The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €724 million (DKK 5.4 billion) Danish scheme to lower the rate of a new greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions tax for certain companies. The measure aims to prevent the risk of carbon leakage, where companies relocate production outside of the EU to countries with less ambitious climate policies, resulting in increased greenhouse gas emissions globally.

The European Commission has fined České dráhy (‘ČD') and Österreichische Bundesbahnen (‘ÖBB'), the Czech and Austrian rail incumbents, a total of €48.7 million for breaching EU antitrust rules. ČD and ÖBB colluded to prevent a new entrant, RegioJet, from accessing used wagons, thus restricting competition on the rail passenger transport market.

The European Commission has concluded that two Swedish tax exemption schemes for non-food-based biogas and bio-propane used for heating or as motor fuel are in line with EU State aid rules. In June 2020, the Commission had approved the schemes under EU State aid rules, but the Commission's decisions were annulled by the General Court on 21 December 2022.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Groupe Courir SAS (‘Courir') by JD Sports Fashion Plc Group (‘JD Sports'). The approval is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments offered by the parties.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €128 million Swedish measure to support SSAB in decarbonising its steel production. The measure will contribute to the achievement of the European Green Deal and the Green Deal Industrial Plan targets, while also helping to end dependence on Russian fossil fuels and accelerate the green transition, in line with the REPowerEU Plan.”

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of EQOS by Eiffage. The approval is conditional upon full compliance with commitments offered by Eiffage and EQOS.

Today, the Commission found that the online social networking service of X should not be designated as a core platform service under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Today's decision comes after an in-depth market investigation launched on 13 May 2024 following the notification by X of its status of potential gatekeeper.

The European Commission has approved two Luxembourgish schemes with a total budget of €520 million to help manufacturing companies to decarbonise their production processes and to support investments in strategic sectors to foster the transition to a net-zero economy. The schemes were approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (‘TCTF') adopted by the Commission on 9 March 2023 and amended on 20 November 2023 and on 2 May 2024.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €1 billion Italian scheme to support farmers affected by flood and landslide events in certain regions of Italy.

The European Commission has approved a €1.2 billion Polish scheme to support investments in electricity storage facilities to foster the transition to a net-zero economy. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (‘TCTF'), adopted by the Commission on 9 March 2023 and amended on 20 November 2023 and on 2 May 2024. 

The European Commission has approved unconditionally, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Kinetics Holding GmbH by Exyte GmbH. The Commission concluded that the transaction would not raise competition concerns in the European Economic Area.

The European Commission has approved a €1 billion Portuguese scheme to support investments for the production of equipment necessary to foster the transition towards a net-zero economy, in line with the Green Deal Industrial Plan. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (‘TCTF'), adopted by the Commission on 9 March 2023 and amended on 20 November 2023 and on 2 May 2024.

The European Commission has approved, under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, the acquisition by Emirates Telecommunications Group Company PJSC of sole control of PPF Telecom Group B.V., excluding its Czech business, subject to conditions. The approval is conditional on full compliance with the commitments offered by the parties.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €2.7 billion Austrian scheme to support companies active in the industrial sector to decarbonise their production processes. The measure will contribute to the implementation of Austria's National Energy and Climate Plan and to the achievement of the European Green Deal targets, while helping to end dependence on Russian fossil fuels in line with the REPowerEU Plan.

The European Commission takes note of the withdrawal of the initial referral requests by seven Member States to review under Article 22 of the EU Merger Regulation (‘EUMR') the acquisition of certain assets of Inflection AI, Inc. (‘Inflection') by Microsoft Corporation (‘Microsoft). The deadline for the Commission to decide upon these requests was 19 September 2024. Following the judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union of 3 September 2024 in the Illumina/GRAIL case, holding that Member States cannot refer a transaction to the Commission under Article 22 of the EUMR when not competent to review the transaction under their national merger control rules, all seven Member States that submitted an initial referral have decided to withdraw their requests. Therefore, the Commission will take no decision in this matter.

The European Commission has approved an around €1.2 billion (PLN 5 billion) Polish scheme to support investments in strategic sectors to foster the transition towards a net-zero economy. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (‘TCTF') adopted by the Commission on 9 March 2023 and amended on 20 November 2023 and on 2 May 2024.

The European Commission has approved a €682 million Belgian scheme to support renewable offshore wind energy to foster the transition towards a net-zero economy. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (‘TCTF') adopted by the Commission on 9 March 2023 and amended on 20 November 2023 and on 2 May 2024.

Today, the European Commission has concluded that three German measures in favour of Ryanair and the Frankfurt-Hahn airport are incompatible with EU State aid rules. Germany must now recover the incompatible aid, including interest. The Commission has also found in separate decision that other public funding measures for Frankfurt-Hahn airport, Haitec AG and Ryanair do not constitute State aid.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €5 billion German measure to support European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (‘ESMC') in the construction and operation of a microchip manufacturing plant in Dresden. ESMC is a joint venture between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (‘TSMC'), Bosch, Infineon, and NXP. The measure will strengthen Europe's security of supply, resilience and digital sovereignty in semiconductor technologies, in line with the objectives set out in the European Chips Act Communication. The measure will also contribute to achieving the digital and green transitions.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €99.5 million (RON 495.2 million) Romanian measure in favour of Nokian Tyres. The aid will support the establishment of a new zero carbon dioxide emission factory for passenger car tyres in Oradea. The measure will contribute to the EU's strategic objectives relating to job creation, regional development, and to the green transition of the regional economy.