EU summit topics + China’s ETS + How Kaili used the EPRS

Dear reader,

Migration policy was supposed to be the focus of today’s special EU summit – but now a special guest is likely to set the tone: After surprise visits to London and Paris, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected in Brussels today. There is also a need to talk about a completely different topic, namely Europe’s reaction to the US Inflation Reduction Act. “An unrestrained subsidy race with the US would certainly be the wrong way to go,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said yesterday in the Bundestag. You will find an outlook on the summit at the beginning of our briefing.

Faulty data along with lax controls by authorities: According to the Chinese Ministry of the Environment, a large part of the emissions data of all those companies that participate in the Chinese Emission Trading System (ETS) has deficiencies. The unreliable data situation could become a problem for the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). However, as Nico Beckert and Lukas Scheid have learned, the EU is keeping a backdoor open for precisely this case.

The Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) is an internal body of the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) that hardly anyone outside Parliament knows about. For Eva Kaili, the main figure in the corruption scandal, however, it had an important function: she used its chairmanship for her political work – and awarded posts to her sister and the quasi-governmental Qatar Foundation, as Charlotte Wirth’s research shows.

Your
Sarah Schaefer

Ukraine, subsidies and migration: the topics of the EU summit

It is a poorly kept secret: Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected in Brussels today. At an estimated 10 a.m., Ukraine’s President is scheduled to address the European Parliament, which is meeting for a special session. Afterward, he is expected to join the heads of state and government of the EU states a few hundred meters away, who are gathered in the Europe Building for a special summit.

EU diplomats did not want to confirm Zelenskiy’s visit for security reasons – not even when the President had already arrived in London. It was known that Council President Charles Michel had issued an open invitation, a diplomat said. The caution may also have to do with the fact that information about this was leaked from Parliament earlier this week and the visit was suddenly in question.

Zelenskiy likely to set tone

In London, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to examine whether the UK could comply with Ukraine’s request and provide fighter jets. However, this would only be possible in the long term.

In the evening, Zelenskiy was received in Paris by President Emmanuel Macron, who had also invited German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for dinner: the aim was to “reaffirm France’s and Europe’s unwavering support for Ukraine.” The goal is to continue the close coordination that makes it possible to respond quickly and efficiently to the needs expressed by Kyiv.

In Brussels, Zelenskiy is expected to set the tone during his appearance before the EU Parliament. The honored guest is likely to thank the EU for its support and set out expectations for the coming months, according to a diplomat. No new commitments on aid or with regard to a date for accession negotiations are expected at the summit, it is said. Leaders also plan to discuss how to prosecute Russian war crimes and use blocked foreign currency from Russia’s central bank for reconstruction.

Europe’s response to the Inflation Reduction Act

The summit is also an opportunity for leaders to discuss Europe’s response to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which went into effect in the US at the beginning of the year. There is a double challenge ahead, said an EU diplomat: implementing the Green Deal and competing internationally. The EU urgently needs to provide a strong response to the IRA and promote the clean-tech sector, they said. However, not everything has to be done at the same time; for example, an additional sovereignty fund could wait until summer.

The debate will focus on the Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net-Zero Age presented by the EU Commission. The communication provides for simplification and relaxation of the strict European state aid rules as well as tax concessions for companies. At the same time, the internal market and the “level playing field” between the EU states must be preserved, according to the draft conclusions, which Table.Media has received. In addition, SMEs should also be promoted.

More flexible use of EU funds

A number of member states are opposed to far-reaching changes to the state aid rules, as demanded by Paris and, to a lesser extent, Berlin. They fear that Germany in particular could use its financial strength to give its domestic industry a competitive advantage. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz tried to counter this: “An unrestrained subsidy race with the USA would certainly be the wrong way to go,” he said in the Bundestag.

Funding issues are also controversial. Portugal and Spain, for example, argue that the relaxation of state aid rules must be synchronized with progress in European financing. Scholz, on the other hand, rejects new EU pots. He said the Corona build-up facility alone earmarked €250 billion for decarbonizing industry, with billions more from REPowerEU, InvestEU and research and cohesion funds. “If you compare all of this to the US funding programs of $370 billion, you can see: Europe doesn’t need to hide.”

The heads of state and government can agree on the demand to use existing EU funds more flexibly to promote green industries. They also call for the EU rules to be made less bureaucratic and more simplified in order to facilitate investment.

Migration as a point of contention

No decisions are expected. The EU Commission has already announced that it will draw up a legislative proposal based on the debates, which could then be adopted at the March summit. The results of the informal consultations held by German Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck and French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire in Washington are also to be included in this proposal.

Scholz was cautiously optimistic about the migration debate, originally planned as a main focus of this special summit. “After years of stalemate, progress is possible in European asylum policy,” he said. EU diplomats in Brussels also confirmed this. There was a chance that the entire migration pact could be adopted by the end of the legislative period next year, they said. Stephan Israel, Eric Bonse, Till Hoppe and Sérgio Aníbal

China’s Emissions Trading System: a problem for the CBAM

In theory, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) applies to all importers to Europe: Anyone who pays a CO2 price on their products in the country of production gets this credited when calculating the climate tariff CBAM. This applies to all products covered by the CBAM: Cement, fertilizer, electricity, hydrogen, iron, steel and aluminum.

In practice, this means that instead of paying the full EU CO2 price on steel imports, for example, the foreign steel producer is granted a discount on the domestic CO2 price. However, the foreign steel producer must prove to the European authorities how much carbon dioxide was actually emitted during production. This CO2 balance of the product must be certified by an institution independent of the producer and state authorities, according to the regulation recently adopted in the trilogue to introduce the CBAM.

Numerous data deficiencies in China’s ETS

In China, this very verification could become a problem for future trade with Europe. Nearly 80 percent of all data reported by companies participating in the Chinese ETS has flaws, as reported by the Chinese Ministry of the Environment. Emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants are not measured directly. Instead, plants calculate them based on the coal used to generate electricity and the efficiency of the power plants. The authorities do not adequately monitor this.

Add to that several data scandals. These have increased pressure on authorities to close loopholes, says Yan Qin, an analyst at Refinitiv, a provider of financial market data. The new guidelines are stricter, she says. But controls and penalties have not been tightened. The penalty for failing to comply with regulatory requirements or manipulating emissions data is only the equivalent of just over €4,000 (¥30,000). In some cases, it is cheaper to accept the penalty than to buy additional certificates.

Expansion to other industries postponed several times

So far, only larger coal and gas-fired power plants are included in China’s ETS. The expansion to include steel, cement and aluminum has been repeatedly postponed, also with reference to the poor data. According to the Chinese Ministry of the Environment, all industrial sectors are nevertheless to participate by 2025.

