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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 12159

14 December 2018
Contents Publication in full By article 36 / 45
COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EU / State aids
German audiovisual contribution is compatible with EU law, Court confirms
Brussels, 13/12/2018 (Agence Europe)

The change in the eligibility criteria for the contribution to finance German public service broadcasters does not constitute illegal State aid, confirmed the EU Court of Justice in a judgment delivered on Thursday 13 December (case C-492/17). 

Until 2013, the German audiovisual licence fee was due for the ownership of a television set. Since then, public broadcasters have been collecting a contribution for the occupation of a professional housing/institution. Several individuals...

Contents

EUROPEAN COUNCIL
UNITED KINGDOM: The Twenty-Seven clarify some elements of the agreement on an orderly Brexit, but give nothing away on the essentials
FOREIGN AFFAIRS: tensions in Sea of Azov, EU stands ready to step up its support for Ukraine
BUDGET: Twenty-Eight commit themselves to reaching an agreement in autumn 2019 on EU budget for 2021-2027
SECTORAL POLICIES
DIGITAL: European Parliament and Council agree to limit, but not remove, the geographical blockage of certain audiovisual programmes
TRANSPORT: European Parliament rapporteurs on mobility package I present new draft compromise amendments
TRANSPORT: European Parliament and European Council agreement on port reception facilities for delivery of waste from ships
JUSTICE: Council lawyers envisage a division of 'whistleblower' directive into five separate texts
JHA: EU Member States ready to negotiate with European Parliament on new rules tightening acquisition of explosive precursors
CIVIL PROTECTION:  European Parliament and Council agree on 'RescEU' for a more effective European response to disasters
FOOD SAFETY: risk assessments by EFSA, Council adopts its position on proposed reform for greater transparency
AGRICULTURE: unfair trading practices, Paolo De Castro convinced that a European Parliament/Council agreement in January 2019 is possible
CLIMATE: COP24, Commission and 11 EU countries pledge to raise ambition by 2020
ENERGY: electricity infrastructure, public consultation on projects of common interest
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
ECB: Inflation and economy are robust enough to stop quantitative easing, says monetary institute
ECONOMY: MEPs want to increase firepower of InvestEU fund
PAYMENTS: European Parliament/Council agreement confirmed on alignment of costs of cross-border payments in euros in the EU
FINANCE: Home stretch for pan-European personal pension products
FINANCE: MEPs give green light to the creation of benchmarks aligned with the Paris Agreement
FINANCE: Commission completes Regulation on transparency of Securities Financing Transactions
INSTITUTIONAL
CITIZENSHIP: Inter-institutional agreement on reform of European Citizens' Initiative
BUDGET: MEPs strengthen proposal on budget protection in event of a general failure of rule of law
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PLENARY
BUDGET: European Parliament calls for action against conflict of interest involving Czech Prime Minister Babiš
JUSTICE: parliament calls for establishment of an European Expedited Civil Procedure for cross-border disputes between businesses
JUSTICE: European Parliament gives conditional green light on data protection adequacy decision with Japan
TAXATION: European Parliament maintains pressure on Council by voting in favour of an ambitious Digital Services Tax
DIGITAL: European Parliament confirms its position on future Digital Europe programme
SPACE: European Parliament is ready to negotiate with Council of EU on space programme
IRAN: European Parliament calls for immediate and unconditional release of Sakharov Prize winner Nasrin Sotoudeh
EGYPT: European Parliament calls on Member States to make their cooperation conditional on respect for human rights
TRANSPORT: European Parliament gives green light to strengthening US-EU cooperation in civil aviation safety
EXTERNAL ACTION
OSCE: EU and OSCE strengthen their cooperation
SOCIAL AFFAIRS
SOCIAL: directive on Work-Life Balance, Austrian Presidency of Council of EU obtains a negotiating mandate on parental leave
COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EU
ENVIRONMENT: Court finds that Commission had no power to amend emission limits for RDE tests
SOCIAL: European Court of Justice considers whether a worker who is partially unemployed is entitled to normal pay during their minimum annual leave
JHA: Court confirms a bus company is not obliged to check passenger tickets when crossing an internal border within Schengen area
STATE AIDS: German audiovisual contribution is compatible with EU law, Court confirms
NEWS BRIEFS
AGRICULTURE: Commission approves four new geographical indications for German wines
ADLE: Liberal family’s Spitzenmannschaft will be announced on 9 February 2019
CLIMATE: COP24, cities and regions request an official role in Paris Agreement
HUNGARY: Hungarian government adopts two new controversial laws
DIGITAL: no European Parliament/Council agreement on copyright reform
FISHERIES: NGO Oceana criticises three countries for wanting to postpone overfishing deadline in Mediterranean to 2025
THAILAND: Authorisation of political campaigns in preparation for February elections is welcomed by EU
TRANSPORT: Green light from Member States to Interinstitutional Agreement on Competition in Aviation
UKRAINE: EU allocates €4 million in new humanitarian aid