The European Parliament has published a briefing reviewing the implementation of Directive (EU) 2019/633 on business-to-business unfair trading practices in the agri-food supply chain. The briefing reports that early implementation may have reduced some practices, including late payments for perishable and non-perishable products. However, low awareness of the rules, fear of retaliation among suppliers, uneven enforcement and differences in the capacity of national enforcement authorities have limited the Directive’s effectiveness. Enforcement has varied significantly between Member States, with four Member States accounting for 90% of investigations launched between 2021 and 2024. Insufficient cooperation between enforcement authorities has also hindered action in cross-border cases.

MLex: The European Commission is considering creating its planned Critical Raw Materials Centre through ongoing amendments to the Critical Raw Materials Act, MLex has learned. Several Member States, however, questioned whether such a move would have a sufficient legal basis. Officials also told national experts the centre could initially be housed within the Commission before potentially evolving into a standalone agency.

The European Commission has announced that Canada has now joined Pillar II of Horizon Europe, following negotiations at the EU-Canada Summit on 24 November 2023. This agreement provides Canadian researchers and organisations the opportunity to participate in the programme on equal terms with their EU counterparts.

The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) has submitted its response to the European Commission’s call for evidence on the proposed EU Biotech Act. Submitted by Aneta Tyszkiewicz on behalf of EFPIA, the response urges coordinated and urgent reforms across six priority areas to enhance the EU’s attractiveness for biotechnology research, development and manufacturing.

The European Commission has launched a consultation proposing, from the Platform on Sustainable Finance, an advisory body to the European Commission, on how a categorisation system for sustainable finance products could be set up and calibrated. The Platform on Sustainable Finance is set to present the proposal in a webinar on Tuesday, 21 January 2025.

The Platform on Sustainable Finance, an advisory body to the European Commission, has published a report recommending measures to simplify EU taxonomy reporting and enhance its effectiveness. The report, based on a review of market practices and stakeholder feedback, offers evidence-based recommendations to improve taxonomy reporting. Key areas for improvement include simplification of reporting requirements, data access, and coherence with other regulations. The report, which will be presented in a webinar on 14 February 2025, is based on two years of market observations, pilot projects, and stakeholder outreach.

The European Commission has issued a report to the European Parliament and European Council on a power to adopt delegated acts, which is conferred on the European Commission pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, the EU Market Abuse Regulation (MAR). In the report, the European Commission highlights that there is a clear need to extend the power for a further five years.

The European Commission has published several public consultations on implementing acts relating to Regulation (EU) 910/2014 (eIDAS Regulation), as amended by Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 (European Digital Identity Regulation or EUDI Regulation). The EUDI Regulation builds on, amends and expands the eIDAS Regulation and most importantly introduces an EU-wide framework for European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet as well as a number of other new trust services.

Ireland-Banking and Financial Services analysis: This article, was written by Ian Dillon and Dara Harrington of Arthur Cox LLP.

The European Commission has published a speech by Mairead McGuinness discussing the Instant Payments Regulation; Strong Customer Authentication and the fight against fraud; digital payments; use of cash; and Open Banking.

Energy analysis: Energy lawyer Sam Bright, of ClientEarth, examines the impact of the General Court judgment in Tempus Energy Ltd and another v European Commission to annul the European Commission’s decision, after only a short preliminary investigation, to approve Great Britain’s Capacity Market as State aid. The Capacity Market remunerated, under legislation and a set of rules made under legislation, electricity capacity providers in exchange for their commitment to provide electricity or reduce or delay their electricity consumption during times of highest demand.

The European Commission (Commission) has broad investigative powers to review suspected anti-competitive conduct, including conduct contrary to Articles 101 and 102 TFEU and suspected breaches of the EU Merger Regulation. It may conduct unannounced inspections at premises located in an EU Member State. Two types of inspections Article 20 of Regulation 1/2003 provides for two types of inspections ('dawn raids'), namely: • inspections based on a binding decision, to which undertakings are legally required to submit. If not, they risk being forced to comply and incur penalties, and • inspections based on written authorisation, to which undertakings may refuse to submit without risking the imposition of penalties. There can be no partial or conditional submission to such inspections. The fact that undertakings have the right to object to them does not mean that (if they agree to be subject to them) the inspections will be conducted in a less robust manner than inspections based on a Commission decision These two types of inspection constitute alternative options for the Commission, and not part of a two-stage