One year later, the climate tariff CBAM will be due for the first time at the EU’s external borders. The unreliable data of Chinese ETS participants could pose a problem for the assessment of climate tariffs for Chinese producers. “How much outside verification China will allow remains to be seen,” says Verena Graichen, ETS expert and senior researcher for energy and climate protection at Öko-Institut. It is true that the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) – a climate protection instrument from the Kyoto Protocol – has an international verification system that also works in China. But Graichen says China is not very keen on having its own systems looked at.

CBAM discount, but how much?

The European authorities are therefore likely to have a hard time tracking the data supplied from China. At the same time, from a trade policy perspective, the EU cannot do without the promised rebate. “Because China has an ETS and charges a CO2 price, there must also be a deduction in the CBAM for products covered by the Chinese ETS,” Graichen says. But she points out that the EU has come up with a solution for such cases.

As the EU Commission cannot rely on emissions data to assess the Chinese CO2 price as things stand, it has the option of applying its own criteria. If the actual emissions of a product cannot be determined, the average emission intensity of the product from the country of origin will be used and a “proportionally determined price surcharge” will be applied. The Commission still intends to set the level of the surcharge in a so-called implementing act.

Reliable data for emergencies under pressure

If there is no information from the country of production about this average value either, the emission intensity of the European plants with the worst performance is automatically assumed for the product. In this way, European legislators hope to put pressure on their trading partners to provide reliable emissions data for their products.

How reporting by foreign importers works in practice, in what format information is provided, and how the CO₂ price paid abroad translates into rebates on the purchase of CBAM allowances, the Commission still wants to decide in implementing acts. “Article 9 of the CBAM Directive only explains the principle, not the implementation,” Graichen said.

However, part of the truth is that the actual share of Sino-European trade affected by the CBAM is rather small. China exported goods worth €472.7 billion to the EU in 2021. According to one analysis, the sectors affected by CBAM accounted for only 1.8 percent of Chinese exports to the EU in 2019. Nevertheless, it is clear that if China wants to avoid high climate tariffs on these products when they are imported into Europe, it will have to provide reliable emissions data. Nico Beckert and Lukas Scheid

How Eva Kaili used the EPRS

By

Charlotte Wirth

In the context of the “Qatargate” scandal, the role of the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) raises both questions and eyebrows. The service organized at least three events with Fight Impunity – the NGO founded by the main suspect Pier Antonio Panzeri specifically to launder bribes. How the collaboration came about and whether the European Parliament paid for it remains unclear. The Parliament does not have to account for engagements of less than €15,000. When asked by Table.Media, the EPRS replied that it does not keep a list of its cooperation with NGOs.

However, the research service should have noticed that Fight Impunity was not in the transparency register. According to the European Parliament’s lobbying rules, stakeholders must register there if they organize or participate in events in the Parliament. For example, Fight Impunity organized an international human rights conference in June 2022 in cooperation with the EPRS, the Human Rights Committee in the EP and the NGO No Peace without Justice.

EPRS used in a targeted manner

Also questionable is the role played by an internal EPRS panel chaired by Eva Kaili. This was the Panel for the Future of Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA), which Kaili chaired from 2019 to 2021. She later served as vice president in charge of the panel. Like Panzeri, Kaili has been in custody since December. Belgian investigators accuse her of corruption and money laundering.

STOA is a panel from the 1980s that hardly anyone outside of Parliament knows about. The panel’s work essentially consists of commissioning studies. The authors present these at the panel’s monthly meetings. Sometimes additional workshops are offered or events are organized on the studies. STOA has its own budget for this: in 2021, it was €650,000 for expertise alone.

Rules for STOA unclear

Under Kaili, however, the panel developed mainly into an outpost of her political work. As chairwoman of the panel, she set the priorities for the panel’s work: the first priority was not to be the Green Deal, as previously set by the panel, but artificial intelligence. It is the topic that shaped Kaili’s parliamentary work. At STOA, she has commissioned studies on cybersecurity or public perception of artificial intelligence. Mihalis Kritikos, who was previously a member of the secretariat and responsible for the studies, moved to Kaili’s office in 2022.

That Kaili used the STOA for her parliamentary work is not forbidden. The panel’s rules are woolly: The panel’s purpose is to “conduct projects to evaluate scientific and technical issues,” the rules say. They go on to say that “STOA provides input to discussion and legislative work on scientific and technical issues of particular policy relevance.”

Family business on Kaili’s advisory board

Kaili, as chair of the panel, also established an international advisory board. While all panel members were allowed to suggest names, those that came from Kaili are particularly notable: Elon Tech and Qatar Foundation among them.

Elon Tech stands for European Law Observatory on New Technologies. Behind it is the communications company Made Group, which is run by Eva Kaili’s sister Mantalena Kaili, along with Matina Kanaki. Although Made Group was only founded in 2017, it already received a lucrative contract from the EU Commission for €1.8 million in January 2018. This was followed in 2019 by another contract for around €900,000 for a pilot project on art and digitalization.

Elon Tech said it was formed in 2018 to bring together experts in law and technology. A member of the board, who is no longer listed on Elon Tech’s website as of today, is Eva Kaili. At the same time, Kaili hired Made Group co-founder Matina Kanaki as an accredited assistant in 2020. And, the Greek has another Elon Tech co-founder, Alexandros Spyridonos, working for her as an external service provider.

Privileged insight into AI legislation

No one in Parliament seems to have noticed the potential conflicts of interest. According to the information, the advisory board was not paid. However, it was given a privileged insight into EU legislation and was able to put forward its own proposals. One of the topics of an advisory board meeting in June 2021 was legislative proposals on artificial intelligence.

The original rules on STOA did not provide for an advisory board. The text was amended in 2019 to allow for the introduction of an advisory board (Article 3.5). What rules this is subject to is not specified in the text. When asked, the European Parliament responded that “it was agreed that this body should focus in particular on STOA activities in the area of artificial intelligence (AI) […] and should be chaired by Eva Kaili until the end of the Board’s term in 2024.”

Qatar Foundation as a consultant

Another member that Eva Kaili placed on the advisory board was the Qatar Foundation. It was represented by Silvano Salvaggio. Salvaggio heads Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar. The Qatar Foundation is a science and education foundation close to the Qatari royal family. It was established in 2000 as part of the “Qatar Vision 2030” strategy to give Qatar a positive image abroad.

The foundation’s main purpose is to make government investments abroad. In the US, it came under criticism for its donations of millions of dollars to American universities, which it refuses to account for. The Qatar Foundation is made up of a complex network of financial companies, such as the Luxembourg-based holding company Lux Pillar.

Neither did anyone seem to be bothered by the membership of a quasi-governmental foundation representing Qatar’s interests abroad on the advisory board in a European Parliament body. The Parliament commented when asked that the composition of the advisory board had been accepted by the STOA panel, which is made up of 27 MEPs from various committees.

