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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 13175

5 May 2023
Contents Publication in full By article 26 / 36
COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EU / State aid
European Commission wrongly found that Luxembourg had granted unlawful aid to Engie as tax benefits
Brussels, 04/05/2023 (Agence Europe)

The European Commission has wrongly found that Luxembourg granted unlawful state aid in the form of tax benefits to the Engie group, according to the opinion of Advocate General Juliane Kokott delivered on Thursday 4 May (cases C-451/21 P and C-454/21 P).

On the one hand, only national law is the frame of reference and, on the other hand, only advance tax rulings that are clearly wrong under national law can constitute a selective advantage, according to the Advocate General.

The...

Contents

Russian invasion of Ukraine
DEVELOPMENT: EU concerned that Poland will make signing post-Cotonou agreement conditional on concessions on Ukrainian grain
EXTERNAL ACTION
DEVELOPMENT: EU Council wants a harmonised European approach to fighting corruption as an obstacle to development
DEVELOPMENT: EU ministers continue to reflect on reform of multilateral development banks
SUDAN: EU ready to step up humanitarian aid and help Egypt cope with refugee influx
AFGHANISTAN: Josep Borrell laments Taliban’s decision to ban Afghan women from working with United Nations in Afghanistan
WESTERN BALKANS: EU disapproves of Pristina’s decision to dissolve team responsible for setting up Association of Serbian Municipalities in northern Kosovo
CELAC: Ms von der Leyen and Mr Gonsalves want to breathe new life into EU/CELAC partnership
FOREIGN AFFAIRS: nine EU Member States launch ‘Group of Friends to foster Qualified Majority Voting in CFSP’
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
ECB: ECB raises rates by 25 basis points and plans accelerated balance sheet reduction as of July
MONEY LAUNDERING: European co-legislators request assistance of European Commission in determining location of future ‘AMLA’ authority
COMPETITIVENESS: Kristalina Georgieva warns against misaligned EU subsidies for green industry
COMPANIES: EBF and SMEunited concerned about postponement of development of sustainability reporting standards
COMPETITION: European Commission clears Hydro’s acquisition of Alumetal
SECTORAL POLICIES
DIGITAL: European Commission unveils recommendation to combat online piracy of live events
CUSTOMS: EU Council to propose a strategy for customs cooperation on internal EU security
CLIMATE: EU citizens call for more awareness and better regulation when asked by European Commission
ENERGY: energy performance of buildings, details of EU Council and European Parliament positions for interinstitutional negotiations
ENERGY: 5.1 billion tonnes of CO2 emitted by oil and gas operations in 2022, according to International Energy Agency
REGIONS: ministers of Union for the Mediterranean commit to building sustainable and safe cities
SOCIAL AFFAIRS
SOCIAL/EMPLOYMENT: digital and energy transition jobs, EU ministers tackle labour shortage headache
COUNCIL OF EUROPE
ENVIRONMENT: Council of Europe is considering how to make right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment in Europe a fundamental right
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS - SOCIETAL ISSUES
HUNGARY: Hungarian Parliament takes first step towards releasing EU funds frozen over Rule of law concerns
INSTITUTIONAL
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: draft report on integrity of European Parliament, rapporteurs defend a political text
COURT OF AUDITORS: EU auditors’ 2022 activity report scrutinises Europe’s growing budget
SECURITY - DEFENCE
DEFENCE: European Peace Facility, Council adopts two assistance measures for Moldova and Georgia
COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EU
STATE AID: European Commission wrongly found that Luxembourg had granted unlawful aid to Engie as tax benefits
ECONOMY: CJEU annuls authorisation of Crédit lyonnais to exclude all its exposures to Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations for the purposes of calculating leverage ratio
JUSTICE: according to Court of Justice of EU, right to receive a copy of all personal data implies obtaining a faithful and intelligible reproduction of data
JUSTICE: CJEU rules infringement of GDPR does not, by itself, confer right to compensation
JUSTICE: according to Advocate General of EU Court of Justice, a public body may prohibit wearing of religious symbols under certain conditions
HOME AFFAIRS: a mandatary can be prohibited from all elective public office for 3 years in case of a conflict of interest during his or her mandate if their right to a remedy is respected, according to Court of Justice of EU
NEWS BRIEFS
HOME AFFAIRS: fight against crime and terrorism, EDPS issues recommendations for agreements on exchange of personal data envisaged with five Latin American countries
STATE AID: Covid-19, green light for €34 million in Dutch aid for sports event organisers
ENERGY: European Commission wishes to prolong its powers to adopt delegated acts under Renewable Energy Directive
SPACE: Meteosat Third Generation Imager delivers its first image of Earth
SIERRA LEONE: EU to observe Sierra Leonean general elections