14.12.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 429/1

—

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 32017M8722. EUR-Lex is the online access to European law.

14.12.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 429/1

—

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 32017M8681. EUR-Lex is the online access to European law.

14.12.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 429/2

—

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 32017M8562. EUR-Lex is the online access to European law.

14.12.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 429/3

1.

at individual level, higher education contributes to the personal and professional development of learners, and helps individuals take responsibility for their lifelong learning and career. At societal level, it lays the foundation for sustainable development, economic growth, innovation and social cohesion and has an important role in identifying and addressing societal challenges.

2.

there is a need to strengthen collaboration and synergies, both within education sectors and between higher education and research, innovation and the world of work.

3.

higher education institutions need support in fulfilling their civic engagement role and in taking steps to ensure that the composition of their student and staff body provides a better reflection of the population as a whole.

4.

higher education institutions should be encouraged to rethink approaches to learning and teaching and to promote, in particular, a student-centred approach, collaborative and inquiry-based learning, inclusive learning environments, and use of digital technologies.

5.

while progress has been remarkable in moving towards the Europe 2020 headline target for at least 40 % of 30-34 year olds to have completed tertiary or equivalent education by 2020, it is critical to ensure that higher education is of high quality and relevance to enable graduates to thrive both personally and professionally.

6.

in this context, efforts are still needed to provide better quality data on higher education, for example on social and employment outcomes and civic participation for people leaving higher education, as well as on transnational mobility and its challenges.

7.

international cooperation and learning mobility in the field of higher education, especially through the Erasmus+ programme, have enabled the creation of new cross-border partnerships, the exchange of good practices, building intercultural understanding and shared values, and unlocking and harnessing new knowledge, with a view to enhancing Europe's higher education system's world-wide attractiveness and competitiveness.

8.

specific challenges for Europe's higher education sector are:

9.

the Commission's communication on a renewed EU agenda for higher education (1), which builds on previous cooperation and aims to ensure that the EU's tools and programmes support mutual learning and policy cooperation in higher education.

10.

Encouraging higher education institutions to develop the talent and potential of all learners, and better equip them with the knowledge, skills and competences they need to act as active and responsible citizens in society and to participate in the labour market and in life-long learning.

11.

Tackling skills mismatches and skills shortages as well as anticipating future skills needs by encouraging higher education institutions to:

12.

Building stronger links with local communities, for example by better involving community and voluntary activities into programmes, where appropriate, and by encouraging an entrepreneurial culture and skills both inside and outside the higher education institutions.

13.

Encouraging higher education institutions to implement innovative approaches to teaching and learning, in particular by developing a strategic approach to digitalisation and by enhancing the digital literacy of all learners.

14.

Striving for more equity by enhancing access to higher education using a wide array of means, including working towards better accessibility at regional level, as well as creating better conditions to succeed and ensuring high quality education and guidance for all students, regardless of their background.

15.

Making efforts to open up higher education systems for people at any stage of their life, by facilitating the transitions between different qualification levels and educational pathways, improving the recognition of informal and non-formal learning, and by developing more flexible modes of delivery of higher education, for example through blended learning and Open Educational Resources.

16.

Encouraging higher education institutions to support and incentivise initial training and the continuous professional development of academic staff, in order to equip them with the appropriate teaching skills required to address the needs of a diverse student body, create effective collaborative learning environments, engage students in research activities, promote interdisciplinarity and better utilise innovative pedagogical practices.

17.

Taking steps to improve the digital competences of academic staff, including digital pedagogy and discipline-specific digital competences.

18.

Making efforts to appreciate excellence and innovation in teaching, for example by developing reward systems and career opportunities for academic staff, taking into consideration the balance between teaching and research activities.

19.

Promoting learning mobility and other relevant international experience among students and academic staff, such as virtual and blended mobility or internationalisation at home, and building learning and teaching mobility into programmes more systematically.

20.

Supporting higher education institutions in improving their impact on macro-regional strategies, regional economies and innovation capacity as well as contributing to technology transfer and regional smart specialisation policy.

21.

Supporting higher education institutions in creating effective collaboration networks between different organisations and across sectors.

22.