Stricter transparency rules in the EP: further discussions needed

The heads of the political groups in the EP and Parliament President Roberta Metsola were unable to agree on stricter transparency rules yesterday evening. The basis of the discussions was a catalog of 15 points, which is available to Table.Media.

Accordingly, in the future, information about the MEPs should be visible in a prominent place on the EP website under the heading “Integrity.” Details could include:

sanctions
gifts
trips not paid for by the Parliament
planned meetings
code of conduct
transparency register

In principle, all members of Parliament, their staff as well as Parliament officials shall disclose all meetings with representatives of third countries and stakeholders. There shall be exceptions to this if there are justified reasons.

Ex-MEPs lose access badge

Unofficial friendship groups are to be banned. Ex-MEPs are no longer to be given access passes but would have to obtain one-day accreditation. They would also no longer be allowed to bring guests.

There are to be new rules for external access to the EP. In the future, visitors are to state who they are meeting and why. The body that monitors violations of the transparency rules is to be strengthened and sanctions tightened.

EPP wants stricter rules for NGOs

The EPP Group also wants stricter rules for NGOs. They want NGOs to be excluded if there is even a suspicion of corruption.

With the new regulations, the EP wants to draw the consequences from the corruption scandal surrounding criminal NGOs, former MEPs and the deposed vice parliamentary president Eva Kaili. Metsola first presented a plan for more transparency in January. mgr

Methane bill: lobbyist involvement?

There is evidence of direct lobbying on a Parliamentary report on a Fit for 55 legislative proposal from the Commission. At issue is Green Party MEP Jutta Paulus’ report on the Commission’s proposal to reduce methane emissions in the energy sector. Methane acts as an amplifier of climate change 28 times more than CO2. The bill affects industrial installations and sets targets for them in the areas of energy, agriculture, waste and wastewater.

Two of the rapporteur’s Word documents incorporating the compromise motions that went to the shadow rapporteurs were created by Alessia Virone, chief lobbyist for Europe for the US Clean Air Task Force (CATF) organization, according to information obtained by Table.Media. According to the document’s properties, Virone created them on her computer at 9:41 a.m. on Jan. 16, 2023. CATF is an NGO that has been campaigning for better air quality since 1996.

Document supposedly only a ‘formatting template’

When asked, Paulus admitted that the document had its origin with the lobbyist: “Our political advisor in the group took a paper sent by Ms. Virone as a formatting basis (two-column table) for his own document.” But the content of the document with the compromise motions, which was finally sent to the EP, did not come from the lobbyist, Paul asserts: “The documents with the compromise motions are not from Ms. Virone.”

Paulus’ office provided Table.Media with a document in which the lobbyist had formulated its requests for amendments. According to the document, at least on one point, concerning deadlines for the preparation of mitigation plans for methane emissions from mines, the Greens strongly support the proposal submitted by CATF. The Commission proposal called for 36 months; Virone proposes 18 months.

Lobbycontrol criticizes the process

The transparency NGO Lobbycontrol criticizes Paulus’ actions. “If a lobbyist created the amendment file or more, I would assume that he or she also wielded the pen,” said Lobbycontrol’s Nina Katzemich. It’s always “tricky” to allow “lobbyists to work directly on the legislative text,” she said.

According to transparency rules in the European Parliament, rapporteurs are required to “publish online information on their planned meetings with stakeholders for each report.” Paulus states that she met the lobbyist once in person, on Sept. 22, 2022. She also noted the meeting on her page. mgr

EU ambassadors confirm ETS trilogue outcome

A key part of the Fit for 55 package has cleared the next hurdle on its way to becoming law. On Wednesday, the EU ambassadors in the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States (Coreper) approved the reform of the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) by a clear majority. The trilogue result from December has thus been confirmed by the EU ambassadors of the member states.

23 countries voted in favor. Belgium and Bulgaria abstained, Hungary and Poland are still reviewing and want to let their ministers decide eventually – it will probably come down to a rejection from both countries. Nevertheless, the qualified majority in Coreper came together, which now clears the way for a vote at the next meeting of Environment and Climate Ministers on March 16.

Poland’s, Hungary’s and Bulgaria’s reservations about a strict climate policy are well known and come as no surprise. Belgian neutrality comes from the country’s complicated voting procedure. All Belgian regions jointly decide on the country’s positioning in the Council of EU member states. The right-wing conservative regional party Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA; New Flemish Alliance) is the strongest force in both Flanders and the national parliament. Its deputies think little of a stricter ETS and have since blocked Belgium’s positioning.

Coreper also voted on the social climate fund, which had also been decided in the December trilogue. Here, there was one vote against – from Finland.

Today, Thursday, the next hurdle awaits the ETS reform and the Climate Social Fund. The EU Parliament’s Environment Committee (ENVI) will also vote on the trilogue result. Peter Liese, ETS rapporteur and environmental spokesman of the EPP, said on Wednesday that the negotiators of EPP, S&D, Renew, Greens, Left and ECR supported the compromise.

“Even if the groups are not all completely united, I expect a clear majority,” said Liese. Subsequently, both texts can also be voted on in plenary. However, since translations into all EU languages, including legal review, must be carried out beforehand, this is likely to take until April or May. luk

Hydrogen: Grid operators warn of delay

Shortly before the adoption of the ITRE’s position on the gas market package, the German Association of Transmission System Operators (FNB Gas) warns of years of delays in the development of hydrogen infrastructure. “The FNB views the proposals on the future tariff model for natural gas and hydrogen put forward by ITRE at the last minute as critical,” said Managing Director Inga Posch.

“The elimination of tariffs at border crossing points between EU member states is not suitable for creating stable framework conditions for market players,” Posch said. “Rather, years of negotiations between the member states and the European authorities are to be expected. For the market ramp-up for hydrogen, this would be a major obstacle.”

Environmental aid wants independent H2 network planning

The Parliament’s Industry Committee is voting today on its positions on the regulation and directive on the internal gas market. At the same time, the MEPs want to adopt a negotiating mandate for the trilogue, so that the approval of the plenary can be omitted.

Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), on the other hand, criticizes the creation of a joint organization of European network operators for natural gas and hydrogen, as envisaged in the compromise draft for the Gas Market Regulation. “The formation of the so-called ENTSOG&H would give gas network operators the task of planning the hydrogen network,” says Julian Schwartzkopff of DUH. “This would give gas network operators the opportunity to lock in unsustainable hydrogen business areas, such as heat supply, and to cross-subsidize the development of oversized hydrogen networks via gas network fees from household customers.”

Consumer advocates welcome disconnection ban

In contrast, a counter-proposal by the Greens and Renew is closer to the Commission’s proposal to create an independent association for hydrogen networks (ENNOH).

