10.11.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 413/1

(1)

The accounts of the European Central Bank (ECB) and national central banks of the Member States whose currency is the euro are audited by independent external auditors recommended by the ECB’s Governing Council and approved by the Council of the European Union.

(2)

The mandate of the Central Bank of Ireland’s current external auditors, Grant Thornton, ended following the audit for the financial year 2015. It is therefore necessary to appoint external auditors from the financial year 2016.

(3)

The Central Bank of Ireland has selected Mazars as its external auditors for the financial years 2016 to 2020,

10.11.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 413/2

—

in the merger section of the Competition website of the Commission (http://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases/). This website provides various facilities to help locate individual merger decisions, including company, case number, date and sectoral indexes,

—

in electronic form on the EUR-Lex website (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/homepage.html?locale=en) under document number 32016M8200. EUR-Lex is the online access to European law.

10.11.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 413/3

10.11.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 413/4

10.11.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 413/5

Date of adoption of the decision

:

15 June 2016

Case No

:

78841

Decision No

:

126/16/COL

EFTA State

:

Norway

Region

:

N/A

Title (and/or name of the beneficiary)

:

Amendments to the production grant scheme for news and current affairs media

Legal basis

:

Amendments to Regulation of 25 March 2014 on the production grants for news and current affairs media

Type of measure

:

Scheme

Objective

:

Promotion of media plurality and diversity

Form of aid

:

Grant

Budget

:

NOK 14,8 million

Duration

:

Until 2020

Economic sectors

:

News and current affairs media

Name and address of the granting authority

:

10.11.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 413/6

Date of adoption of the decision

:

15 June 2016

Case No

:

79001

Decision No

:

127/16/COL

EFTA State

:

Norway

Region

:

Oslo

Title (and/or name of the beneficiary)

:

Urbanium AS

Legal basis

:

Type of measure

:

Sale of property

Objective

:

Form of aid

:

No aid

Budget

:

Intensity

:

Duration

:

Economic sectors

:

Name and address of the granting authority

:

Other information

:

10.11.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 413/7

Date of adoption of the decision

:

17 June 2016

Case No

:

79159

Decision No

:

130/16/2016

EFTA State

:

Iceland

Title (and/or name of the beneficiary)

:

Sale of electricity to Thorsil

Legal basis

:

Power contract signed between Thorsil ehf. and Landsvirkjun

Type of measure

:

No state aid

10.11.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 413/8

1.

By maintaining in force a national provision such as section 2, paragraph 32, of the Norwegian Product Regulation which bans the manufacture, import, export and sale of consumer products containing certain concentrations of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), Norway has failed to fulfil its obligations arising from the Act referred to at point 12zc of Chapter XV of Annex II to the EEA Agreement (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC, as amended), in particular Article 128(1) thereof, as adapted to the EEA Agreement by Protocol 1 thereto.

2.

In the alternative, by maintaining in force a national provision such as the aforementioned one once the restriction process under Title VIII of the aforementioned Act referred to at point 12zc of Chapter XV of Annex II to the EEA Agreement has been initiated, Norway has failed to fulfil its obligations arising from Article 3 of the EEA Agreement read together with Article 128(1) of that Act.

3.

By maintaining in force a national provision such as aforementioned one, Norway has failed to fulfil its obligations arising from Article 11 of the EEA Agreement.

4.

The Kingdom of Norway bears the costs of the proceedings.

—

The EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) claims that the Kingdom of Norway has breached its obligations under the REACH Regulation, and/or its obligations under the EEA Agreement, by maintaining in force a national regulation prohibiting the manufacture, import, export and sale of consumer products containing 0,001 % or more by weight of a substance commonly referred to as ‘PFOA’.

—

ESA seeks to obtain clarification that once a substance has been identified as posing an uncontrolled risk to the environment and human health, unilateral national regulation of substances covered by REACH is permissible only in certain narrowly defined circumstances, provided for under the REACH Regulation.

—

The present Application concerns national legislation adopted in Norway to restrict PFOA. By this Application, ESA in no way seeks to question the necessity of regulating PFOA as a substance. It is instead an important procedural matter which has prompted ESA to bring the present infringement action: when an EEA State identifies a risk to health or the environment arising from a substance covered by REACH, it is essential for the functioning of the system established by REACH that those concerns are acted upon within the framework of that system, rather than resulting in unilateral action.

—

On 27 August 2013, the Norwegian Government informed ESA that a regulation amending the Norwegian Product Regulation through the introduction of restrictions on the manufacture, import, export and sale of consumer products containing PFOA and certain salts and esters of PFOA had been adopted on 27 May 2013.

—

On 8 July 2015, ESA delivered a reasoned opinion on the matter. Pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 31 of the Surveillance and Court Agreement (SCA), ESA required Norway to take the measures necessary to comply with the reasoned opinion within two months following the notification, that is, no later than 8 September 2015.

—

By letter of 16 October 2015, Norway responded to the reasoned opinion, maintaining its position and providing some additional comments. As Norway still maintained the national provisions in question by the deadline set in the reasoned opinion, ESA decided to bring the matter before the EFTA Court pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 31 SCA.

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EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 413/10

1.

Declare that Iceland has failed to fulfil its obligations under the Act referred to at point 6a and at point 6e of Chapter VIII of Annex II to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (Directive 2014/68/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of pressure equipment) as adapted to the Agreement by way of Protocol 1 thereto, and under Article 7 of the Agreement, by failing to adopt the measures necessary to implement Article 13 of the Act within the time prescribed, or in any event by failing to inform the EFTA Surveillance Authority thereof.

2.

Order Iceland to bear the costs of these proceedings.

—

The application addresses Iceland’s failure to comply, no later than 13 March 2016, with a reasoned opinion delivered by the EFTA Surveillance Authority on 13 January 2016 regarding that State’s failure to implement into its national legal order Directive 2014/68/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of pressure equipment, as referred to at point 6a and at point 6e of Chapter VIII of Annex II to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and as adapted to that Agreement by way of Protocol 1 thereto (‘the Act’).

—

The EFTA Surveillance Authority submits that Iceland has failed to fulfil its obligations under the Act and under Article 7 of the EEA Agreement by failing to adopt the measures necessary to implement the Act within the time prescribed.

10.11.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 413/11

1.

On 3 November 2016, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which the undertaking TowerBrook Capital Partners L.P. (‘TowerBrook’, United States) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the undertaking Van Dijk Educatie Beheer BV (‘Van Dijk’, Netherlands) by way of purchase of shares.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

3.

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved. Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in this Notice.

4.

The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.

Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. Observations can be sent to the Commission by fax (+32 22964301), by email to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference M.8226 — TowerBrook Capital Partners/Van Dijk Educatie Beheer, to the following address: