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1. .INSIGHTS BRUSSELS.
.January 2014.
INSIGHTS BRUSSELS
January 2014

2. SECTORAL POLICIES................................................................................................. 4
Agriculture And Fisheries ................................................................................................................. 4
Defence and Security Policy............................................................................................................... 5
Energy and Environment ................................................................................................................... 6
Financial Services .............................................................................................................................. 7
Food and Beverage ............................................................................................................................. 8
Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals ...................................................................................................... 9
Information and Communication Technology ................................................................................ 10
Media and Audiovisual works ......................................................................................................... 12
Transport .......................................................................................................................................... 12
INSIGHTS BRUSSELS
January 2014

3. CROSS-SECTORAL POLICIES .................................................................................. 14
Competition ...................................................................................................................................... 14
Consumers ........................................................................................................................................ 15
Intellectual Property Rights ............................................................................................................ 16
International Trade.......................................................................................................................... 16
Research and Development .............................................................................................................. 17
Taxation ........................................................................................................................................... 18
INSIGHTS BRUSSELS
January 2014

4. SECTORAL POLICIES
Agriculture
And Fisheries
European Parliament voted in favor of Deep-Water fishing
On 10 December, the European Parliament
rejected a total ban on bottom trawling. With their
vote, Members of the European Parliament
allowed deep-water fishing to be continued (for at
least five years) and provided a new framework
for demersal fishing and measures to protect
vulnerable marine ecosystems. The amendment
introduced by the Greens and the GUE/NGL links
parties reintroducing a proposal banning deepwater trawling at depths of over 600 metres has
been rejected (342 against to 326 in favor with 19
abstentions). According to the compromise
adopted, the Commission will have to assess the
impact that this kind of fishing has on vulnerable
marine ecosystems and species at least four
years after the entry into force of the regulation.
If, on that date, the Commission considers that
certain species and areas are particularly
threatened, it will have to present a new proposal
for a total ban on bottom trawling.
scientific data in order to determine the vulnerable
marine ecosystems. They will have to set up
observer programmes allowing data to be
collected on deep-water species and on
vulnerable marine ecosystem.
Stakeholders are of course really divided on this
outcome. The Conservatives Members of
Parliament and the fishing industry welcomed the
vote which is said to safeguard thousands of jobs
for sea fishermen. Environmental organisations
expressed their discontentment after the vote,
underlining the Parliament’s incapacity to protect
oceans. It should be noticed that this decision
aroused a massive and unexpected social
reaction with a petition from the civil society
supported by 750 000 European citizens.

Early 2014: entry into force of the regulation
2018: Commission’s impact assessment
The compromise text also set obligations for
Member States to use a framework of qualitative
2019: Possible Commission’s new proposal
Upcoming EU strategy for the promotion of agricultural products
In the agricultural sector, the Greek presidency of
the EU Council of Ministers will focus in the next
six months on the negotiations for an agreement
on the new EU strategy for the promotion of
INSIGHTS BRUSSELS
January 2014
agricultural products. The objective of this
strategy is to join forces between the agricultural
sector and industry representatives in an effort to
improve the promotion of EU products around the

5. world, in particular by intensifying business trips
outside the EU with the participation of European
business representatives to numerous third
countries events - a model already used by
Industry Commissioner Tajani on his so-called
“missions for growth”. The new promotion
strategy will aim at opening up new markets for
European products. By doing so, the Commission
intends to shift the focus of the new policy from
individual campaigns to so-called “multi-country”
programmes presented jointly by several
organisations from several Member States. To
this end, the proposal increases the EU cofinancing rate from 50% to 60%. The remaining
40% would need to be covered by the companies
themselves.
On Monday 16 December, EU agriculture
ministers had a first exchange of views on this
strategy and discussed at an initial roundtable on
issues such as the eligibility of the products, co-
funding rates, earmarked budget (an amount of
€60 million is anticipated for 2014 with a gradual
rise to €200 million by 2020) and the Member
States role in the procedures. Agriculture
ministers will meet again on 17 February, when
the Commission will present its report on the
possible labeling of agricultural products from the
islands. On 14th April, the EU agriculture ministers
will meet again and will try to adopt the EU
strategy on the promotion of agricultural products.
As for the EU Parliament, the other co-legislator,
it has pledged to deliver its opinion before it goes
into recess next year. The new system is planned
to fully enter into force in January 2016.

