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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 12661

19 February 2021
Contents Publication in full By article 15 / 32
BREACHES OF EU LAW / Fundamental rights
Five Member States pinpointed for incorrect transposition of EU rules criminalising serious manifestations of racism and xenophobia

18/02/2021 (Agence Europe) – The European Commission sent a letter of formal notice on Thursday 18 February to five Member States - Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Poland and Sweden - which it considers have incorrectly transposed the European Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law (2008/913). In particular, Belgium and Bulgaria are criticised for failing to ensure that racist and xenophobic motivation is taken into account as an aggravating...

Contents

EXTERNAL ACTION
TRADE: European Commission unveils its revision of an open, sustainable and strong trade policy
VENEZUELA: EU to punish 19 new Maduro regime dignitaries
G7: G7 leaders’ meeting to be dominated by Covid-19 pandemic response and global recovery
SECURITY - DEFENCE
NATO: Allies decide not to decide on future of Afghanistan mission
SECTORAL POLICIES
HEALTH: new draft compromise in EU Council on health technology assessment
ENERGY: Portuguese Presidency of the Council surveys EU Member States on energy dimension of national recovery plans
AGRICULTURE: common agricultural policy contributes to balanced territorial development, according to a study 
AGRICULTURE: EFFAT and other organisations stress social conditionality for agricultural subsidies in future 
ENVIRONMENT: Zero Waste Europe and ECOS warn against flexibility in ‘mass balance’ approach to recycling of plastic products
MIGRATION: EU asylum decisions in 2020 surpassed number of applications filed
EDUCATION
EDUCATION: informal meeting of EU ministers once again under auspices of Covid-19
BREACHES OF EU LAW
ENVIRONMENT: Slovakia, Germany, Poland and Slovenia will have to explain themselves to Court for breach of EU law
RULE OF LAW: Commission formally requests that Hungary implement June 2020 Court of Justice judgment on foreign NGOs
HUNGARY: Hungary cannot continue to externalise asylum policy on pandemic pretext
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS: five Member States pinpointed for incorrect transposition of EU rules criminalising serious manifestations of racism and xenophobia
MONEY LAUNDERING: Germany, Portugal, and Romania required to correctly transpose fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
COMPANIES: CFA Institute calls on policy makers to improve corporate governance in EU
STATE AID: European Commission publishes new ‘guiding template’ on cloud computing capabilities
COMPETITION: European Commission adopts definitive measures to safeguard divestiture of former Aleris plant in Belgium
TAXATION: Commission consults on new implementing rules for VAT e-commerce trade
EU RESPONSE TO COVID-19
HEALTH: 26 Covid-19 antigen tests are recognised in EU
ANIMAL HEALTH: EFSA recommends early detection of SARS-CoV-2 in mink
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS - SOCIETAL ISSUES
MEDIA: Commission condemns Slovenian Prime Minister’s remarks to journalists, but will not intervene directly
NEWS BRIEFS
FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Mr Borrell convenes Global Tech Panel for first time
AGRICULTURE: two new geographical indications from Hungary and Slovakia receive EU protection
TRADE: European Commission initiates anti-subsidy investigation procedure against India and Indonesia
TAXATION: Stéphanie Yon-Courtin calls for reduction in VAT rate for equine and equestrian sectors
GEORGIA: EU concerned over country’s political polarisation
NAGORNO-KARABAKH: EUR 3 million in aid for civilian victims of conflict 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: next plenary session to take place in Brussels
CIVIL PROTECTION: Member States approve European Parliament/EU Council agreement to improve EU rapid response to major disasters
RUSSIA: Moscow considers European Court of Human Rights’ call for immediate release of Alexei Navalny unacceptable