Last week, under the EU Merger Regulation, the European Commission approved Apple’s proposed acquisition of U.K.-based developer, Shazam. The Commission concluded that the merger would not adversely affect competition in the European Economic Area or any substantial part of it. Shazam distributes music recognition applications for smartphones, tablets and PCs. The company mainly generates revenue from online advertising, and earns commission from user referrals to digital music streaming and download services, such as Apple Music, Spotify and Deezer.
The European Council adopted a regulation to establish the European travel information and authorization system (ETIAS). ETIAS will apply to visa-exempt third country nationals, who will need to obtain travel authorization before their trip, via an online application. For each application, the applicant will be required to pay a travel authorization fee of €7.
The system will also allow for advanced checks and, if necessary, deny travel authorization to visa-exempt third-country nationals traveling to the Schengen area. The information submitted in each application will be automatically processed against EU and relevant Interpol databases to determine whether there are grounds to refuse travel authorization. The new system is expected to be operational by 2021.
The Commission decided not to extend trade defense measures on solar panels from China. After being in place for almost five years, the EU anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures on solar panels from China will now expire.
The Commission recommended the Council open negotiations with the United States to settle the longstanding World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute on the export of U.S. beef.
-This week
EU’s Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom will host U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at the first political-level meeting of a new working group on Monday in Brussels. In July, the U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker pledged to hold high-level political talks on trade disputes.
-CO2 emissions from new cars and vans
Legislation setting stricter CO2 emission limits will be put to a vote in the Environment Committee on Monday. The draft legislation proposes a 30 percent cut in emissions for new cars by 2030. The draft text by the leading members of the European Parliament advocates raising the target to 50 percent and boosting the market uptake of electric cars.
-State of the Union
The EU Commission President will kick off the debate in his fourth and last State of the Union speech on Wednesday. Before the European elections are held in May 2019, MEPs will take stock of the Juncker Commission’s achievements to date.
-Rule of law in Hungary
MEPs will debate the rule of law in Hungary with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Tuesday before deciding on Wednesday whether the EU must act to counter the risk of a serious breach of EU values. If backed by MEPs, this would be the first time that Parliament takes the initiative of recommending that Article 7 sanctions be activated. Article 7 is a mechanism of the Lisbon Treaty that opens a path for sanctions against a member state and a temporary loss of EU Council voting rights.
-Greek Prime Minister/Future of Europe
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will be the ninth EU leader to debate the future of Europe with MEPs and Juncker on Tuesday.
-New copyright rules
MEPs will debate and vote on Parliament’s position on copyright rules for the digital sphere on Wednesday after the House decided in July to reopen the
proposal made by the Legal Affairs Committee. Its text and the ensuing amendments will be put to a vote on Wednesday.
-European Solidarity Corps
MEPs will vote Tuesday on establishing the EU Solidarity Corps, which will offer volunteering opportunities for young people in the EU for activities relating to education, health, protecting the environment, disaster prevention, provision of food and non-food items, reception and integration of migrants and asylum seekers.