Encouraging higher education institutions to create favourable conditions for entrepreneurial thinking and creativity and to take a holistic look at how research and innovation are integrated into study programmes.

23.

Supporting developments in doctoral programmes to better prepare graduates for careers both outside and within academia, including enhancing the visibility of transferable competences, and helping to release their full potential while contributing to innovation and development in the wider economy and society.

24.

Striving for adequate, fair and sustainable funding and for the effective governance of higher education systems in order to improve the quality and relevance of teaching and learning and to promote inclusivity and excellence.

25.

Encouraging the active participation of internal and involvement of external stakeholders in the governance of higher education institutions.

26.

Further enhancing the efficiency, effectiveness and transparency of quality assurance in order to reinforce mutual trust, strengthen recognition procedures of academic qualifications and stimulate international mobility.

27.

reinforce cooperation under the Erasmus+ programme and strategic framework for education and training including by promoting inclusiveness, excellence and innovation in teaching, fostering the civic and social responsibility of students and higher education institutions, encouraging relevant voluntary and community work and developing collaboration with the business sector.

28.

support measures, and foster dissemination of the results, to enhance quality in academic mobility, such as improved transparency of qualifications, including those held by refugees and migrants, and the digital exchange of student data, while fully respecting national and European data protection rules.

29.

offer EU-level support to coalitions for the promotion of STE(A)M fields and to share good practices.

30.

foster the development of innovative pedagogies to help higher education institutions implement comprehensive digital learning strategies, for example by exploring the Digital Learning Readiness Model.

31.

create the incentives and capacity for higher education to seek solutions to social and economic challenges and to make a stronger contribution to innovative and entrepreneurial growth in regions, in particular by facilitating better links with public authorities, research institutions and the business sector.

32.

contribute to strengthening the links and coordination between the European Higher Education Area, the European Research Area, initiatives in the innovation area and other relevant international education fora.

33.

optimise and create synergies between EU tools for evidence-building as well as strengthen the work of the Eurydice network and the cooperation with the OECD in order to ensure synergies between activities, avoid duplication of effort and benefit from joint work.

34.

contribute to the examination of funding and governance structures in the context of cooperation with the OECD, with a particular focus on the balance between teaching and research, with the objective of ensuring improved graduate outcomes and the development of more efficient and effective higher education systems.

35.

take full account of these conclusions in the preparation of its proposals for the future strategic cooperation framework in the field of education and training, the Union programme on education and training after 2020, and other financial instruments, giving due weight to strategic, financial and quality considerations in the development of such proposals.

14.12.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 429/8

14.12.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 429/9

1.1.

Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function groups AD and AST referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2017:

2.

Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function group AST/SC referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2017:

3.

Table of the correction coefficients applicable to the remuneration and pensions of officials and other servants of the European Union referred to in Article 64 of the Staff Regulations containing:

4.1.

Amount of the parental leave allowance referred to in the second paragraph of Article 42a of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2017 — EUR 986,72.

4.2.

Amount of the parental leave allowance referred to in the third paragraph of Article 42a of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2017 — EUR 1 315,62.

5.1.

Basic amount of the household allowance referred to in Article 1(1) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2017 — EUR 184,55.

5.2.

Amount of the dependent child allowance referred to in Article 2(1) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2017 — EUR 403,25.

5.3.

Amount of the education allowance referred to in Article 3(1) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2017 — EUR 273,60.

5.4.

Amount of the education allowance referred to in Article 3(2) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2017 — EUR 98,51.

5.5.

Minimum amount of the expatriation allowance referred to in Article 69 of the Staff Regulations and in the second subparagraph of Article 4(1) of Annex VII thereto, applicable from 1 July 2017 — EUR 546,95.

5.6.

Amount of the expatriation allowance referred to in Article 134 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, applicable from 1 July 2017 — EUR 393,20.

6.1.

Amount of the kilometric allowance referred to in Article 7(2) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2017:

6.2.

Amount of the flat-rate supplement to the kilometric allowance referred to in Article 7(2) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2017:

7.1.

Amount of the kilometric allowance referred to in Article 8(2) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 January 2018:

7.2.

Amount of the flat-rate supplement to the kilometric allowance referred to in Article 8(2) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 January 2018:

8.