17 February: Council’s debate on the strategy
14 April: Council’s expected adoption of the strategy
April: Parliament’s expected adoption of the strategy
January 2016: full entering into force of the strategy
Defence and
Security Policy
European Heads of State and Government fail to move forward on Common
Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)
On 19-20 December, the conclusions of the
European Council Summit for defence matters
were timid, if compared with the high
expectations that were anticipating the meeting.
The ambition of the summit was to bring a
qualitative leap in the Common Security and
Defence Policy (CSDP). Essentially, the three
biggest spenders on security and defence issues
(France, Germany and the United Kingdom) did
not find an agreement on the main points: France
INSIGHTS BRUSSELS
January 2014
claimed for the creation of a special basis for the
deployment of the EU rapid reaction force but
found the opposition of Germany on funding
military operations in Central African Republic
while Britain ruled out the creation of an EU army
(even if this last point was not included in the
agenda).
Despite this fact, the conclusions stressed the
importance of developing drones promising

6. “appropriate
funding
for
research
and
development activities in 2014”. Conclusions also
encouraged the cooperation on development of
air-to-air refueling and a plan on satellite
communication. They also call to increase cooperation on technologies development and
integration of defence industries. According to
experts this could have a significant impact at a
national level particularly because “cluster
industries” will foster economies of scale. In
2014, an EU maritime security strategy (expected
in June) and a cyber-defense policy framework
will be published.

20 Jan 2014: Foreign Affairs Council
June 2015 European Council Summit
Energy and
Environment
Energy ministers adopt recommendations to complete internal market
On 12 December, the 28 energy ministers adopted
a progress report on the completion of a single EU
market for energy, which is supposed to be in
place by the end of 2014. The report highlights
progress in five priority areas: the single market,
investment, diversification of supply sources,
energy efficiency and competitiveness. According
to energy ministers, the Member States need to
urgently implement the third energy package to
liberalize the market (2009 directives on gas and
electricity markets), speed up the development of
cross-border energy infrastructure and give
consumers more rights.
On renewables, the report underlines that Member
States are on track to achieve their interim targets
for 2014 but may not reach their 2020 overall
targets, because of delays in the transposition of
the directive. 14 infringement cases against
Member States are currently underway.
On energy efficiency, ministers recognize that
Member States will not be able to meet their EU’s
2020 voluntary targets and are late in transposing
the 2012 energy efficiency directive. The
Commission already launched 27 infringement
procedures in this field.
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January 2014
On consumer rights, ministers underline the
different options adopted by Member States in
their country (phone helplines, codes of conduct
for companies, interactive websites..). In this
area, the Commission is also preparing
infringement procedures against those Member
States which did not transpose consumer
protection measures into national law.
On investment, the report refers to the upcoming
new state aid guidelines which are due to be
adopted by the Commission in 2014 and which
will clarify which situations justify state support.
The Council’s report will be used as a reference
for the Commission’s upcoming report expected
in the first half of 2014 which will identify
progresses and shortcomings towards the
completion of the internal energy market.

Ongoing: infringement procedures against Member States
Mid 2014: Commission’s report on internal energy market
Mid 2014: Adoption of guidelines for state aid rules

7. Eight Member States and Members of the European Parliament call for 2030
renewable energy targets
Energy ministers from eight Member States,
including Germany, France, Denmark, Italy,
Ireland, Austria, Belgium and Portugal, have
written a letter to Günther Oettinger, European
Commissioner
for
energy
and
Connie
Hedegaard, Commissioner for climate to call for
the European Commission to propose new
targets for renewable energy by 2030. The
initiative comes after a year of increasing protest
against the idea of extending the current
framework to 2030 and after the announcement
that the Commission would only propose a target
for emissions reduction for 2030 later this month
(without targets for renewables and energy
efficiency).
In the Parliament, the Members of the
Committees on Environment (ENVI) and Energy
(ITRE) have supported on 9 January in a joint own
initiative report the inclusion of three binding
objectives (reduction of greenhouse gases, or
GHGs, promotion of renewable energies and
energy efficiency) in the future 2030 energyclimate change strategy. The report will now be
submitted to the Parliament's plenary assembly,
most probably during its February session.
The letter insists on the potential impacts of 2030
renewables targets on investment, job creation
and growth. It stresses the need to provide
efficient planning and expansion of the European
grid with renewable energies.