EU consumer protection organization BEUC again welcomes plans to better protect households and their gas supply. “The Parliament will enter the trilogue with a call for a ban on disconnections for vulnerable consumers during the winter period,” says energy expert Jaume Loffredo. “We hope that this measure will survive the negotiations. Likewise, we hope the Commission proposes such a ban for electricity supply as well.” ber

Commission wants to strengthen civil protection

The pandemic, war and most recently the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria: In view of the many disasters, the EU Commission wants to strengthen protective measures. In the future, among other things, early warning systems are to be improved so that warning messages reach people at risk in good time, as the Brussels authority announced on Wednesday. In addition, it is planned to improve precautions with regard to natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and forest fires, as well as to increase risk awareness among the population.

If a country is unable to cope with the consequences of a disaster, it can already ask for help through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The EU then coordinates and finances the aid offered by the member states and eight other countries.

Aid for Turkey and Syria

This is currently also the case in Turkey. In addition to Germany, 19 other EU countries are providing assistance following the devastating earthquake, according to EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič. According to him, Syria, which was equally hard hit by the quake, has now also applied for EU disaster aid.

“With the implementation of this European agenda for disaster resilience, the EU and its member states will be better able to respond to, prevent and prepare for major disasters,” said Lenarčič. This will save more lives and better protect citizens and the environment in the EU, he added. dpa

S&D commits to digital policy goals

The Social Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D) yesterday adopted a position paper on digital policy, which, in addition to familiar positions, once again sets out the line for upcoming negotiations in relevant dossiers.

On the Artificial Intelligence Regulation (AI Act) and biometric mass surveillance, the S&D position is tough as nails: AI for real-time biometric recognition and AI systems used for predictive policing could lead to mass surveillance practices. For the Social Democrats, this is in direct contradiction to the presumption of innocence and should therefore be banned. However, this is controversial in the traffic light coalition in Berlin, and parts of the coalition want to allow exceptions.

On AI liability, which has not yet been discussed in Parliament, S&D would like to see a reversal of the burden of proof, which is not provided for in the Commission’s proposal in this way. In addition, the Socialists urgently call for a proposal for a directive from the Commission to regulate AI use in the workplace more strictly.

CSAM regulation: no active content control

The S&D Group, for one, wants to have depictions of child sexual abuse effectively combated. This also includes platform providers and hosters. They should have to remove and report such content – but not carry out general monitoring of content or weaken end-to-end encryption.

The S&D paper also contains interesting stipulations on other controversial points:

The e-privacy regulation is to come and clearly protect against invasions of privacy, whether by citizens or government agencies;
When it comes to regulating political advertising, the S&D resolution is much weaker: delivery algorithms and targeting techniques are to be “clearly limited”;
The EU is to introduce a legal definition of vulnerable consumers, who are to be specially protected online from manipulation by market players;
Lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) are to include mandatory human decision-making (human in the loop);
The EU should develop a legal framework for the purchase and use of spyware;
To better protect victims, Socialists call for an EU Tech Lab to detect computer virus infections and develop solutions;
The S&D group wants to introduce a right to compensation for victims of illegally used spyware;
Crypto investments are to be regulated more strictly via the Directive on Administrative Assistance (DAC8), and their taxation is to be ensured in a manner comparable to other forms of investment.

In addition to old hats such as the “right to be unavailable” for employees, the social democratic members of parliament have thus adopted a number of new positions. Their enforceability in the negotiations still to come in this legislative term is at least open. In some areas, the parliamentary group is also on a collision course with the government positions of the SPD-led Berlin traffic light government. fst, vis

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard: British antitrust watchdogs raise objections

Following US regulators, British competition watchdogs are also putting obstacles in the way of Microsoft’s planned mega takeover of video games company Activision Blizzard. The British competition watchdogs CMA raised objections to the $69 billion deal on Wednesday. For example, it warns of higher prices for video gamers due to a distortion of competition. The takeover already faces a serious hurdle in the US with a lawsuit filed by the FTC regulator.

The British antitrust watchdogs are specifically bothered by the fact that Microsoft would also own the shooter game “Call of Duty” with the deal. They fear that Microsoft would make “Call of Duty” and other games from Activision Blizzard available only exclusively on its Xbox platform, thereby weakening competitors such as Sony with its PlayStation console. The CMA plans to present its decision on the case on April 26.

Largest deal in the games industry to date

Microsoft assured in a statement to the technology blog The Verge that competitors such as Sony, Nintendo and Steam should have equal access to Call of Duty “in the long run.”

The FTC also argued in its complaint in December that the acquisition would give Microsoft too much market power and harm competition in the business around game consoles. Microsoft and Activision Blizzard had announced the largest-ever deal in the games industry in January 2022. The EU Commission’s competition regulators initiated an in-depth investigation of the takeover.

Last fall, the CMA enforced that the Facebook group Meta must sell the short clip platform Giphy again. The FTC, meanwhile, recently failed in court with a lawsuit against Meta’s purchase of Within, a company specializing in virtual reality games with the popular fitness app Supernatural. dpa

EUROPE.TABLE EDITORS

Till
Hoppe

Charlotte
Wirth

Falk
Steiner

Timo
Landenberger

Corinna
Visser

Lukas
Knigge

Eric
Bonse

Sarah
Schaefer

Manuel
Berkel

Lisa-Martina
Klein

Markus
Grabitz

Stephan
Israel

Claire
Stam

Dear reader,

Migration policy was supposed to be the focus of today’s special EU summit – but now a special guest is likely to set the tone: After surprise visits to London and Paris, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected in Brussels today. There is also a need to talk about a completely different topic, namely Europe’s reaction to the US Inflation Reduction Act. “An unrestrained subsidy race with the US would certainly be the wrong way to go,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said yesterday in the Bundestag. You will find an outlook on the summit at the beginning of our briefing.

Faulty data along with lax controls by authorities: According to the Chinese Ministry of the Environment, a large part of the emissions data of all those companies that participate in the Chinese Emission Trading System (ETS) has deficiencies. The unreliable data situation could become a problem for the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). However, as Nico Beckert and Lukas Scheid have learned, the EU is keeping a backdoor open for precisely this case.

The Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) is an internal body of the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) that hardly anyone outside Parliament knows about. For Eva Kaili, the main figure in the corruption scandal, however, it had an important function: she used its chairmanship for her political work – and awarded posts to her sister and the quasi-governmental Qatar Foundation, as Charlotte Wirth’s research shows.

Your
Sarah Schaefer

Ukraine, subsidies and migration: the topics of the EU summit

It is a poorly kept secret: Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected in Brussels today. At an estimated 10 a.m., Ukraine’s President is scheduled to address the European Parliament, which is meeting for a special session. Afterward, he is expected to join the heads of state and government of the EU states a few hundred meters away, who are gathered in the Europe Building for a special summit.

