NEWSLETTER N° 195 – 18 November 2024

The Commissioners-designate hearings wrapped up last week, but the real drama is only just beginning. The political groups in the European Parliament are acting as judge, jury, and executioner, deciding the fate of the Executive Vice-President designates through the mysterious art of political negotiation. Who will survive the final cut, and who will be shown the door?

Budapest Declaration on EU Competitiveness: On 8 November, EU leaders adopted a New European Competitiveness Deal: the Budapest Declaration.

Stéphane Séjourné hearing: On 12 November, Stéphane Séjourné, Commissioner-designate, Prosperity and Industrial Strategy had his hearing with MEPs. The election by MEPs of the full college of Commissioners is currently scheduled to take place during the 25-28 November plenary session.

Teresa Ribera Rodriguez hearing: On 12 November, Teresa Ribera Rodríguez, Executive Vice-President-designate of the European Commission for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition was heard by MEPs for her hearing. In the end, the MEPs decided to postpone their assessment of the appointment of the Ribera and link her fate to  the other executive vice-presidents’.

November infringement package: In its regular package of infringement decisions, the European Commission pursues legal action against Member States for failing to comply with their obligations under EU law. In this case, the Commission has called on Greece to report data on compliance with recycling targets in line with the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) and on Hungary to correctly transpose this Directive as well as the Landfill Directive. In addition, it has called on Ireland, Bulgaria and Romania to comply with the judgments of the Court of Justice on the adequate collection and treatment of urban waste water. Finally, it also called on France to ensure that its labelling requirements for waste sorting comply with the principle of free movement of goods.

PFAS in fire fighting foams: On 8 November, the European Commission has published a public consultation on perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related substance. The aim of the consultation is to postpone the date of the ban for fire-fighting foams (originally for 4 July 2025) and propose new concentration limits as an unintentional trace contaminant.

Ecodesign Forum: On 7 November, the Commission has published the call for applications for experts for its new ecodesign forum. 

Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) – JRC conclusions: On 13 November, the JRC issued its conclusions on the products that need to be prioritised for the development of ESPR standards. 

Soil monitoring and resilience directive: The European Parliament published a briefing on the ongoing negotiations on the soil monitoring and resilience directive. 

Clean Industrial Deal – Written question: On 17 October, MEP Dan-Stefan Motreanu (EPP, Romania) submitted a written question for answer to the Commission on the Clean Industrial Deal. 

COP29: On 14 November, the European Parliament adopted its draft resolution on COP29. 

National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs): On 14 November, the European Commission launched infringement procedures against the 13 Member states that have not yet submitted their NECPs. 

Energy Charter Treaty (ECT): On 11 November, the Commission published a proposal for a Councils Decision urging them not to oppose the modernisation of the ECT at the upcoming conference  on 3 December. 

EU’s energy security framework – test: An exercise testing the European Union’s energy security framework has concluded that the EU is well prepared to deal with the worst and ‘most unlikely scenarios’. 

Russian fossil fuels: On 14 November, in a adopted non-binding resolution, the European Parliament asked all Member States to ban all imports of Russian fossil fuels including Liquified Natural Gas (LNG). 

Mutual recognition of goods – evaluation: The final summary report of the public consultation on mutual recognition of goods was published. 

EU Competition policy – BusinessEurope: On 11 November, BusinessEurope published what they consider should be the priorities for the next political cycle.

Priorities for the future of EU State Aid Framework – BusinessEurope: In June 2024, BusinessEurope published a report titled ‘Priorities for the future of EU State Aid Framework’. 

Commission Communication: Paula Pinho has been nominated as the European Commission’s new Chief Spokesperson. 

Maltese Commissioner: Clint Tanti will be the head of Cabinet for Glenn Micallef, European Commissioner for the Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport. 

Maltese representative: Neil Kerrhas been appointed as the new Maltese ambassador to the EU. 

FEAD news: Last week, FEAD’s Secretary General, Paolo Campanella, was at VIBES project in Spain. Rafael Basciano, our Environmental and Technical Officer participated to a panel during the second edition of EU Chemicals and Sustainability Conference on Wednesday 13 November.