If the Commission has not ruled out yet on the
possibility to put forward further targets, the
decision will probably fall to the next college of
Commissioners which will take office in Autumn.
22 January: proposal for 2030 emissions reduction target
February: adoption of the Parliament’s report in plenary
Autumn: expected new college of Commissioners
Financial
Services
The Council for Economic and financial affairs reaches an agreement on the
single resolution mechanism
On 19 December finance ministers found an
agreement on the single resolution mechanism
(SRM) for restructuring failed banks. The
ambition of Heads of State and Government is to
complete this procedure by the end of the
legislature next spring. The initiative aims at
introducing common rules for banking rescue
bringing Eurozone and some extra Eurozone
INSIGHTS BRUSSELS
January 2014
banks under the authority of a single supervisory
body. The fundamental idea behind this proposal
is to transfer the power to bail out banks from the
national governments to a new EU body. This
initiative was welcomed by most European
leaders.
Ministers of Finances changed a large part of the
initial Commission proposal, especially reducing

8. Commission´s role in deciding if to bail out or not
a bank. According to the Council’s text, the final
decision about banks saving should be devoted
to the Council. Furthermore another controversial
change from Commission´s proposal is related to
the creation of the resolution fund: the single
resolution fund would have access to common
Member State funds only after ten years which,
according to experts, could be an incentive for
banks to continue with budgetary imbalances.
This latest elements were strongly criticized both
by the Commission and the European Central
Bank. According to the Council position,n the
single resolution fund should now be established
through an intergovernmental treaty. This
statement was criticized by President Schulz
because it would put the European Parliament
out of play.
Despite the optimism of heads of States, time is
running out before Parliament dissolves in April
and a long negotiation is predictable in the
trialogue.

28 January: next ECOFIN meeting
1 March: deadline for negotiation for intergovernmental
agreement on single resolution mechanism
Food and
Beverage
Commission proposes new legislation on novel food and cloned meat
On 18 December, the European Commission
proposed three draft directives: two of them
intend to forbid animal cloning for food farming
purposes and ban food made from offspring of
cloned animals while the third one aims at
introducing new measures for novel food.
The first draft Directive proposes to forbid the
cloning technique on farm animals; cloning
would be permitted only for research or
scientific purposes.
The second draft Directive aims at banning
offspring from cloned animals (such as eggs,
milk…) but the only controversial point of this
initiative is that imported food produced from
the descendants of cloned animals will not be
labelled. This means that European consumers
INSIGHTS BRUSSELS
January 2014
may eat descendants of cloned animals or their
offspring without being properly informed. The
European Parliament criticized this aspect
asking the Commission to be more ambitious
and include dispositions that would label the
meat and offspring obtained from descendants
of cloned animals. The Commission replied
stating that labelling would be costly and
complicated and that an impact assessment
evaluation would be required. This precise
issue already determined the failure, in March
2011 of a very similar regulation. In the course
of next year, the Council and the Parliament are
expected to adopt a position but it is unlikely
MEPs would approve the text as it stands.
The third draft Directive aims at introducing a
regulation on novel food. The Commission

9. defines novel food as newly developed
products;
food
produced
using
new
technologies or food traditionally eaten outside
the EU (in particular food for which
consumption in the EU was negligible before
May 1997). The proposal’s objective is to
facilitate novel food market access by
simplifying
and
clarifying
authorization
procedures. The text has now to be discussed
within the Council and the Parliament.

End 2014/ Begin 2015: adoption of position from the EP
and Council
2016: expected entering into force of the Directives
EFSA confirms that aspartame is not dangerous for human health
On December 10 the European Food Safety
Authority (EFSA) stated that aspartame is safe for
human consumption and that there is no reason to
modify the current Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of
40 mg/kg. This opinion closes a debate that has
been going on for more than a year. Aspartame and
its breakdowns have been used for more than 30
years and, along with all food additives, it was due
for a re-evaluation by 2020. During the past years
several studies established a link between
aspartame consumption and a large amount of
diseases (cancer and premature birth mostly). This
latest element alerted the European Parliament that
put pressure on the Commission asking EFSA to
publish a final opinion on aspartame in May 2013.
EFSA delayed then the date of publication to
November in order to consider three new studies.
During the public consultation on the draft opinion
that took place from 9 January to 15 February,
EFSA received 219 comments. All those were
considered and debated by all the stakeholders
during a public hearing in April. The Commission
has now to confirm this opinion and the current ADI
will certainly be maintained.
Healthcare and
Pharmaceuticals
EU institutions finally reach an agreement on tobacco directive
On 18 December the trialogue between the
European Parliament, the Council of Ministers
and the Commission finally found an agreement
on tobacco directive. The new text introduces the
following rules:
Cigarette producers must a maximum level of
nicotine that can be contained in cigarettes;
INSIGHTS BRUSSELS
January 2014
Packs will have to contain at least 20
cigarettes or 30 g for rolling tobacco packs;
At least 65% of the packs needs to indicate
health warning (but Member States can go
further and impose warnings to the whole
package);

