Europe Daily News, 30 March 2026

COMPETITION

• Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.12302 - EPH / TTE / EFG)
• Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12368 - Macquarie Group / La Caisse / Maple)
• Commission clears acquisition of Leviat by OEP IX (M.12353) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of Zentiva by GTCR (M.12186) - Midday Express
• Commission clears acquisition of Rockaway Arts by Rockaway Media and VALEA (M.12295) - Midday Express
• Ireland - CCPC issues assessment to parties regarding acquisition of O.C.L. Laundry Services by Elis S.A.
• UK - The CMA is investigating suspected anti-competitive conduct in relation to the supply of waste management services

STATE AID

• Communication from the Commission – Guidelines on State aid for land and multimodal transport
• Commission Regulation (EU) 2026/562 of 16 March 2026 declaring certain categories of aid in the rail, inland waterways and multimodal transport sector compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 93, 107 and 108 of the TFEU
• Commission approves €6 billion Italian State aid scheme for renewable hydrogen (SA.118992)
• Commission approves €250 million Portuguese State aid scheme to support forestry sector (SA.119883) - Midday Express

TRADE CUSTOMS

• Action brought on 11 February 2026 - Grondmet Vs. Commission (Case T-104/26)
  Re: annulment of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2351 imposing a definitive safeguard measure with regard to imports of certain ferro-alloying elements
• Agenda for: Working Party on European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - 31 March 2026
• Overview of FTA under ratification as of 27 March 2026
• Minutes : First Technical Working Group on Animal Welfare of the New Zealand-E U Free Trade Agreement (NZ-EU FTA) - Committee on Sanitary & Phytosanitary Measures - 27 May 2025
• WTO - Committee on Safeguards - Notification under article 12.1(a) of the Agreement on Safeguards on initiation of an investigation and the reasons for it - European Union - Grain-oriented electrical steel
• WTO - MC14 concludes with adopted decisions, progress on key outstanding issues
• WTO reform talks collapse over US-Brazil stand-off - Dispute over ecommerce tariffs derails agreement on overhaul of global trade body - Financial Times

INTERNAL MARKET & INDUSTRY

• Agenda for: Working Party on Competitiveness & Growth (Industry - IA Act) - 16 April 2026
• Regulation (EU) 2026/715 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2026 on European Union designs
• Commission adopts €1.5 billion work programme to boost European and Ukrainian defence industry
• STEP mobilises over €29 billion to boost EU competitiveness in its first two years 

FINANCE

• Council appoints François-Louis Michaud chair of the European Banking Authority
• Council greenlights common EU rules for insolvency proceedings
• The EBA streamlines supervisory approvals for IRB model changes

EMPLOYMENT & SOCIAL AFFAIRS

• Commission report shows progress in boosting Europe's social economy - Working Document
• Council gives final go ahead to EU talent platform for non-EU jobseekers

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

• Agenda for: Meeting of the Committee on fluorinated greenhouse gases - 16 April 2026
• Commission publishes guidance to support implementation of new packaging rules, for a more sustainable and competitive EU packaging sector - Q&A and Communication & Annexes
• Heavy-duty vehicles: Council adopts targeted flexibility for manufacturers to comply with CO2 targets

DIGITAL & INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Action brought on 3 February 2026 - Technius Vs. Commission (Case T-70/26)
  Re: annulment of the decision of the European Commission determining the supervisory fee applicable to Stripchat pursuant to Article 43(3) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, DSA
• Action brought on 6 February 2026 - Google Ireland Vs. Commission (Case T-89/26)
  Re: annulment of the Implementing Decision C(2025) 8121 final determining the supervisory fee applicable to Google Maps, Google Play, Google Search, Google Shopping and YouTube pursuant to Article 43(3) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, DSA
• Action brought on 6 February 2026 - Tiktok Technology Vs. Commission (Case T-90/26)
  Re: annulment of Commission Implementing Decision C(2025) 8122 final determining the supervisory fee applicable to TikTok pursuant to Article 43(3) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, DSA
• Action brought on 9 February 2026 - Amazon EU Vs. Commission (Case T-91/26)
  Re: annulment of Commission Implementing Decision C(2025) 8110 final determining the supervisory fee applicable to Amazon Store pursuant to Article 43(3) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, DSA
• Action brought on 4 February 2026 - Meta Platforms Ireland Vs. Commission (Case T-73/26)
  Re: annulment of Commission Implementing Decision C(2025) 8118 final determining the supervisory fee applicable to Facebook and Instagram pursuant to Article 43(3) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, DSA
• Action brought on 5 February 2026 - European Commission Vs. Republic of Poland (Case C-59/26)
  Re: Regulation (EU) 2022/2065; Digital Services Act; fulfilment its obligations
• Commission responds to cyber-attack on its Europa web platform
• Minutes : 4th Meeting of the Expert Group on Cybersecurity of Products with Digital Elements - 22 October 2025

CONSUMER PROTECTION

• Consumer protection: Council gives final sign off to additional safeguards for package travel users

ECB, EURO & ECONOMY

• Commission disburses €896.9 million to Croatia under NextGenerationEU - Midday Express
• Remarks by Kyriakos Pierrakakis following the Eurogroup meeting of 27 March 2026
• Where do the costs of higher US tariffs fall? ECB Economic Bulletin Issue 2, 2026
• One market, one supervision - Rethinking the supervisory landscape for a truly integrated capital market in Europe - ECB Occasional Paper No.383

FUTURE OF EUROPE

• Agenda for: Meeting of the Coreper (Part.1 & Part.2) - 31 March & 01 April 2026

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• EU steps up support for disaster preparedness and humanitarian aid in Asia - Midday Express
• External Action Guarantee: Council greenlights targeted amendments to enhance efficiency and flexibility

EU/RUSSIA/UKRAINE

• Action brought on 23 December 2025 - SA Leader Shipholdings Afezco Vs. Council (Case T-888/25)
  Re: annulment of Council Decision (CFSP) 2025/2032 and Council Regulation (EU) 2025/2033
• Apple subsidiary fined for breaching Russian sanctions - UK imposes £390,000 penalty on European operation for payments to video streaming service Okko - Financial Times

EU/UK RELATIONS

• EU-UK relations: Council greenlights talks on electricity and cohesion deals, as well as UK’s participation in Erasmus+ for 2027
• EU offers UK ‘emergency brake’ on numbers for new youth mobility scheme - Concession to ‘manage flows’ of young people falls short of Britain’s demand for an upfront cap - Financial Times