

HEATH, FOOD & PRODUCT SAFETY

• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/256 of 17 January 2024 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1158 on the conditions governing imports of food and feed originating in third countries following the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Commission sends requests for information to 17 Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines under the Digital Services Act - Midday Express
• Music streaming sector: EU must ensure just pay for artists and fair algorithms - see the EP Statement & Resolution

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• EDPB publishes OSS case digest on Security of Processing and Data Breach Notification 
• EDPB identifies areas of improvement to promote the role and recognition of DPOs
• Cyber: EU holds informal meetings of Cyber Ambassadors and Commanders

AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY & JUSTICE

• Disaster involving flight MH17: the confidentiality of certain information concerning aviation safety is justified and proportionate (See CPR No.11/2024 - Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-451/22 - RTL Nederland and RTL Nieuws)
• Commissioner Reynders in Warsaw to discuss rule of law matters in Poland - Midday Express
• Fundamental rights report finds threats to key freedoms, equality and dignity - see the EP Statement
• Time to criminalise hate speech and hate crime under EU law - see the EP Statement
• MEPs warn against Chinese influence on EU critical infrastructure - see the EP Resolution
• Parliament concerned about the rule of law in Slovakia - see the EP Resolution

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• European Commission settles first transaction via new Eurosystem based EU Issuance Service - IP/24/263
• Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe to attend the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos on 18 January 2024
• Economic governance reform: improving credibility, ownership and scope to invest - see the EP Statement 

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Statement by President von der Leyen at the joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Meloni
• MEPs debate EU summits and situation in Hungary 
• EU lawmakers revolt against Brussels caving into Orbán’s ‘blackmail’ - Financial Times
• Don’t stop now on climate policy, scientists tell EU ahead of elections - Financial Times

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/372 of 17 January 2024 amending for the 341st time Council Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 imposing certain specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities associated with the ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida organisations
• Agenda for: Meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council - 22 January 2024
• Tajikistan: Speech by High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell in the EP Plenary on the situation of independent
• The European Parliament adopted three resolutions on human rights issues in China, Sudan and Tajikistan
• Speech by High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell on the elections in Serbia
• UAE: 12th Human Rights Dialogue held in Brussels