LAST MONTH IN BRIEF

• 1 January: beginning of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU

• 8 January: the European Commission approves Germany’s State aid in favour of Swedish battery maker Northvolt. This is the first case of “matching aid”

• 15-16 January: European ministers responsible for the environment meet in Brussels for an informal meeting

• 15-18 January: European Parliament meets in Strasbourg for a plenary session 16 January: the European ministers of Economic and Financial affairs meet in Brussels for an Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting to discuss, in particular, the financing of EU industrial policies

• 22-23 January: European ministers for Trade meet in Brussels for an informal meeting to discuss European strategic autonomy and the preparation of the next WTO conference

• 24 January: the European Commission adopts 5 legislative proposals to strengthen the EU's economic security

• 26 January: the Council of the EU adopts its position (negotiating mandate) on the regulation prohibiting products made with forced labour on the EU market

• 30-31 January: European Commissioners Margrethe Vestager (Competition), Valdis Dombrovskis (Trade) and Thierry Breton (Internal Market) participate in the 5th EU-US Trade & Technology Council meeting in Washington

• 30-31 January: the European Defence ministers meet in Brussels for an informal meeting to discuss how to strengthen the European defence, technological and industrial base (EDTIB) and the upcoming European Defence Industrial Strategy (EDIS)

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