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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 12845

3 December 2021
Contents Publication in full By article 4 / 38
SECTORAL POLICIES / Energy
Divisions between Member States persist over rising energy prices
Brussels, 02/12/2021 (Agence Europe)

At a meeting of energy ministers held in Brussels on Thursday 2 December, Member States appeared as divided as ever over what action to take at EU level in order to address the current surge in energy prices and avoid a similar situation in the future.

Despite this being the third debate between Ministers on this subject (see EUROPE B12820A2, B12796A9), two camps continue to oppose each other.

On the one hand, France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Romania are calling for the implementation of...

Contents

COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EU
BUDGET/RULE OF LAW: Court Advocate General recommends Hungarian and Polish actions against ‘rule of law conditionality’ regulation be dismissed
JUSTICE: representative actions by consumer associations are possible in cases of infringement of personal data protection
SECTORAL POLICIES
ENVIRONMENT: interim political agreement between European Parliament and EU Council on 8th General Environment Action Programme for 2021-2030
ENERGY: divisions between Member States persist over rising energy prices
SPACE: decision on UK contribution to Copernicus programme postponed
TELECOMMUNICATIONS: cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and digital identity on agenda of EU Member States
INTERNAL MARKET: MEPs want to extend scope of directive on common chargers
HOME AFFAIRS : EU reiterates offer to help Western Balkan countries manage migration
TRANSPORT: revision of Eurovignette Directive, Barbara Thaler calls on MEPs to reject agreement reached between EU Council and European Parliament
TRANSPORT: ‘Single European Sky’, MEPs hope negotiations will take off under French EU Council Presidency
ANIMAL HEALTH: MEPs call for carcasses to be transported rather than live animals
AGRICULTURE: EU Council adopts texts on reform of common agricultural policy
AGRICULTURE: European Commission says lifting anti-dumping duties on nitrogen fertilisers is “not a miracle solution”
EXTERNAL ACTION
BELARUS: EU adopts sanctions against 11 entities and 17 individuals over continued human rights abuse and instrumentalisation of migrants
MEDITERRANEAN: climate at heart of Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean’s 7th Summit of Speakers
CAUCASUS: Luc Devigne calls for resumption of political process between Armenia and Azerbaijan
HUMANITARIAN AID: UN and EU launch major humanitarian plan to meet unprecedented global needs in 2022
WTO: WTO members want more time to decide on date of 12th Ministerial Conference
WTO: sixty-seven WTO members, including EU, commit to facilitate trade in services
SECURITY - DEFENCE
DEFENCE: EU Council adopts aid for Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Mali under European Peace Facility
EU RESPONSE TO COVID-19
HEALTH: Member States asked to provide “guidance” on HERA on 7 December due to lack of political agreement
HEALTH: new vaccine against Covid-19 to be evaluated by European Medicines Agency
ECONOMY : European Commission pre-finances Romanian recovery plan with €1.8 billion
HOME AFFAIRS: Namibia and Jordan removed from list of third countries whose nationals can travel to EU without restrictions
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
FINANCE: EU Council agreement on rules to strengthen traceability of crypto-asset transfers
COMPETITION: UBS, Barclays, RBS, HSBC and Credit Suisse fined €344 million for Foreign Exchange spot trading cartel
INSTITUTIONAL
EUROPEAN COMMISSION: European Commission tries to play down flaws in European Transparency Register
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: in tribute to Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, Emmanuel Macron calls for legislative right of initiative for European Parliament
BREACHES OF EU LAW
ENVIRONMENT: Romania, Germany and Spain required to explain themselves before Court for infringements of EU law
TRANSPORT: Commission takes Germany to EU Court of Justice over safety and interoperability of rail networks
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS: European Commission pursues infringement proceedings against Hungary over LGBTIQ+ rights violations
POLAND: European Commission closes successful rule of law case
NEWS BRIEFS
STATE AID: European Commission approves 2022–2027 regional aid map for Italy
ENERGY: ‘North Seas Energy Cooperation’ countries renew commitment to cooperate on offshore renewables
RULE OF LAW : public consultation launched to prepare next annual report on rule of law
GEORGIA: EU denounces life appointments of four Supreme Court judges
FISHERIES: Oceana exposes extent of trawling activities in Spanish marine protected areas
TURKEY: Emergency Social Safety Net for vulnerable refugees to be extended until end of 2023