EU diplomats did not want to confirm Zelenskiy’s visit for security reasons – not even when the President had already arrived in London. It was known that Council President Charles Michel had issued an open invitation, a diplomat said. The caution may also have to do with the fact that information about this was leaked from Parliament earlier this week and the visit was suddenly in question.

Zelenskiy likely to set tone

In London, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to examine whether the UK could comply with Ukraine’s request and provide fighter jets. However, this would only be possible in the long term.

In the evening, Zelenskiy was received in Paris by President Emmanuel Macron, who had also invited German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for dinner: the aim was to “reaffirm France’s and Europe’s unwavering support for Ukraine.” The goal is to continue the close coordination that makes it possible to respond quickly and efficiently to the needs expressed by Kyiv.

In Brussels, Zelenskiy is expected to set the tone during his appearance before the EU Parliament. The honored guest is likely to thank the EU for its support and set out expectations for the coming months, according to a diplomat. No new commitments on aid or with regard to a date for accession negotiations are expected at the summit, it is said. Leaders also plan to discuss how to prosecute Russian war crimes and use blocked foreign currency from Russia’s central bank for reconstruction.

Europe’s response to the Inflation Reduction Act

The summit is also an opportunity for leaders to discuss Europe’s response to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which went into effect in the US at the beginning of the year. There is a double challenge ahead, said an EU diplomat: implementing the Green Deal and competing internationally. The EU urgently needs to provide a strong response to the IRA and promote the clean-tech sector, they said. However, not everything has to be done at the same time; for example, an additional sovereignty fund could wait until summer.

The debate will focus on the Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net-Zero Age presented by the EU Commission. The communication provides for simplification and relaxation of the strict European state aid rules as well as tax concessions for companies. At the same time, the internal market and the “level playing field” between the EU states must be preserved, according to the draft conclusions, which Table.Media has received. In addition, SMEs should also be promoted.

More flexible use of EU funds

A number of member states are opposed to far-reaching changes to the state aid rules, as demanded by Paris and, to a lesser extent, Berlin. They fear that Germany in particular could use its financial strength to give its domestic industry a competitive advantage. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz tried to counter this: “An unrestrained subsidy race with the USA would certainly be the wrong way to go,” he said in the Bundestag.

Funding issues are also controversial. Portugal and Spain, for example, argue that the relaxation of state aid rules must be synchronized with progress in European financing. Scholz, on the other hand, rejects new EU pots. He said the Corona build-up facility alone earmarked €250 billion for decarbonizing industry, with billions more from REPowerEU, InvestEU and research and cohesion funds. “If you compare all of this to the US funding programs of $370 billion, you can see: Europe doesn’t need to hide.”

The heads of state and government can agree on the demand to use existing EU funds more flexibly to promote green industries. They also call for the EU rules to be made less bureaucratic and more simplified in order to facilitate investment.

Migration as a point of contention

No decisions are expected. The EU Commission has already announced that it will draw up a legislative proposal based on the debates, which could then be adopted at the March summit. The results of the informal consultations held by German Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck and French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire in Washington are also to be included in this proposal.

Scholz was cautiously optimistic about the migration debate, originally planned as a main focus of this special summit. “After years of stalemate, progress is possible in European asylum policy,” he said. EU diplomats in Brussels also confirmed this. There was a chance that the entire migration pact could be adopted by the end of the legislative period next year, they said. Stephan Israel, Eric Bonse, Till Hoppe and Sérgio Aníbal

China’s Emissions Trading System: a problem for the CBAM

In theory, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) applies to all importers to Europe: Anyone who pays a CO2 price on their products in the country of production gets this credited when calculating the climate tariff CBAM. This applies to all products covered by the CBAM: Cement, fertilizer, electricity, hydrogen, iron, steel and aluminum.

In practice, this means that instead of paying the full EU CO2 price on steel imports, for example, the foreign steel producer is granted a discount on the domestic CO2 price. However, the foreign steel producer must prove to the European authorities how much carbon dioxide was actually emitted during production. This CO2 balance of the product must be certified by an institution independent of the producer and state authorities, according to the regulation recently adopted in the trilogue to introduce the CBAM.

Numerous data deficiencies in China’s ETS

In China, this very verification could become a problem for future trade with Europe. Nearly 80 percent of all data reported by companies participating in the Chinese ETS has flaws, as reported by the Chinese Ministry of the Environment. Emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants are not measured directly. Instead, plants calculate them based on the coal used to generate electricity and the efficiency of the power plants. The authorities do not adequately monitor this.

Add to that several data scandals. These have increased pressure on authorities to close loopholes, says Yan Qin, an analyst at Refinitiv, a provider of financial market data. The new guidelines are stricter, she says. But controls and penalties have not been tightened. The penalty for failing to comply with regulatory requirements or manipulating emissions data is only the equivalent of just over €4,000 (¥30,000). In some cases, it is cheaper to accept the penalty than to buy additional certificates.

Expansion to other industries postponed several times

So far, only larger coal and gas-fired power plants are included in China’s ETS. The expansion to include steel, cement and aluminum has been repeatedly postponed, also with reference to the poor data. According to the Chinese Ministry of the Environment, all industrial sectors are nevertheless to participate by 2025.

One year later, the climate tariff CBAM will be due for the first time at the EU’s external borders. The unreliable data of Chinese ETS participants could pose a problem for the assessment of climate tariffs for Chinese producers. “How much outside verification China will allow remains to be seen,” says Verena Graichen, ETS expert and senior researcher for energy and climate protection at Öko-Institut. It is true that the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) – a climate protection instrument from the Kyoto Protocol – has an international verification system that also works in China. But Graichen says China is not very keen on having its own systems looked at.

CBAM discount, but how much?

The European authorities are therefore likely to have a hard time tracking the data supplied from China. At the same time, from a trade policy perspective, the EU cannot do without the promised rebate. “Because China has an ETS and charges a CO2 price, there must also be a deduction in the CBAM for products covered by the Chinese ETS,” Graichen says. But she points out that the EU has come up with a solution for such cases.

As the EU Commission cannot rely on emissions data to assess the Chinese CO2 price as things stand, it has the option of applying its own criteria. If the actual emissions of a product cannot be determined, the average emission intensity of the product from the country of origin will be used and a “proportionally determined price surcharge” will be applied. The Commission still intends to set the level of the surcharge in a so-called implementing act.

Reliable data for emergencies under pressure

If there is no information from the country of production about this average value either, the emission intensity of the European plants with the worst performance is automatically assumed for the product. In this way, European legislators hope to put pressure on their trading partners to provide reliable emissions data for their products.

