Brussels briefing, Sept. 24

Last week, the European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether BMW, Daimler and VW (Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche) colluded, in breach of EU antitrust rules, to avoid competition on the development and roll-out of technology to clean the emissions of petrol and diesel passenger cars.

The Commission, last week, has also put forward a first set of ideas to modernize the World Trade Organization (WTO) and to make international trade rules fit for the challenges of the global economy.

The Commission has concluded that the non-taxation of certain McDonald's profits in Luxembourg did not lead to illegal State aid, as it is in line with national tax laws and the Luxembourg-United States Double Taxation Treaty.

EU passenger car market grew 31.2 percent in August 2018, counting more than 1.1 million new vehicles announced by ACEA.

EU opened a preliminary investigation on Amazon’s market behavior.

Following the call from the European Commission and EU consumer authorities in July, Airbnb has now committed to making the necessary changes to their terms and conditions and improving the presentation of their prices.

European Commission warned Facebook on complying with EU consumer rules or face sanctions.

European Commission has published the latest figures on EU imports of soya beans, showing that the U.S. has become Europe's main supplier of the commodity. According to data, imports from the United States increased by 133 percent in the period of July-mid September, compared to the same period last year.

European Council President Donald Tusk announced that a compromise is still possible in Brexit negotiations with UK.

This week, European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) will discuss euro-area economic and monetary prospects, particularly the European Central Bank's (ECB) plans to end quantitative easing, with the European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.

The informal meeting of agriculture ministers will take place on 2325 September in Austria. Meeting will focus on the content of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform. The ministers will meet with various agricultural business representatives.

European Parliament’s (EP) Budgets Committee will vote on its proposed figures for the EU's 2019 budget on Tuesday and Wednesday. MEPs are set to prioritize boosting programs which support student exchanges such as Erasmus+, small and medium-sized enterprises, research, trans-European networks, jobs and social innovation, and youth employment as well as climate-related spending. They may also add funding for further security, migration and refugee aid measures, both within and outside the EU.

Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, will address the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on behalf of the EU on Thursday.

Competitiveness Council will meet on Thursday and Friday in Brussels. The Council will start with the regular competitiveness check-up which will focus on the importance of regional convergence. Ministers will hold a public policy debate on artificial intelligence and robotics. 

Ministers will discuss competitiveness aspects of the multi-annual financial framework, EU's long-term budget.

The Council will focus on EU's post-2020 research framework programme, Horizon Europe.