10. Flavours will be banned with an exception for
menthol cigarettes that will be allowed till
2020;
A tracking system will be introduced to tackle
sales on the black market;
Cross-border sales and particularly online
sales will be from now on legally prohibited.
The most controversial part of the negotiation was
the issue of electronic cigarettes. Member States
wished to ban refillable cartridge arguing that they
were unsafe, while MEP´s, under the pressure of
manufacturers and consumers refused such
measure. The final compromise reached gives
Member States the choice to classify electronic
cigarettes as medicinal products or tobacco
products. The maximum nicotine concentration
will be 20mg/ml, refill bottles and cartridges will
also have a defined maximum capacity. Moreover
the European Commission will be able to
unilaterally propose an EU ban if a specific
cartridge is banned from at least three Member
States.
The text has now to receive the agreement of the
Parliament in plenary session and the Council. It
will come into force from 2016.

March: formal adoption of the directive
2016: entry into force of the directive
Interinstitutional agreement reached on clinical trials
On 20 December, the Council of Ministers and the
European Parliament reached an agreement on
the proposed regulation on clinical trials of
products for human use. The draft regulation,
presented in July 2012 aimed at giving new
impetus to clinical research in Europe by
improving the authorization process for products
for human use which is long and complex. The
objective is to make the European Union more
attractive for clinical research, whilst maintaining
rigorous standards ensuring patients safety and
reliability of data. The final version of the
regulation stipulates that Member States will
continue to carry out independent assessments
into ethical issues, whilst common rules will
govern the protocol followed to carry out clinical
trials. In the future, pharmaceutical companies
and academic researchers will have to make
public the results of all clinical trials they
undertake in Europe on a common database.

January: formal adoption of the regulation
2016: entry into force of the regulation
Information and
Communication Technology
European Ministers express reservations on Telecom package
On 5 December, European ministers meeting at
the Telecommunications Council gave conditional
support to the European Commission’s
INSIGHTS BRUSSELS
January 2014
'Connected Continent' proposals which aim at
achieving a greater harmonization of the EU
telecoms markets. In particular, they casted

11. doubts over the substance and timing of two
issues:
common regulation principles for radio
frequency allocation of wireless broadband
(4G development). European Ministers
opposed Europe-wide harmonization for
allocating frequency and called for more
attention to national specificities.
alignment of roaming services with national
prices by 2016. According to European
ministers, this Commission’s flagship proposal
would create a high level of uncertainty among
operators. Ministers supported the aim of
reducing roaming charges, but many said
existing roaming proposals (2009 regulation)
need to be implemented before new ones are
adopted. Others claimed the proposals would
distort competition. As a reminder, the
Commission's roaming proposals aims at
eliminating charges for receiving calls across
borders within the bloc, and a cap of €0.19 per
minute for those making calls across EU
borders.
Many ministers also expressed concerns that the
Commission’s proposals to harmonize consumer
protections would have the effect of diluting their
own existing domestic provisions.
In the Council, the dossier will now pass to the
Greek presidency which will be in charge of
developing the debate for the next six months.
Within the European Parliament, good progress
have been achieved with a Committee vote
expected in February before a plenary vote in
April. The Commission expects that the
interinstitutional talks will lead to a compromise
text before the end of its mandate in 2014.