How reporting by foreign importers works in practice, in what format information is provided, and how the CO₂ price paid abroad translates into rebates on the purchase of CBAM allowances, the Commission still wants to decide in implementing acts. “Article 9 of the CBAM Directive only explains the principle, not the implementation,” Graichen said.

However, part of the truth is that the actual share of Sino-European trade affected by the CBAM is rather small. China exported goods worth €472.7 billion to the EU in 2021. According to one analysis, the sectors affected by CBAM accounted for only 1.8 percent of Chinese exports to the EU in 2019. Nevertheless, it is clear that if China wants to avoid high climate tariffs on these products when they are imported into Europe, it will have to provide reliable emissions data. Nico Beckert and Lukas Scheid

How Eva Kaili used the EPRS

By

Charlotte Wirth

In the context of the “Qatargate” scandal, the role of the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) raises both questions and eyebrows. The service organized at least three events with Fight Impunity – the NGO founded by the main suspect Pier Antonio Panzeri specifically to launder bribes. How the collaboration came about and whether the European Parliament paid for it remains unclear. The Parliament does not have to account for engagements of less than €15,000. When asked by Table.Media, the EPRS replied that it does not keep a list of its cooperation with NGOs.

However, the research service should have noticed that Fight Impunity was not in the transparency register. According to the European Parliament’s lobbying rules, stakeholders must register there if they organize or participate in events in the Parliament. For example, Fight Impunity organized an international human rights conference in June 2022 in cooperation with the EPRS, the Human Rights Committee in the EP and the NGO No Peace without Justice.

EPRS used in a targeted manner

Also questionable is the role played by an internal EPRS panel chaired by Eva Kaili. This was the Panel for the Future of Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA), which Kaili chaired from 2019 to 2021. She later served as vice president in charge of the panel. Like Panzeri, Kaili has been in custody since December. Belgian investigators accuse her of corruption and money laundering.

STOA is a panel from the 1980s that hardly anyone outside of Parliament knows about. The panel’s work essentially consists of commissioning studies. The authors present these at the panel’s monthly meetings. Sometimes additional workshops are offered or events are organized on the studies. STOA has its own budget for this: in 2021, it was €650,000 for expertise alone.

Rules for STOA unclear

Under Kaili, however, the panel developed mainly into an outpost of her political work. As chairwoman of the panel, she set the priorities for the panel’s work: the first priority was not to be the Green Deal, as previously set by the panel, but artificial intelligence. It is the topic that shaped Kaili’s parliamentary work. At STOA, she has commissioned studies on cybersecurity or public perception of artificial intelligence. Mihalis Kritikos, who was previously a member of the secretariat and responsible for the studies, moved to Kaili’s office in 2022.

That Kaili used the STOA for her parliamentary work is not forbidden. The panel’s rules are woolly: The panel’s purpose is to “conduct projects to evaluate scientific and technical issues,” the rules say. They go on to say that “STOA provides input to discussion and legislative work on scientific and technical issues of particular policy relevance.”

Family business on Kaili’s advisory board

Kaili, as chair of the panel, also established an international advisory board. While all panel members were allowed to suggest names, those that came from Kaili are particularly notable: Elon Tech and Qatar Foundation among them.

Elon Tech stands for European Law Observatory on New Technologies. Behind it is the communications company Made Group, which is run by Eva Kaili’s sister Mantalena Kaili, along with Matina Kanaki. Although Made Group was only founded in 2017, it already received a lucrative contract from the EU Commission for €1.8 million in January 2018. This was followed in 2019 by another contract for around €900,000 for a pilot project on art and digitalization.

Elon Tech said it was formed in 2018 to bring together experts in law and technology. A member of the board, who is no longer listed on Elon Tech’s website as of today, is Eva Kaili. At the same time, Kaili hired Made Group co-founder Matina Kanaki as an accredited assistant in 2020. And, the Greek has another Elon Tech co-founder, Alexandros Spyridonos, working for her as an external service provider.

Privileged insight into AI legislation

No one in Parliament seems to have noticed the potential conflicts of interest. According to the information, the advisory board was not paid. However, it was given a privileged insight into EU legislation and was able to put forward its own proposals. One of the topics of an advisory board meeting in June 2021 was legislative proposals on artificial intelligence.

The original rules on STOA did not provide for an advisory board. The text was amended in 2019 to allow for the introduction of an advisory board (Article 3.5). What rules this is subject to is not specified in the text. When asked, the European Parliament responded that “it was agreed that this body should focus in particular on STOA activities in the area of artificial intelligence (AI) […] and should be chaired by Eva Kaili until the end of the Board’s term in 2024.”

Qatar Foundation as a consultant

Another member that Eva Kaili placed on the advisory board was the Qatar Foundation. It was represented by Silvano Salvaggio. Salvaggio heads Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar. The Qatar Foundation is a science and education foundation close to the Qatari royal family. It was established in 2000 as part of the “Qatar Vision 2030” strategy to give Qatar a positive image abroad.

The foundation’s main purpose is to make government investments abroad. In the US, it came under criticism for its donations of millions of dollars to American universities, which it refuses to account for. The Qatar Foundation is made up of a complex network of financial companies, such as the Luxembourg-based holding company Lux Pillar.

Neither did anyone seem to be bothered by the membership of a quasi-governmental foundation representing Qatar’s interests abroad on the advisory board in a European Parliament body. The Parliament commented when asked that the composition of the advisory board had been accepted by the STOA panel, which is made up of 27 MEPs from various committees.

Stricter transparency rules in the EP: further discussions needed

The heads of the political groups in the EP and Parliament President Roberta Metsola were unable to agree on stricter transparency rules yesterday evening. The basis of the discussions was a catalog of 15 points, which is available to Table.Media.

Accordingly, in the future, information about the MEPs should be visible in a prominent place on the EP website under the heading “Integrity.” Details could include:

sanctions
gifts
trips not paid for by the Parliament
planned meetings
code of conduct
transparency register

In principle, all members of Parliament, their staff as well as Parliament officials shall disclose all meetings with representatives of third countries and stakeholders. There shall be exceptions to this if there are justified reasons.

Ex-MEPs lose access badge

Unofficial friendship groups are to be banned. Ex-MEPs are no longer to be given access passes but would have to obtain one-day accreditation. They would also no longer be allowed to bring guests.

There are to be new rules for external access to the EP. In the future, visitors are to state who they are meeting and why. The body that monitors violations of the transparency rules is to be strengthened and sanctions tightened.

EPP wants stricter rules for NGOs

The EPP Group also wants stricter rules for NGOs. They want NGOs to be excluded if there is even a suspicion of corruption.

With the new regulations, the EP wants to draw the consequences from the corruption scandal surrounding criminal NGOs, former MEPs and the deposed vice parliamentary president Eva Kaili. Metsola first presented a plan for more transparency in January. mgr

Methane bill: lobbyist involvement?

