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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 12527

15 July 2020
Contents Publication in full By article 18 / 35
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS / Competition
Commission fines ethylene purchasers €260 million in cartel settlement
Brussels, 14/07/2020 (Agence Europe)

The European Commission decided, on Tuesday 14 July, to impose fines totalling €260 million on Orbia, Clariant and Celanese (out of which €155.7 million for Clariant alone) for breaching EU antitrust rules. Westlake was not fined as it revealed the cartel to the Commission.

The companies took part in a cartel concerning purchases on the ethylene merchant market. They colluded to buy ethylene for the lowest possible price. All four companies acknowledged their involvement in the cartel...

Contents

SECTORAL POLICIES
ENVIRONMENT: MEPs advocate immediate reduction in NOx emissions conformity factor, followed by annual reductions
ENVIRONMENT: EU ministers call on EU to give itself means for a truly green recovery plan
CLIMATE: EU environment ministers launch joint call for a green recovery
CLIMATE: second public consultation for future revision of Regulation on substances that deplete ozone layer
COHESION: European Court of Auditors is concerned about true effectiveness of REACT-EU
INTERNAL MARKET: Commission launches consultation on needs of EU postal sector
FOOD SAFETY: public consultation on future revision of EU regulation on ‘hygiene of foodstuffs’
TRANSPORT: 28 organisations call on Commission to deploy more charging infrastructures for trucks on motorway parking areas
EU RESPONSE TO COVID-19
BUDGET/ECONOMY: first political discussions on Wednesday 15 July on Mr Michel’s proposals for MFF 2021-2027
HEALTH: European Parliament committee wants to put end to shortage of medicines in Europe
HOME AFFAIRS: Serbia and Montenegro in process of being removed from common list of non-Member States whose residents may return to EU
TOURISM: lack of political will on part of Commission towards tourism sector criticised in European Parliament
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: amendment to European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure to allow MEPs to act in extraordinary circumstances
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
STATE AID: European Commission recommends that no economic aid to be granted to firms which evade taxes
ECB: judgment by Karlsruhe Court, advisability of initiating infringement proceedings against Germany referred to Parliament
FINANCE: banks, insurers, businesses and consumers agree on list of “best practices” to withstand crisis better
COMPETITION: Aspen commits to reduce prices for six cancer medicines by 73% to address Commission's concerns
COMPETITION: Commission fines ethylene purchasers €260 million in cartel settlement
COMPETITION: Commission clears acquisition of Lotos by PKN Orlen, subject to conditions
EXTERNAL ACTION
INDIA: virtual summit to breathe new life into relations with EU
RUSSIA: Mr Maas wants to prepare for a possible relaunch of strategic relations with EU
BELARUS: EU denounces seemingly arbitrary exclusion of presidential candidates
SECURITY - DEFENCE
DEFENCE: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer defends a substantial budget for EDF and military mobility
INSTITUTIONAL
RULE OF LAW: European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties prepare to send a strong message to Poland
NEWS BRIEFS
HUMANITARIAN AID: EU announces €24 million in emergency aid for vulnerable populations in Uganda
BUDGET: Spanish and Italian sections of European Movement consider Charles Michel’s proposal “unacceptable”
BAHRAIN: EU calls for stay of execution for Mohamed Ramadan and Husain Ali Moosa
FINANCE: Commission adopts three delegated acts to strengthen supervision of non-EU CCPs
HUNGARY: non-binding resolution of Hungarian Parliament rejecting any ties between EU budget and respect for rule of law
INDUSTRY: Czech government wants to amend Constitution in reaction to Firearms Directive
IRAN: Josep Borrell reiterates importance of preserving nuclear agreement, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary
JUSTICE: GUE/NGL group in European Parliament unveils list of finalists for 2020 whistleblower prize
UNITED KINGDOM: London publishes its plan for UK-EU border controls
SOCIAL: first European Parliament/Council negotiation on improving cooperation between public employment services “cordial”
Op-Ed
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS: The case of Andy Hall got a just conclusion. By Heidi Hautala