February: Parliament’s committee vote on Telecom package
April: Parliament’s plenary vote on Telecom package
April: Expected Council’s vote on Telecom package
Fall 2014: Expected adoption of the Telecom package
European Ministers discuss cyber security
On 5 December, the Telecommunications
Council also reviewed the draft directive aimed at
ensuring a high level of security of electronic
communications networks and information
systems in the EU. The text was presented by the
European Commission on 7 February as part of
its European cyber security strategy. Ministers in
particular underlined two key questions on which
work still needs to be done: notifying risks and
incidents and developing cooperation among
national authorities to ensure coordinated
intervention in the event of an incident occurs.
INSIGHTS BRUSSELS
January 2014
Some delegations prefer a flexible approach,
limiting the adoption of binding rules at EU level
to critical infrastructure and basic requirements,
complemented by voluntary measures. Others,
as well as the Commission, take the view that only
legally binding measures can ensure the best
level of security throughout the EU.

10 March: Parliament’s plenary vote on Cyber security Directive
Mid-2014: expected adoption of the Directive

12. Media and
Audiovisual works
New funding opportunities for the creative sectors from 2014
Creative Europe, the new programme supporting
the cultural and creative sectors in the EU,
entered into force on 1st January 2014. With a
budget of nearly €1.46 billion over the next seven
years, Creative Europe will fund thousands of
projects in cinema, TV, culture, music, performing
arts, heritage and related areas the with a view to
increase Europe’s international visibility in the
creative sectors. Creative Europe builds on the
success of the Culture and MEDIA programmes,
which have supported the cultural and
audiovisual sectors for more than 20 years.
The first call of proposals is now available for
cultural and creative organisations wishing to bid
for funding in 2014. Nearly €170 million in funding
is available under the programme's first calls for
2014.

March: Deadline for submission of projects
September: Funding of selected projects
Transport
European Parliament pushes to reinforce air passengers’ rights
On 17 December, Members of the European
Parliamentary Committee on Transport (TRAN)
finally adopted a compromise text with a massive
majority (37 in favor, 3 against) which aims at
strengthening a Commission’s proposal on air
passengers’ rights. MEPs put forward in particular
amendments lifting up the thresholds proposed
by the Commission for triggering reimbursement,
compensation or re-routing in case of air delays.
They asserted that compensation should be due
after a three-hour delay for flights of up to 2,500
km (€300 in compensation), after five hours for
flights of up to 6,000 km (€400) and after seven
hours for flights of over 6,000 km (€600). The
Commission was counting on thresholds of five,
nine and twelve hours. To recall, the current
regulation
does
not
establish
financial
compensation for delays, only for cancellation.
INSIGHTS BRUSSELS
January 2014
But the EU Court of Justice believed that it went
against the treaty, which in turn fuelled the need
to adapt the regulation.
Members of the European Parliament also
cleared up the notion of “extraordinary
circumstances” allowing airline companies to
circumvent paying compensation (this disposition
has been subject to systematical abuses in the
past). They called for the regulation to contain an
exhaustive list of exceptional circumstances. The
Commission’s proposal only contained a nonexhaustive list. MEPs for instance supported that
“Labour disputes” at an airline company qualify as
an
extraordinary circumstance
-as the
Commission would like- but only if it is

13. “unforeseen”. This means that if a pilot strike is
announced in advance and leads to
delays/cancellations, it will certainly result in
compensation.
Council is expected to adopt its position in March
but current discussions seem to show that
Member States are keener to support the airline
companies’ interests more than MEPs.
The compromise text will now pass to the plenary
session in February, and the Parliament is
counting on an agreement in first reading with the
Council by the end of the legislative period. The

February: Adoption of final position of the Parliament
March: Adoption of the final position of the Council
April-May: Expected adoption of the final compromise
European Commission adopts a “urban mobility package”
On 17 December, the European Commission
adopted a new "urban mobility package" to
reinforce the exchange of best practice, provide
targeted financial support, encourage
the
development of "sustainable urban mobility
plans" and invest in research and development.
The package includes in particular the following
initiatives:
Setting up in 2014 a European platform for
sustainable urban mobility plans to help cities,
planning experts and stakeholders to plan for
easier and greener urban mobility;
Providing targeted financial support through the
European structural and investment funds;
Promoting Research and Development through
the Civitas 2020 initiative with an estimated
budget for 2014 and 2015 of €106.5 Million (the
first call for proposals has been published on 11
December)
Providing specific recommendations for
coordinated action between all levels of
government and between the public and the
private sector