There is evidence of direct lobbying on a Parliamentary report on a Fit for 55 legislative proposal from the Commission. At issue is Green Party MEP Jutta Paulus’ report on the Commission’s proposal to reduce methane emissions in the energy sector. Methane acts as an amplifier of climate change 28 times more than CO2. The bill affects industrial installations and sets targets for them in the areas of energy, agriculture, waste and wastewater.

Two of the rapporteur’s Word documents incorporating the compromise motions that went to the shadow rapporteurs were created by Alessia Virone, chief lobbyist for Europe for the US Clean Air Task Force (CATF) organization, according to information obtained by Table.Media. According to the document’s properties, Virone created them on her computer at 9:41 a.m. on Jan. 16, 2023. CATF is an NGO that has been campaigning for better air quality since 1996.

Document supposedly only a ‘formatting template’

When asked, Paulus admitted that the document had its origin with the lobbyist: “Our political advisor in the group took a paper sent by Ms. Virone as a formatting basis (two-column table) for his own document.” But the content of the document with the compromise motions, which was finally sent to the EP, did not come from the lobbyist, Paul asserts: “The documents with the compromise motions are not from Ms. Virone.”

Paulus’ office provided Table.Media with a document in which the lobbyist had formulated its requests for amendments. According to the document, at least on one point, concerning deadlines for the preparation of mitigation plans for methane emissions from mines, the Greens strongly support the proposal submitted by CATF. The Commission proposal called for 36 months; Virone proposes 18 months.

Lobbycontrol criticizes the process

The transparency NGO Lobbycontrol criticizes Paulus’ actions. “If a lobbyist created the amendment file or more, I would assume that he or she also wielded the pen,” said Lobbycontrol’s Nina Katzemich. It’s always “tricky” to allow “lobbyists to work directly on the legislative text,” she said.

According to transparency rules in the European Parliament, rapporteurs are required to “publish online information on their planned meetings with stakeholders for each report.” Paulus states that she met the lobbyist once in person, on Sept. 22, 2022. She also noted the meeting on her page. mgr

EU ambassadors confirm ETS trilogue outcome

A key part of the Fit for 55 package has cleared the next hurdle on its way to becoming law. On Wednesday, the EU ambassadors in the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States (Coreper) approved the reform of the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) by a clear majority. The trilogue result from December has thus been confirmed by the EU ambassadors of the member states.

23 countries voted in favor. Belgium and Bulgaria abstained, Hungary and Poland are still reviewing and want to let their ministers decide eventually – it will probably come down to a rejection from both countries. Nevertheless, the qualified majority in Coreper came together, which now clears the way for a vote at the next meeting of Environment and Climate Ministers on March 16.

Poland’s, Hungary’s and Bulgaria’s reservations about a strict climate policy are well known and come as no surprise. Belgian neutrality comes from the country’s complicated voting procedure. All Belgian regions jointly decide on the country’s positioning in the Council of EU member states. The right-wing conservative regional party Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA; New Flemish Alliance) is the strongest force in both Flanders and the national parliament. Its deputies think little of a stricter ETS and have since blocked Belgium’s positioning.

Coreper also voted on the social climate fund, which had also been decided in the December trilogue. Here, there was one vote against – from Finland.

Today, Thursday, the next hurdle awaits the ETS reform and the Climate Social Fund. The EU Parliament’s Environment Committee (ENVI) will also vote on the trilogue result. Peter Liese, ETS rapporteur and environmental spokesman of the EPP, said on Wednesday that the negotiators of EPP, S&D, Renew, Greens, Left and ECR supported the compromise.

“Even if the groups are not all completely united, I expect a clear majority,” said Liese. Subsequently, both texts can also be voted on in plenary. However, since translations into all EU languages, including legal review, must be carried out beforehand, this is likely to take until April or May. luk

Hydrogen: Grid operators warn of delay

Shortly before the adoption of the ITRE’s position on the gas market package, the German Association of Transmission System Operators (FNB Gas) warns of years of delays in the development of hydrogen infrastructure. “The FNB views the proposals on the future tariff model for natural gas and hydrogen put forward by ITRE at the last minute as critical,” said Managing Director Inga Posch.

“The elimination of tariffs at border crossing points between EU member states is not suitable for creating stable framework conditions for market players,” Posch said. “Rather, years of negotiations between the member states and the European authorities are to be expected. For the market ramp-up for hydrogen, this would be a major obstacle.”

Environmental aid wants independent H2 network planning

The Parliament’s Industry Committee is voting today on its positions on the regulation and directive on the internal gas market. At the same time, the MEPs want to adopt a negotiating mandate for the trilogue, so that the approval of the plenary can be omitted.

Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), on the other hand, criticizes the creation of a joint organization of European network operators for natural gas and hydrogen, as envisaged in the compromise draft for the Gas Market Regulation. “The formation of the so-called ENTSOG&H would give gas network operators the task of planning the hydrogen network,” says Julian Schwartzkopff of DUH. “This would give gas network operators the opportunity to lock in unsustainable hydrogen business areas, such as heat supply, and to cross-subsidize the development of oversized hydrogen networks via gas network fees from household customers.”

Consumer advocates welcome disconnection ban

In contrast, a counter-proposal by the Greens and Renew is closer to the Commission’s proposal to create an independent association for hydrogen networks (ENNOH).

EU consumer protection organization BEUC again welcomes plans to better protect households and their gas supply. “The Parliament will enter the trilogue with a call for a ban on disconnections for vulnerable consumers during the winter period,” says energy expert Jaume Loffredo. “We hope that this measure will survive the negotiations. Likewise, we hope the Commission proposes such a ban for electricity supply as well.” ber

Commission wants to strengthen civil protection

The pandemic, war and most recently the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria: In view of the many disasters, the EU Commission wants to strengthen protective measures. In the future, among other things, early warning systems are to be improved so that warning messages reach people at risk in good time, as the Brussels authority announced on Wednesday. In addition, it is planned to improve precautions with regard to natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and forest fires, as well as to increase risk awareness among the population.

If a country is unable to cope with the consequences of a disaster, it can already ask for help through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The EU then coordinates and finances the aid offered by the member states and eight other countries.

Aid for Turkey and Syria

This is currently also the case in Turkey. In addition to Germany, 19 other EU countries are providing assistance following the devastating earthquake, according to EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič. According to him, Syria, which was equally hard hit by the quake, has now also applied for EU disaster aid.

“With the implementation of this European agenda for disaster resilience, the EU and its member states will be better able to respond to, prevent and prepare for major disasters,” said Lenarčič. This will save more lives and better protect citizens and the environment in the EU, he added. dpa

S&D commits to digital policy goals

The Social Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D) yesterday adopted a position paper on digital policy, which, in addition to familiar positions, once again sets out the line for upcoming negotiations in relevant dossiers.

