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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 13374

20 March 2024
Contents Publication in full By article 3 / 43
Russian invasion of Ukraine / Trade
EU Council and European Parliament attempt to reach agreement on trade liberalisation with Ukraine
Brussels, 19/03/2024 (Agence Europe)

The suspension of tariffs on products from Ukraine continues to raise debate in European institutions. On Tuesday, 19 March, negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU Council met in the evening in order to attempt to reach agreement on the regulation extending the suspension of tariffs for another year (see EUROPE B13370A14). Discussions had not yet started by the time we went to press.

The Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU was hoping for an agreement as early as...

Contents

Russian invasion of Ukraine
UKRAINE: “summer will be crucial”, warns Josep Borrell
ECONOMY: Josep Borrell to propose using profits from Russian public assets frozen in EU primarily to buy arms for Ukraine
TRADE: EU Council and European Parliament attempt to reach agreement on trade liberalisation with Ukraine
EXTERNAL ACTION
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: Member States’ ministers welcome measures taken by Sarajevo with a view to possible opening of EU accession negotiations
ENLARGEMENT: Ukraine, Moldova and Western Balkans – Member State ministers stress importance of an accession process based on merit and reform
HUMANITARIAN AID: EU and Member States announce €7.7 billion contribution to tackle global crises
ACP: MEPs approve Samoa Agreement between EU and 79 ACP countries
SOCIAL AFFAIRS - EMPLOYMENT
EMPLOYMENT: European Commission to attempt to combat poor working conditions for trainees and employment relationships disguised as fake traineeships
SOCIAL/EMPLOYMENT: MEPs on European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs take a positive view of last legislative period
PLATFORMS: MEPs approve agreement reached with EU Council on digital platform workers
SECTORAL POLICIES
HEALTH: MEPs reach compromise on pharmaceutical legislative package
AGRICULTURE: MEPs hope for swift adoption of proposals to simplify CAP rules
AGRICULTURE: MEPs adopt their position on stricter rules for plant reproductive material
ENVIRONMENT: reducing microplastic pollution, João Albuquerque’s report adopted by European Parliament Committee ahead of interinstitutional negotiations
CLIMATE: MEPs question European Commission on consistency of its communication on climate risk adaptation
REGIONS: ambitious public investment is needed to meet common challenges, according to EU regions and cities
COHESION: in Mons, European Committee of Regions defends a robust Cohesion Policy post-2027
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: European Commission publishes a recommendation to combat counterfeiting
PATENTS: patent applications increased in 2023
DIGITAL: European telecoms regulators publish report on the ‘cloudification’ of EU networks
RESEARCH: ERC publishes first results of annual impact study of projects it has supported
HOME AFFAIRS: MEPs approve agreement reached with EU Council on revision of Schengen Borders Code
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
COMPETITION: Kingspan’s proposed acquisition of Trimo would have provided inaccurate information to European Commission
ECONOMY: capital markets and budgetary discipline at heart of Eurogroup’s priorities
COMPETITIVENESS: Bruno Le Maire thinks EU should focus on innovation and less on producing standards
COMPANIES: MEPs approve revised provisional agreement on corporate due diligence
MONEY LAUNDERING: MEPs approve agreement with EU Council on strengthened rules
MONEY LAUNDERING: MEPs approve agreement with EU Council on centralised registers of bank accounts
INSTITUTIONAL
EP2024: European liberals, centrists and democrats present their leading candidates ahead of launch of Renew Europe Now platform
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS - SOCIETAL ISSUES
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS: to strengthen rights and inclusion of people with disabilities, Belgian Presidency of EU Council examines future of EU’s 2021-2030 strategy
GENDER EQUALITY: two researchers call for greater attention to be paid to intersectionality in all policies adopted by European Parliament
COUNCIL OF EUROPE
HUNGARY : Venice Commission calls for changes to Hungarian law on protection of national sovereignty and calls into question Sovereignty Protection Office
RUSSIA : Theódoros Roussópoulos calls on international community to “no longer recognise Putin’s legitimacy as President”
NEWS BRIEFS
HOME AFFAIRS: MEPs approve political agreement on rules for collecting and transferring API passenger data
FUTURE OF EUROPE: 4th summit of ‘European Political Community’ will take place on 18 July in Woodstock
CANADA: European Commission consults on CETA
CLIMATE: green diplomacy, EU Member States commit to promoting a fair and inclusive ecological transition on a global scale
WOMEN’S RIGHTS: at 68th United Nations Commission on Status of Women, European Parliament delegation organises an event for gender equality at work
ENVIRONMENT: provisional political agreement on ‘Packaging and Packaging Waste’ Regulation validated by MEPs in European Parliament committee
MIDDLE EAST: ICC strengthens its team to work on situation on ground
RESEARCH: European Commission unveils results of European Prize for Women Innovators
RESEARCH: European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking opens a call for tenders for LUMI-Q, a new quantum computer in the Czech Republic
CORRIGENDUM
INTERNAL MARKET/TRADE: corrigendum – thresholds for application of due diligence directive have indeed been raised by Member States