March: deadline for EU mobility calls for proposals (1st set)
August: deadline for EU mobility calls for proposals (2nd set)
Mid-2014: launch of platform for sustainable mobility
€1 billion in research and innovation for rail transport
The European Commission announced on 16
December, that the public-private partnership
“Shift2rail” will invest €1 billion until 2020 in
research and innovation to get more passengers
and freight onto Europe's railways. Together with
the EU contribution of €470 million from the
Horizon 2020 programme, rail equipment
manufacturers including Alstom, Ansaldo STS,
Bombardier, Siemens, Thales and CAF, as well
as infrastructure managers Trafikverket and
INSIGHTS BRUSSELS
January 2014
Network Rail, have already confirmed that they
will each make a contribution of at least €30
million to the Shift2Rail initiative. Research will
focus on cost efficient rolling stock, traffic
management systems, intelligent maintenance,
integrated ticket systems and intermodal freight
solutions. The objective is to reduce rolling costs
by half, double the rail sector’s capacity and
increase railway line punctuality by 50%.

14. CROSS-SECTORAL POLICIES
Competition
European Commission simplifies merger procedures
On 5 December, the European Commission
adopted a package of measures to simplify its
procedures for reviewing concentrations under
the EU Merger Regulation. The new measures
are supposed to bring significant benefits to
businesses in terms of preparatory work and
related costs.
Under the new requirements, mergers below a
20% combined market share will now qualify for a
simplified procedure (instead of 15% previously).
Mergers in vertically integrated markets (such as
between a producer and a manufacturer) below a
30% combined market share as well as merger
with a combined market shares of between 20%
to 50% but with a small increase in market share
after merger will also qualify for the simplified
procedure. With the new thresholds, the
Commission’s objective is to bring the total ratio
of cases treated under simplified procedure to 6070%.
The package also provides companies with
shorter notification forms and a significant
reduction of information requested from merging
companies. With the new dispositions, the
Commission will also be entitled to clear cases
without a market investigation.
Last, merging parties may offer commitments in
order to remove competition problems raised by
a notified merger. The Commission developed
models for offering commitments to divest assets
and for the establishment of a mandate for the
trustees monitoring the implementation of the
commitments.

January: implementation of the new merger procedures
European Commission opens two consultations on state aid support
The European Commission opened in December
two public consultations on draft rules for state
support in energy and environmental field and on
draft rules for state support for research,
development and innovation. Both consultations
are part of a broader initiative to modernise EU
State aid rules.
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January 2014
On 18 December, the European Commission
published its long awaited consultation on a
proposal for revised State aid guidelines for
assessing public support projects in the field of
energy and the environment. With an increasing
penetration and decreasing costs of renewable
energy, the guidelines in particular propose that

15. state aid should gradually move to a more market
friendly support of renewable energy in the form
of market premiums or certificate schemes.
Accordingly, the guidelines propose to focus
more on infrastructure projects for cross-border
energy flows.
On 20 December, the European Commission
published for public consultation a draft
framework setting out revised conditions under
which Member States can grant state aid for
research, development and innovation activities
(R&D&I). It will offer Member States more
possibilities to channel state aid towards boosting
innovation, growth and jobs:
European industry and addressing societal
challenges such as climate change.
A new category of aid for the construction and
upgrade of research infrastructure will also be
set up.
After having analysed the comments by
stakeholders, the Commission envisages
adopting a new framework in spring 2014.

14 February: end of consultation for energy and
environment state aid guidelines
20 February: end of consultation for research and
development state aid guidelines
the conditions for subsidised pilot and
demonstration projects will be more flexible;
1 July: entry into force of a new framework for R&D
It will facilitate the validation of technologies
which are vital for the competitiveness of
Consumers
Council of Ministers adopted a general approach on payment accounts
On 20 December, the Council of Ministers
adopted a general approach on a draft directive
aimed at improving the transparency and
comparability of information on fees related to
payment accounts. The proposal sets out to
enable the consumer to make informed choices
when opening a payment account, whilst
facilitating the switching of accounts and
eliminating discrimination based on residency. It
also sets out to guarantee access to basic
payment services throughout the EU.
The aim is to enhance both consumer protection
and integration of the single market, contributing
to easier market entry, increased economies of
scale and strengthened competition in the
banking and payment industries.
Negotiations with the European Parliament will
now start, with the aim of adopting the directive at
first reading.