On the Artificial Intelligence Regulation (AI Act) and biometric mass surveillance, the S&D position is tough as nails: AI for real-time biometric recognition and AI systems used for predictive policing could lead to mass surveillance practices. For the Social Democrats, this is in direct contradiction to the presumption of innocence and should therefore be banned. However, this is controversial in the traffic light coalition in Berlin, and parts of the coalition want to allow exceptions.

On AI liability, which has not yet been discussed in Parliament, S&D would like to see a reversal of the burden of proof, which is not provided for in the Commission’s proposal in this way. In addition, the Socialists urgently call for a proposal for a directive from the Commission to regulate AI use in the workplace more strictly.

CSAM regulation: no active content control

The S&D Group, for one, wants to have depictions of child sexual abuse effectively combated. This also includes platform providers and hosters. They should have to remove and report such content – but not carry out general monitoring of content or weaken end-to-end encryption.

The S&D paper also contains interesting stipulations on other controversial points:

The e-privacy regulation is to come and clearly protect against invasions of privacy, whether by citizens or government agencies;
When it comes to regulating political advertising, the S&D resolution is much weaker: delivery algorithms and targeting techniques are to be “clearly limited”;
The EU is to introduce a legal definition of vulnerable consumers, who are to be specially protected online from manipulation by market players;
Lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) are to include mandatory human decision-making (human in the loop);
The EU should develop a legal framework for the purchase and use of spyware;
To better protect victims, Socialists call for an EU Tech Lab to detect computer virus infections and develop solutions;
The S&D group wants to introduce a right to compensation for victims of illegally used spyware;
Crypto investments are to be regulated more strictly via the Directive on Administrative Assistance (DAC8), and their taxation is to be ensured in a manner comparable to other forms of investment.

In addition to old hats such as the “right to be unavailable” for employees, the social democratic members of parliament have thus adopted a number of new positions. Their enforceability in the negotiations still to come in this legislative term is at least open. In some areas, the parliamentary group is also on a collision course with the government positions of the SPD-led Berlin traffic light government. fst, vis

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard: British antitrust watchdogs raise objections

Following US regulators, British competition watchdogs are also putting obstacles in the way of Microsoft’s planned mega takeover of video games company Activision Blizzard. The British competition watchdogs CMA raised objections to the $69 billion deal on Wednesday. For example, it warns of higher prices for video gamers due to a distortion of competition. The takeover already faces a serious hurdle in the US with a lawsuit filed by the FTC regulator.

The British antitrust watchdogs are specifically bothered by the fact that Microsoft would also own the shooter game “Call of Duty” with the deal. They fear that Microsoft would make “Call of Duty” and other games from Activision Blizzard available only exclusively on its Xbox platform, thereby weakening competitors such as Sony with its PlayStation console. The CMA plans to present its decision on the case on April 26.

Largest deal in the games industry to date

Microsoft assured in a statement to the technology blog The Verge that competitors such as Sony, Nintendo and Steam should have equal access to Call of Duty “in the long run.”

The FTC also argued in its complaint in December that the acquisition would give Microsoft too much market power and harm competition in the business around game consoles. Microsoft and Activision Blizzard had announced the largest-ever deal in the games industry in January 2022. The EU Commission’s competition regulators initiated an in-depth investigation of the takeover.

Last fall, the CMA enforced that the Facebook group Meta must sell the short clip platform Giphy again. The FTC, meanwhile, recently failed in court with a lawsuit against Meta’s purchase of Within, a company specializing in virtual reality games with the popular fitness app Supernatural. dpa

EUROPE.TABLE EDITORS

Till
Hoppe

Charlotte
Wirth

Falk
Steiner

Timo
Landenberger

Corinna
Visser

Lukas
Knigge

Eric
Bonse

Sarah
Schaefer

Manuel
Berkel

Lisa-Martina
Klein

Markus
Grabitz

Stephan
Israel

Claire
Stam

EU summit topics + China&#8217;s ETS + How Kaili used the EPRS

Feature

Ukraine, subsidies and migration: the topics of the EU summit

Zelenskiy likely to set tone

Europe’s response to the Inflation Reduction Act

More flexible use of EU funds

Migration as a point of contention

China’s Emissions Trading System: a problem for the CBAM

Numerous data deficiencies in China’s ETS

Expansion to other industries postponed several times

CBAM discount, but how much?

Reliable data for emergencies under pressure

Events

How Eva Kaili used the EPRS

EPRS used in a targeted manner

Rules for STOA unclear

Family business on Kaili’s advisory board

Privileged insight into AI legislation

Qatar Foundation as a consultant

News

Stricter transparency rules in the EP: further discussions needed

Ex-MEPs lose access badge

EPP wants stricter rules for NGOs

Methane bill: lobbyist involvement?

Document supposedly only a ‘formatting template’

Lobbycontrol criticizes the process

EU ambassadors confirm ETS trilogue outcome

Flanders blocks Belgium’s consent

Hydrogen: Grid operators warn of delay

Environmental aid wants independent H2 network planning

Consumer advocates welcome disconnection ban

Commission wants to strengthen civil protection

Aid for Turkey and Syria

S&D commits to digital policy goals

CSAM regulation: no active content control

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard: British antitrust watchdogs raise objections

Largest deal in the games industry to date

Europe.Table Editorial Office

EUROPE.TABLE EDITORS

Feature

Ukraine, subsidies and migration: the topics of the EU summit

Zelenskiy likely to set tone

Europe’s response to the Inflation Reduction Act

More flexible use of EU funds

Migration as a point of contention

China’s Emissions Trading System: a problem for the CBAM

Numerous data deficiencies in China’s ETS

Expansion to other industries postponed several times

CBAM discount, but how much?

Reliable data for emergencies under pressure

Events

How Eva Kaili used the EPRS

EPRS used in a targeted manner

Rules for STOA unclear

Family business on Kaili’s advisory board

Privileged insight into AI legislation

Qatar Foundation as a consultant

News

Stricter transparency rules in the EP: further discussions needed

Ex-MEPs lose access badge

EPP wants stricter rules for NGOs

Methane bill: lobbyist involvement?

Document supposedly only a ‘formatting template’

Lobbycontrol criticizes the process

EU ambassadors confirm ETS trilogue outcome

Flanders blocks Belgium’s consent

Hydrogen: Grid operators warn of delay

Environmental aid wants independent H2 network planning

Consumer advocates welcome disconnection ban

Commission wants to strengthen civil protection

Aid for Turkey and Syria

S&D commits to digital policy goals

CSAM regulation: no active content control

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard: British antitrust watchdogs raise objections

Largest deal in the games industry to date

Europe.Table Editorial Office

EUROPE.TABLE EDITORS

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