login
login

Europe Daily Bulletin No. 12161

18 December 2018
Contents Publication in full By article 14 / 38
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS / State aids
Commission is asking Bucharest to recover 335 million euros in illegal state aid
Brussels, 17/12/2018 (Agence Europe)

The European Commission ordered Romania on Monday 17 December to recover about 335 million euros in state aid incompatible with EU law granted to the petrochemical company Oltchim.

In April 2016, the institution opened an in-depth investigation to assess the compatibility of measures put in place by Bucharest since 2012 to support Oltchim. In particular, it was to be determined whether the non-enforcement, accumulation of debts and debt cancellations owed by Oltchim to the Romanian...

Contents

BEACONS
BEACONS: Presidency of the next Commission: the road to complexity
SECTORAL POLICIES
AGRICULTURE: Budgetary uncertainty complicates negotiations on post-2020 CAP
AGRICULTURE: Unfair trading practices, Austrian Presidency of Council proposes negotiations to the European Parliament for 19 December
AGRICULTURE: bioeconomy is a priority of future Romanian Presidency of Council
FISHERIES: NGOs put pressure on Council to meet deadline for eliminating overfishing
CLIMATE: EU pleased that COP 24 has at least saved the Paris Agreement by adopting multilateral implementation rules
CIRCULAR ECONOMY: limitation of disposable plastics polluting oceans, Council is ready to be a little flexible
DIGITAL: against all expectations, no agreement expected in December 2018 on digital content
DIGITAL: copyright, Commission's proposals on value gap still relevant today
ENERGY: Clean energy package and climate on Council's agenda on 19 December
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
MONEY LAUNDERING: Council is about to endorse new competences for EBA to prevent risks of money laundering
FINANCE: agreement in sight in Council on two new 'green' benchmarks
ECONOMY: French and Italian budgets for 2019, common need to reduce structural deficits
STATE AIDS: Commission is asking Bucharest to recover 335 million euros in illegal state aid
EXTERNAL ACTION
SWITZERLAND: Commission links six-month extension of equivalence for Swiss stock exchange to negotiations on framework agreement
KOSOVO: a stabilisation and association council marked by tensions
UKRAINE: Mr Groysman tries to reassure on fight against corruption
SYRIA: EU calls on Ankara to refrain from any unilateral action
SYRIA: EU announces new support of €122 million
DEVELOPMENT: development aid must focus on results, says European Court of Auditors
SOUTH KOREA: EU launches consultations to improve sustainable commitments in trade agreement for first time
TRADE: EU provides its latest texts on state of its negotiations with Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia
SECURITY - DEFENCE
CSDP: EU strengthens EUBAM  Libya mission
INSTITUTIONAL
UNITED KINGDOM: British Parliament will re-examine draft exit agreement negotiated with EU the week of 7 January for a vote scheduled the week of 14
POLAND: European Court of Justice confirms that Polish Government must immediately suspend implementation of Supreme Court law
COUNCIL OF EUROPE
HUNGARY: Council of Europe denounces the immigration tax and is concerned about the 'administrative courts' package
NEWS BRIEFS
COMPETITION: Bulgarian Energy Holding group fined €77 million for abuse of dominant position
COMPETITION: Guess fined €40 million for blocking cross-border sales of its products
ECONOMY: Inflation at 1.9% in November in euro area
ENVIRONMENT: limit value for content of four phthalates in certain plasticised materials will apply from June 2020
HUNGARY: Commission expresses its concern about respect for rule of law after further demonstrations against Hungarian authorities
INSTITUTIONAL: European confidence in EU is returning with economic recovery, according to Eurofound
JORDAN: more jobs for Syrian refugees through an improved trade agreement
FISHERIES: Council adopted 2019 quotas in Black Sea, which remain stable
FISHERIES: Formal adoption of 2019/2020 deep-sea fishing opportunities
SOCIAL: COFACE calls for a European agreement to support childcare
SOCIAL: trade unions call for a radical change in collective bargaining
TRANSPORT: European Federation of Inland Ports is satisfied with European Parliament's vote on EIM 2021-2027