Early 2014: final agreement on payment accounts
INSIGHTS BRUSSELS
January 2014

16. Intellectual
Property Rights
Reform of EU legislation on registering trademarks expected in 2014
On 2 December, European Ministers discussed
the reform of the EU legislation on registering
national and European trade marks. Ministers
agreed that there is still some way to go before
reaching an agreement as they share some
reservations about the governance structure of
the Office for the Harmonisation in the Internal
Market (OHIM) and the level of cooperation
between OHIM and national trademarks offices.
The objective of the trademark package is to
lower the cost of registering a trade mark. The
Commission’s draft legislation would lower the
cost of registering a trade mark from €900 to
€775, and reduce the cost of renewing it from
€1,350 to €1,000. The reform should also
enhance seizures of counterfeit products in transit
on European territory - not just at customs. The
EU rules in this field date back in the 1990s.
While the European Parliament is progressing
well on this dossier with a vote scheduled in the
plenary session in February, an interinstitutional
agreement on the trademark package is expected
in the course of the year.

4 February: Parliament’s vote on trademark package
Early-Mid 2014: Council’s vote on trademark package
Mid-End 2014: expected EU compromise on package
International
Trade
Third EU/US round talks makes significant progress in negotiation
From 16 to 20 December, took place in
Washington the third round of discussions
between European and American negotiators on
the Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership (TTIP), a trade agreement that aims
at removing trade barriers between EU and the
US. Both delegations talked about “progress”
during the press conference that followed this
third round. The three key elements of the TTIP
are market access, regulatory aspects and rules.
The most relevant themes discussed during the
latest round were:
INSIGHTS BRUSSELS
January 2014
Agriculture: US wants Europe to approve
genetically modified food;
Food: Commission asks for exclusive rights in
using food names with a specific geographic
origin;
Financial services: EU Commission wants to
include them in the negotiations;
Energy: EU access to new energy sources in
the US (shale gas) and US concern over fuel
quality directive;
Data security: US demands for free data flows.

17. Both European Parliament and American
Congress are strongly supporting this initiative,
but Europe has been more ambitious hoping to
close the deal by October. A meeting between the
European Commissioner for trade Karel De
Gucht and Mike Froman, the US trade
representative, will occur during February, while
the fourth round of negotiation will take place in
Brussels 4 March. Those next two meetings will
be decisive in order to reach an agreement by the
end of the current year.

February: meeting between European Commissioner for
trade and US trade representative
March: fourth round of negotiations
October: expected final agreement
Research and
Development
Near €8 billion in 2014 to fund projects in research and development
On 11 December, the European Commission
published the first calls for projects under the new
framework programme for research and
innovation, Horizon 2020. The European
Commission has indicated for the first time
funding priorities over two years (2014-2015),
providing researchers and businesses with more
certainty on the direction of EU research policy.
This set of calls for projects is the first of a series
announced for 2014 to be launched over the
course of the year. Calls in the 2014 budget alone
are worth around €7.8 billion, with funding
focused on the three key pillars of Horizon 2020:
Industrial Leadership: €1.8 billion to support
Europe's industrial leadership in areas like ICT,
nanotechnologies, advanced manufacturing,
robotics, biotechnologies and space.
INSIGHTS BRUSSELS
January 2014
Societal challenges: €2.8 billion for innovative
projects in the fields of health, agriculture,
maritime and bioeconomy, energy, transport,
climate action, environment, resource efficiency
and raw materials, reflective societies, and
security.
Excellent Science: Around €3 billion, including
€1.7 billion for grants for top scientists.
The first grants are expected to be awarded in
September this year.

September: first funds granted to selected projects

18. Taxation
High-level expert group to focus on taxation of digital economy
On 12 December, the high-level expert group
established by the European Commission on
Taxation of the digital economy organized its first
meeting. The group of experts, consisting of six
national members, will report back to the
Commission by mid-2014, listing the main
problems of taxing the digital economy. In
particular, it will seek to propose different options
on the way multinationals active in this sector –
whose tax optimisation strategies are increasingly
INSIGHTS BRUSSELS
January 2014
being criticised – shall be taxed. The Commission
will then develop any necessary EU initiative to
improve the tax framework for the digital sector in
Europe.

Mid 2014: report from the high level group on taxation of
digital economy
End 2014-Begin 2015: new tax framework for the digital sector

19. INSIGHTS BRUSSELS
January 2014