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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 12609

26 November 2020
Contents Publication in full By article 26 / 35
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS / Finance
Commission should have been “more vigilant” in the ‘BlackRock’ case, European Ombudsman concludes
Brussels, 25/11/2020 (Agence Europe)

The MEPs hard work has paid off. The European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, concluded on Wednesday 25 November that the Commission should have been “more vigilant” in checking that the US asset manager BlackRock was not subject to a conflict of interest before awarding it a contract to conduct a study on the integration of environmental and social factors in the supervision of banks (see EUROPE B12574A9).

According to the Ombudsman, the Commission’s decision did not provide sufficient...

Contents

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PLENARY
BUDGET: MEPs denounce Hungarian and Polish vetoes and refuse renegotiation of Rule of law mechanism
CONSUMERS: European Parliament calls for a systematic right to repair products for a sustainable, consumer-oriented single market
CONSUMERS: European Parliament calls on Commission to strengthen safety of products and services in single market
WOMEN: European Parliament expresses its support for Polish women mobilised to safeguard right to abortion
WOMEN: obstructions to ratification of Istanbul Convention make European Parliament impatient
FOREIGN AFFAIRS: European Parliament wants a more internationally engaged European Union
DEVELOPMENT: for greater effectiveness, European Parliament calls for EU aid to be made conditional on cooperation in migration management
BIODIVERSITY: European Parliament defeats attempts to prevent a ban on firing lead ammunition in EU wetlands
FINANCE: European Parliament adopts its position on adjustments to ‘MiFID II’ directive to facilitate economic recovery
SECTORAL POLICIES
HEALTH: European Commission presents its pharmaceutical strategy, with specific options for rare and paediatric diseases
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: European Commission wants to strengthen European intellectual property framework
DIGITAL: European Commission presents its prescription for increasing data flows
TERRORISM: EU Council wants new technical and legal solutions to be developed to access encryption
MIGRATION: same divergences persist between Member States on balance between responsibility and solidarity in asylum matters 
CLIMATE: Charles Michel proposes initial guidelines to Member States on reaching agreement over 2030 climate target
ENERGY: EU Council fine-tunes its conclusions on European Hydrogen Strategy
COHESION: Just Transition Fund, European Parliament and EU Council disagree on environmental response mechanism and investment in gas
AGRICULTURE: new European Commission database on geographical indications
EXTERNAL ACTION
UNITED KINGDOM: Ursula von der Leyen cannot guarantee that agreement will be reached with London at end of new negotiating sessions
GENDER EQUALITY: EU developing a policy framework to accelerate empowerment of women and girls in its external relations
ETHIOPIA: EU calls to end hostilities and respect international humanitarian law
MEDITERRANEAN: future of Union for the Mediterranean on agenda of its fifth Regional Forum
AUSTRALIA: EU and Australian leaders continue discussions on trade agreement
INSTITUTIONAL
BUDGET: Hungary and Poland will coordinate their position on deadlock on MFF and Recovery Plan 
TRANSPARENCY: negotiators from EU institutions have made progress on Transparency Register
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
FINANCE: Commission should have been “more vigilant” in the ‘BlackRock’ case, European Ombudsman concludes
FINANCE: experts scrutinise Commission's proposals on crypto-assets
FINANCE: Member States validate procedure for selection of new ESMA and EIOPA chairs
STATE AID: Covid-19, green light for Austrian aid to rail service operators
STATE AID: European Commission approves competitive tender mechanism to compensate for early closure of hard coal-fired power plants in Germany
COUNCIL OF EUROPE
WOMEN: committed to combatting violence against women, Council of Europe announces co-operation between its Parliamentary Assembly and European Parliament
RULE OF LAW: Commissioner for Human Rights for Council of Europe “shocked” by images of migrant evacuation in Paris
NEWS BRIEFS
EDUCATION: European Education Area at heart of EU Council of 30 November
TAXATION: France resumes levying tax on digital giants
NEIGHBOURHOOD: EU disburses €400 million in macro-financial assistance to Jordan, Georgia and Moldova