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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 13273

18 October 2023
Contents Publication in full By article 18 / 39
INSTITUTIONAL / European commission
MEPs call on Olivér Várhelyi to resign
Brussels, 17/10/2023 (Agence Europe)

In an open letter obtained by EUROPE on Tuesday 17 October, more than seventy MEPs have called on European Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi “to resign or for him to be relieved of his duties” because of his statements on 9 October on aid to the Palestinians.

On X (formerly Twitter), Mr Várhelyi announced the immediate suspension of this aid, before being disavowed by the European Commission (see EUROPE B13268A2, B13267A1).

“Commissioner Várhelyi had no authority to unilaterally decide...

Contents

EUROPEAN COUNCIL
MIDDLE EAST: European leaders stress importance of respecting international law
SECTORAL POLICIES
ENERGY: EU Council adopts its position on reform of electricity market
ENERGY: ENTSOG publishes its final guidelines for TYNDP 2024
ENERGY: according to EERA, technological advances and energy efficiency alone cannot reduce greenhouse gas emissions
CLIMATE: with a view to COP28, EU Member states agree to phase out “unabated” fossil fuels
CONSUMERS: European Commission proposes to modernise Alternative Dispute Resolution Directive to speed up procedures
CONSUMERS: European Commission to look into commercial practices of influencers
INTERNAL MARKET: MEPs vote to ban products made with forced labour from European Union
AGRICULTURE: Luis Planas to chair negotiations with European Parliament on geographical indications on 24 October
ENVIRONMENT: Greece calls for EU Flood Directive to be made more effective for disaster prevention
ENVIRONMENT: European Commission microplastics proposal welcome but flawed, say NGOs
HOME AFFAIRS: European leaders condemn terrorist attack in Brussels which claimed lives of two Swedish nationals
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
ECONOMY: reform of Stability Pact, discussions at EU Council remain focused on extent of public debt reduction
ECONOMY: Europeans continuing efforts to mobilise frozen Russian public assets in support of Ukraine
TAXATION: EU adds Antigua and Barbuda, Belize and Seychelles to list of non-cooperative jurisdictions
FINANCE/CLIMATE: EU Council calls on development financial institutions to stop financing fossil fuel projects
COMPETITION: European Commission has carried out unannounced antitrust inspections of companies in construction chemical additives sector
INSTITUTIONAL
EUROPEAN COMMISSION : MEPs call on Olivér Várhelyi to resign
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PLENARY
EUROPEAN COMMISSION : Work Programme 2024 – MEPs divided over European Commission’s priorities
ECONOMY: European Parliament ready to negotiate with EU Council on EU macro-financial assistance to Ukraine for period 2024-2027
ARMENIA: Nikol Pachinian highlights his country’s desire to draw closer to EU
RUSSIA: EU Council and Commission stress effectiveness of sanctions, but European Parliament says they are insufficient
COMPETITIVENESS: European Parliament makes substantial amendments to ‘STEP’ text before launching negotiations with EU Council
FISHERIES: MEPs endorse compromise text improving control procedures
FISHERIES: European Parliament calls on China to take action to better combat illegal fishing
ECB: European Parliament gives its very broad support to appointment of Piero Cipollone as a member of Executive Board
AGRICULTURE: European Parliament endorses text on new Farm Sustainability Data Network
CIVIL PROTECTION: European Parliament approves extension until end of 2027 of RescEU transitional period for reserve firefighting assets
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS - SOCIETAL ISSUES
MEDIA: joint investigation by Solomon, Forensis, The Guardian and ARD wins the Daphné Caruana Galizia Prize 2023
EXTERNAL ACTION
IRAN: nuclear programme, EU maintains its restrictive measures
CHINA: EU renews two definitive anti-dumping duties on Chinese and Thai products
WESTERN BALKANS: Emmanuel Macron calls on Aleksandar Vučić to show “responsibility” in de-escalating tensions between Belgrade and Pristina
SECURITY - DEFENCE
DEFENCE: European armed forces carry out their first joint exercise under aegis of EU
NEWS BRIEFS
AGRICULTURE: European Commission approves three new geographical indications for German and Portuguese wines
ECONOMY: EU Council adopts revised plans of five Member States
FINANCE/CLIMATE: Platform on Sustainable Finance and European Commission launch stakeholder request mechanism on taxonomy
TAXATION: European ministers adopt a revision of Directive on exchange of information
DIGITAL: European Commission launches series of calls for proposals with budget of €240 million to boost rollout of 5G
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: S&D suspends its members attached to SMER