Insights | EU Insight, 4 October 2024

04/10/2024

EU Insight, 4 October 2024

PARLIAMENT AGREES TIMELINE FOR COMMISSIONERS’ CONFIRMATION HEARINGS

The European Parliament agreed on the timeline for the confirmation hearings of Commissioner-designates. Concretely, between 4 and 12 November,  MEPs will assess the qualities and qualifications of Commissioner-designates, and eventually decide on the ultimate composition of the EU’s executive. Each grilling session will be led by one or more responsible committees, with others invited to provide a non-binding opinion. Commissioner candidates are Spain’s Teresa Ribera, and France’s Stéphane Séjourné, whose hearings will be attended by 8 committees, respectively. Should the hearing process go smoothly, the next College of Commissioners could take office on 1 December. Conversely, any rejection of the proposed Commissioners could risk delaying the starting date of the new Commission to 2025.

 

COMMISSION PROPOSES TO DELAY CONTROVERSIAL EU DEFORESTATION REGULATION

After significant concerns raised and months of speculation, the Commission proposed to delay the application of the EU Deforestation Regulation by 12-months to 30 December 2025. This move comes in response to the relentless advocacy by industry, national governments, and global trade partners alike, to push back the Regulation’s application. Notably, most impacted stakeholders argued that the Regulation, would have been impossible to implement by the original deadline, particularly due to the until now missing implementation guidance. For context, the initiative requires companies to ensure that their products are not linked to deforestation at any point in their supply chain. Moving forward, Council and Parliament will have to endorse the proposed delay, a process which could lead to further amendments of the original text.

 

COUNCIL PAVES THE WAY FOR THE IMPOSITION OF TARIFFS ON CHINESE EVs

The Commission secured the green light from Council to impose tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs) imported from China. To recall, in an anti-subsidy investigation launched in October 2023, the Commission concluded that Chinese EV value chains benefit from unfair subsidization to the detriment of European car manufacturers. As such, to protect European industry the Commission introduced provisional tariffs on Chinese EVs in July 2024, which needed to be formally endorsed by Council. While key Member States such as Germany or Spain were vocal against the initiative, their efforts were not enough to block the adoption of the tariffs, which should enter into effect in their definitive form by 31 October. Simultaneously, the EU and China remain engaged in negotiations to find an alternative solution.

 

COMMISSION TO ASSESS ALGORITHM RISK MITIGATION BY TIKTOK, YOUTUBE AND SNAPCHAT

Under the Digital Services Act, the Commission has requested information from YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok about the design and functioning of their recommendation algorithms. Concretely, the Commission’s inquiry seeks clarifications on how the platforms are mitigating the risks to mental health or the dissemination of misinformation related to elections or overall harmful content, which may arise from their respective algorithms. The Commission is further inquiring on how these platforms are protecting their algorithms against their potential manipulation by malicious third parties, such as foreign governments or criminal organizations. The platforms, who have committed to collaborate with the Commission’s request, have until 15 November to submit information after which the Commission will assess whether to take any further action.

 

INVESTEU: THE KEY TO UNLOCK INVESTMENTS FOR €218 BILLION

The Commission concluded an interim evaluation of the EU’s flagship investment programme InvestEU. Halfway through its lifetime, the Commission finds that the programme has unlocked €218 billion in additional investments since its launch in 2021. Overall, the initiative, aims to foster private investments in the green and digital transitions across the Union, through the use of public guarantees, thus facilitating access to finance for European companies. According to the Commission, its interim evaluation confirms the programme’s success in bridging investment gaps by mobilising funding towards those projects deemed too risky or unattractive for investors, which would have not received market-based financing.

 

COMING UP NEXT WEEK

  • 7-10 October: European Parliament plenary session. On the agenda: Updates on Middle East conflict, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, European security and climate change.
  • 7 October: Eurogroup. On the agenda: Digital Euro, Competitiveness and Capital Markets Union
  • 8 October: College of Commissioners. On the agenda: Digitalisation of travel documents.
  • 8 October: Economic and Financial Affairs Council. On the agenda: Recovery and Resilience Facility, European Semester, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
  • 9-10 October: Informal meeting of employment, social policy and health ministers. On the agenda: Labour shortages, the European labour potential and social inclusion of persons with disabilities.
  • 10-11 October: Justice and Home Affairs Council. On the agenda: The fight against drug trafficking and organised crime, and the fight against racism.

 

Tuomas Tierala, Managing Partner Brussels, Kreab

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Kreab • Tel: +32 2 737 6900 • tuomas.tierala@kreab.com • www.kreab.com/brussels • X: @KreabEU  •  LinkedIn: Kreab Worldwide