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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 13268

11 October 2023
Contents Publication in full By article 24 / 36
NEWS BRIEFS / State aid
European Commission gives go-ahead for a Bulgarian measure worth around €400 million to support public gas supplier Bulgargaz EAD

10/10/2023 (Agence Europe) – On Tuesday 10 October, the European Commission announced that it had approved a Bulgarian measure worth around €400 million (BGN 800 million) in the form of a soft loan granted by the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy to Bulgargaz EAD, Bulgaria’s state-owned natural gas supplier, for working capital purposes. This company is indirectly 100% owned by the Bulgarian state. The supplier was faced with significant liquidity needs as a result of Russia’s...

Contents

BEACONS
Beacons: A wave of elections of importance for six countries and thus for the whole EU
EXTERNAL ACTION
MIDDLE EAST: Josep Borrell calls for protection of both Israeli and Palestinian civilians alike
GULF: EU and Gulf Cooperation Council want to strengthen their cooperation
DEVELOPMENT: Jutta Urpilainen calls for ‘inequality marker’ to be used in EU development policy assessment
SECURITY - DEFENCE
DEFENCE: “We need to increase our state of readiness”, warns Thierry Breton
NATO: Allied Defence Ministers meet to strengthen support for Ukraine
SECTORAL POLICIES
AGRICULTURE: European Parliament Committee on Agriculture refuses to allow CAP to finance reduction in use of pesticides
FISHERIES: European Commission submits still incomplete proposal on 2024 quotas in Mediterranean and Black Seas
HOME AFFAIRS: removal of online child sexual abuse material, Ylva Johansson to address MEPs of Committee on Civil Liberties
JUSTICE/CONSUMERS: product liability, MEPs adopt their position
CONSUMERS: toxic chemical cocktails in everyday consumer products, BEUC calls on EU to legislate as matter of urgency
DIGITAL: addictive design of online platforms, European Parliament’s political groups still divided over reversing burden of proof
ENERGY: Emmanuel Macron believes Franco-German agreement on reform of electricity market “within reach”
ENERGY: Ursula von der Leyen wants “Europe to be global home of clean hydrogen”
HEALTH: Stella Kyriakides defends EU’s new approach to mental health
REGIONS: Vasco Alves Cordeiro defends more flexible post-2027 cohesion policy
TRANSPORT: MEPs and EESC want to extend powers and resources of European Maritime Safety Agency
TRANSPORT: MEPs seek to shorten interval between maritime accidents and resulting investigation
ENVIRONMENT/HEALTH: glyphosate—group of NGOs urges national ministers to convince their governments to vote against extending authorisation in EU
ENVIRONMENT: revision of EU urban waste water treatment directive, German industry denounces untenable European Parliament requirements for phosphorus
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
FINANCE: René Repasi wants better protection for workers in ‘pre-pack’ proceedings
EUROGROUP: transatlantic dialogue - capital markets and digital euro on ministerial agenda
COMPETITION: European Commission will not extend block exemption regulation for liner shipping consortia
NEWS BRIEFS
STATE AID: European Commission gives go-ahead for a Bulgarian measure worth around €400 million to support public gas supplier Bulgargaz EAD
STATE AID: European Commission approves Slovenian measure worth €20 million to provide liquidity to SMEs affected by energy crisis
AFGHANISTAN: EU releases €3.5 million in initial emergency aid for victims of deadly earthquake
CAUCASUS: Council of Europe sends missions to Armenia and Azerbaijan
EDUCATION: new Eurydice report on anti-discrimination policies in education
ENERGY: new European directive on energy efficiency comes into force
ENERGY: ACER calls for urgent harmonisation of European framework for assessing risks associated with security of electricity
TAXATION: Estonia to tax motor vehicles according to their CO2 emissions
DIGITAL: after an initial refusal in July, five European Parliament committee Chairs reiterated their invitation for a joint hearing with CEO of TikTok
RESEARCH: ERC grant recipients to present their work at ‘Science is Wonderful!’
REGIONS: tenth European Summit of Regions and Cities to take place in Belgium at end of March
RUSSIA: creation of a platform for contacts between Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe and Russian opposition forces
SOCIAL: despite opposition from European employers, the European Commission intends to present its draft directive on European Works Councils in early 2024