The EU Commission has approved the acquisition of Lombard International Assurance Holdings S.à.r.l., based in Luxembourg, by Utmost International Group Holdings Limited, based in the United Kingdom. The transaction mainly concerns the insurance sector, in particular the provision of wealth planning, inheritance, and succession solutions.
The UK and France will go even further and faster in tackling illegal migration and build even closer law enforcement and security cooperation ties in 2024. During talks in Paris on Tuesday (30 January), Home Secretary James Cleverly and French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin discussed the breadth of their shared priorities, the enduring strength of the UK-France relationship and the opportunities for further deepening of cooperation.
France has taken note of the ruling issued by the International Court of Justice on January 31 in Ukraine’s case against the Russian Federation concerning to the application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
Once again, the Court found that Russia had violated its international obligations.
The board of trustees of the Afghan Fund is responsible for determining the specific allocation of the funds. It ensures that the assets are utilised in a manner that benefits the people of Afghanistan, while also adhering to all relevant sanctions regimes. The board also ensures that funds are only transferred to the central bank of Afghanistan if the bank can demonstrate its independence from political influence. Furthermore, the central
The EU passenger rights regulations have been drawn up to protect passengers before, during and after their journey. Passenger rights apply to air, rail, maritime and inland waterway transport, and bus and coach transport. The rights cover factors such as passenger access to information before and at different stages of the journey and the right to compensation in certain circumstances. The Commission’s proposal would revise the passenger rights regulations to
The Council and the European Parliament today reached a provisional agreement on the directive on multiple-vote share structures for companies seeking admission to trading of their shares on an SME growth market. The directive aims at encouraging company owners, especially owners of SMEs, to list the shares of their company for the first time on an SME growth market using multiple-vote share structures, so that they can retain sufficient control
Today, the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the regulation for a single market emergency instrument (SMEI), which after the agreement will be renamed Internal Market Emergency and Resilience Act (IMERA). Council and Parliament have also agreed on several accompanying legislative proposals (IMERA omnibus) to anticipate, prepare for and respond to the impact of future crises using the strength of the internal market.
Europol supported a Spanish-led action week targeting drug trafficking via airports, which focused on checks of passenger and cargo traffic on both direct and connecting flights, mainly from the Americas. The action week, which took place at 61 airports between 11 and 18 December 2023, also involved Frontex, INTERPOL through project AIRCOP and law enforcement authorities from 36 countries. During the action week, the involved authorities carried out checks on
The EU notes that the regulation will also affect the financial support that Kosovo Serbs receive from Serbia. The EU is concerned about the consequences that this decision might have on the daily lives of Kosovo Serbs and other communities throughout Kosovo due to absence of prior consultation, in particular on its impact on schools and hospitals, given the apparent absence of alternatives at this moment.
The short transition
The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of joint control of Land Services South Australia (‘LSSA’) and Land Services Western Australia (‘LSWA’), both of Australia by the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (‘PSP’) of Canada, Macquarie Group Limited (‘Macquarie’) and Australian Retirement Trust (‘ART’), both of Australia.
The transaction relates primarily to the provision of land and property valuation services in Australia.
Legislators on Thursday reached a deal to reform the EU’s system for collecting and using statistics making it fit for the digital age, more useful in crises, and protecting statisticians. The reform of the regulation, agreed between the European Parliament and member state negotiators, sets out to ensure that European statistics remain relevant by taking into account changing and more demanding user needs, notably by tapping the full potential of
Those infringements consisted in their participation, from January 1997 to January 2011, with their competitors, in collusive arrangements aimed at restricting competition on the market for medium and heavy trucks in the European Economic Area (EEA). The Commission imposed a fine of €880,523,000 on Scania. Scania appealed against the judgment of the General Court to the Court of Justice, which today dismisses it in its entirety, thereby upholding the judgment
The Federal Council adopted further sanctions against Russia at its meeting on 31 January. This is in response to Russia’s ongoing military aggression against Ukraine. In doing so, the Federal Council joins the European Union (EU), which adopted its 12th package of sanctions in December 2023. The new measures will enter into force on 1 February. Switzerland previously added 147 individuals and entities to its sanctions listings on 21 December.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and President Emmanuel Macron have signed a renewed strategic innovation partnership declaration between Sweden and France. It includes new areas such as nuclear energy, forestry and security.
Mr Macron is currently paying a two-day State Visit to Sweden hosted by His Majesty The King.
Finnish Ministry of the Interior has sent out for comments a legislative proposal on amendments to the Aliens Act. The deadline for submitting comments is 20 February 2024.
The proposal sent out for comments consists of several individual elements that will implement the Government Programme’s entries concerning the evasion of provisions on entry, verification of identity and prevention of asylum seekers from becoming applicants for work-based residence permits.
Executive Vice-President Šefčovič and the Foreign Secretary spoke today (31 January). It followed a call between the Executive Vice-President and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris.
The Executive Vice-President and the Foreign Secretary both agreed on the high importance of seeing the Northern Ireland Executive restored and delivering for the people of Northern Ireland.
MEPs have adopted a draft position to extend the exemption to EU e-Privacy rules until May 2025 to allow the detection of Child Sexual Abuse Material online.
On Wednesday, the Civil Liberties Committee endorsed a draft Parliament position on extending temporary rules to allow for the detection of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) online in derogation of EU legislation on the respect of privacy online. This would prevent a
On 29 January, Europol’s Operational Task Force (OTF) Limassol carried out an action day led by Cyprus, involving Latvia and Portugal, supported by Eurojust. The OTF targeted a criminal network facilitating illegal migration into the EU via sham marriages. The investigative activities suggest that the criminal network was also involved in human trafficking and money laundering activities, as well as forcing victims into bogus marriages for immigration purposes.
The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the creation of a joint venture by Pirelli Tyre S.p.A. (‘Pirelli’) of Italy and Public Investment Fund (‘PIF’) of Saudi Arabia.
The transaction relates primarily to the production and sale of tyres in Saudi Arabia.
The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, given that the joint venture has no current or foreseen activities
The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of joint control of JP Beteiligungs GmbH and AggroSport GmbH, including each of their direct and indirect subsidiary undertakings (‘Exercite Group’) of Germany, by TA Associates Management, L.P. (‘TA Associates’) and Warburg Pincus LLC (‘Warburg Pincus’), both of the US.
The transaction relates primarily to the provision of financial services, in particular of health and fitness benefits
The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of joint control of Duffle Travel Retail Platform GmbH (‘Duffle’) by GHARAGE Ventures GmbH (‘Gharage’), both of Germany, Dufry International AG (‘Dufry International’) of Switzerland and Takeaway.com Central Core B.V. (‘JET Central Core’) of the Netherlands.
The transaction relates primarily to the travel retail industry, in particular to the operation of an online marketplace for travel retail
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