Europe Daily News, 28 February 2023

COMPETITION

• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11003 - DTC / IRCP / Diamond Transmission Partners / OFTO Business)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10821 - Yokohama Rubber CO / Trelleborg Wheel Systems Holding)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11053 - Group Credit Agricole / Michelin / Watea)
• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.11013 - Cinven VII / OTPP / Group.One / Dogado)
• Commission closes initial antitrust investigation into Coca-Cola and its bottlers  - Midday Express
• Commission clears creation of joint venture by TMAH and Meridiam Investment (M.10993) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of Neopharmed by NBRPH, Ardian and Mediolanum (M.10997)  - Midday Express
• Commission sends Statement of Objections to Apple clarifying concerns over App Store rules for music streaming providers - IP/23/1217
• Brussels focuses Apple probe on app restrictions - Antitrust investigation looks at how tech giant deals with subscription information from streaming services such as Spotify - Financial Times

STATE AID

• Commission approves €89.6 million Hungarian investment aid to Samsung SDI's electric vehicle battery plant (SA.48556) - IP/23/1265

TRADE & CUSTOMS

• Agenda for : Working Party on Customs Union - 02 March 2023
• Agenda for : Trade Policy Committee (Deputy Members) - 02 March 2023
• Agenda for : Trade Policy Committee (Services and Investment) - 01 March 2023
• Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/438 of 24 February 2023 granting a derogation requested by certain Member States pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council to use means other than electronic data-processing techniques for the exchange and storage of information for Release 2 of the Import Control System 2
• Public consultation - Commission proposal for the renewal of temporary trade liberalisation measures applicable to Ukrainian products (ATM) - Proposal for a regulation - Feedback period: 27 February 2023 - 25 April 2023
• WTO and Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie bolster trade capacity-building work

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Agenda for: Council of the EU (Competitiveness (Internal Market, Industry, Research and Space)) - 02 March 2023
• Commission launches €7.5 million calls to support the integration of Ukrainian SMEs in the Single Market - IP/23/1224
• Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court - state of play - Information from the Presidency

CHEMICAL

• 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 - 4-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)phenol, ethoxylated (‘4-tert-OPnEO’) - C(2023) 1085; C(2023) 1078 & C(2023) 1077

FINANCIAL SERVICES

• Agenda for: Meeting of the Financial Services Committee (ESAP) & (AIFMD) – 01 & 03 March 2023
• EBA publishes a no-action letter on the boundary between the banking book and the trading book provisions
• EFAMA questions the threshold approach in ESMA’s proposed guidelines on the use of ESG terms in fund names
• Efama pushes for pre-trade data in European consolidated tape - The fund industry association wants the planned bundling of trading information to include more than post-trade content - Financial Times

TAXATION

• Agenda for: Code of Conduct Group (Business Taxation) - Subgroup on internal and external issues - 03 March 2023

EMPLOYMENT & SOCIAL POLICY

• Council (EPSCO) on 13 March 2023
  - One year into the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine: The employment and social situation in the EU, with a focus on the labour market situation of refugees from Ukraine - Exchange of views

AGRICULTURE & FISHERIES

• Public consultation - EU-Cabo Verde Fisheries Agreement and Protocol – Way forward - Recommendation for a decision - Feedback period: 24 February 2023 - 24 March 2023

ENERGY

• Regulation (EU) 2023/435 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 February 2023 amending Regulation (EU) 2021/241 as regards REPowerEU chapters in recovery and resilience plans and amending Regulations (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) 2021/1060 and (EU) 2021/1755, and Directive 2003/87/EC

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: Working Party on Environment - 03 March 2023
• Proposal for a Regulation on a Union certification framework for carbon removals - Policy debate - Presidency background note with questions for Ministers
• Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning urban wastewater treatment (recast) – Presidency background paper with questions for ministers
• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on packaging and packaging waste, amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and Directive (EU) 2019/904, and repealing Directive 94/62/EC - Policy debate - Presidency background note with questions for Ministers

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Public consultation - High-speed broadband in the EU – review of rules - Proposal for a regulation - Feedback period: 27 February 2023 - 25 April 2023

DATA PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

• Agenda for: Horizontal Working Party on Cyber issues - 01 March 2023
• Public consultation - Further specifying procedural rules relating to the enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation - Proposal for a regulation - Feedback period: 24 February 2023 - 24 March 2023
• Council Decision (EU) 2023/436 of 14 February 2023 authorising Member States to ratify, in the interest of the European Union, the Second Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime on enhanced cooperation and disclosure of electronic evidence

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Land Transport - 02 March 2023
• Press remarks by Commissioner Vălean and Commissioner Simson at the informal meeting of EU transport and energy ministers
• Answer given by Ms Vălean to a MEP written question – Chinese presence on data platforms of European ports is detrimental to European autonomy 

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• NextGenerationEU: positive preliminary assessment of Denmark's request for €301 million disbursement under the Recovery and Resilience Facility - IP/23/1183 & QaA
• NextGenerationEU: Commission endorses Finland's revised recovery and resilience plan - see the Proposal - Midday Express
• Interview with Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted on Friday, 24 February 2023 by Balázs Korányi and Frank Siebelt 

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Common Military List of the European Union adopted by the Council on 20 February 2023 (equipment covered by Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP defining common rules governing the control of exports of military technology and equipment) (updating and replacing the Common Military List of the European Union adopted by the Council on 21 February 2022 ) 
• Global Gateway: EIB and European Commission sign agreement to boost private sector investments in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries - IP/23/1122
• India: High Representative to travel to attend the G20 meetings and the Raisina Dialogue - Midday Express

RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE

• Consolidated version of the FAQs on sanctions against Russia and Belarus
• Guidance on sanctions against Russia and Belarus, with focus on the following provision: Article 3n of Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 (Oil price cap)
• Background document from the European Commission on follow-up to the EU-Ukraine Summit
• Belarus: EU prolongs restrictive measures for a year - See Regulation & Decision
• Answer given by HR/VP Borrell i Fontelles to a MEP written question - Bulgarian investigative journalist on Russia’s ‘wanted’ list
• Arming Ukraine: how war forced the EU to rewrite defence policy - Brussels ripped up its playbook with a bold move to use a recently formed fund to send billions of euros in weapons to Kyiv - Financial Times

BREXIT

• A new way forward on the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: political agreement in principle on the Windsor Framework - IP/23/1268, QaA, FactSheet
• A breakthrough for Northern Ireland and the UK - Sunak’s deal opens a path to normalising relations with the EU - Financial Times