Amount of the daily subsistence allowance referred to in Article 10(1) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2017:

9.

Amount of the lower limit for the installation allowance referred to in Article 24(3) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, applicable from 1 July 2017:

10.1.

Amount of the lower and upper limits of the unemployment allowance referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 28a(3) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, applicable from 1 July 2017:

10.2.

Amount of the standard allowance referred to in Article 28a(7) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, applicable from 1 July 2017 — EUR 1 315,62.

11.

Table containing the amounts of the scale of basic salaries provided for in Article 93 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, applicable from 1 July 2017:

12.

Amount of the lower limit for the installation allowance referred to in Article 94 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, applicable from 1 July 2017:

13.1.

Amount of the lower and upper limits of the unemployment allowance referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 96(3) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, applicable from 1 July 2017:

13.2.

Amount of the standard allowance referred to in Article 96(7) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants shall be EUR 986,72.

13.3.

Amount of the lower and the upper limits for the unemployment allowance referred to in Article 136 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, applicable from 1 July 2017:

14.

Amount of the allowances for shift work laid down in the first subparagraph of Article 1(1) of Council Regulation (ECSC, EEC, Euratom) No 300/76 (1):

15.

Coefficient, applicable from 1 July 2017 to the to the amounts referred to in Article 4 of Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 260/68 (2) — 5,9705.

16.

Table of the amounts provided for in Article 8(2) of Annex XIII to the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2017:

17.

Amount, applicable from 1 July 2017, of the fixed allowance mentioned in the former Article 4a of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations, in force before 1 May 2004, which is used for the application of Article 18(1) of Annex XIII to the Staff Regulations:

18.

Table containing the amounts of the scale of basic salaries provided for in Article 133 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, applicable from 1 July 2017:

14.12.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 429/15

14.12.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 429/18

14.12.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 429/24

14.12.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 429/25

14.12.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 429/27

Date of adoption of the decision

:

14 September 2017

Case No

:

81018

Decision No

:

156/17/COL

EFTA State

:

Norway

Title

:

Amendment to the tax refund scheme for employing seafarers 2016-2026

Legal basis

:

Regulation of 26 February 2016 No 204 on refunds for employing seafarers section 13a

Type of measure

:

Scheme

Objective

:

Maritime transport

Form of aid

:

Tax and social security refunds

Budget

:

Annual increase of NOK 80 million

Duration

:

10 years from 1 March 2016 to 28 February 2026

Economic sectors

:

Maritime transport

Name and address of the granting authority

:

Other information

:

14.12.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 429/28

EPSO/AST/144/17 — LINGUISTIC ASSISTANTS (AST 1) for the following languages:

14.12.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 429/29

1.

Does it constitute part of the effective implementation of the EEA Agreement that a natural or a legal person in an EFTA State should be able to invoke Article 54 of the Agreement before a domestic court in order to claim compensation for a violation of the prohibitions of that provision?

2.

When assessing whether the conditions are fulfilled for a compensation claim in view of a violation of competition rules, is it of significance whether the competent authorities have delivered a final ruling on a violation of Article 54 EEA?

3.

Is it regarded as an unlawful margin squeeze, violating Article 54 EEA, when an undertaking in a dominant position on a wholesale market sets termination rates applying to its competitors in such a way that the dominant undertaking’s own retail division would be unable to profit from the sale of telephone calls within its system if it had to bear the cost of selling them under the same circumstances, when the dominant undertaking itself is also obliged to purchase termination from these same competitors at a higher price than that at which it sells termination to its competitors?

4.

Is the fact that an undertaking is in a dominant position on the relevant wholesale market sufficient for it to be guilty of applying an unlawful margin squeeze, violating Article 54 EEA, or must the undertaking also be in a dominant position on the relevant retail market?

14.12.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 429/30

1.

On 5 December 2017 the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).

This notification concerns the following undertakings:

JD, Sonae MC and Balaiko acquire(s) within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and Article 3(4) of the Merger Regulation control of the whole of JDSH and Sport Zone.

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—   JD: retail of sports apparel and footwear; operation of fitness centres in the United Kingdom. JD is controlled by Pentland Group, which is active in the wholesale supply of branded outdoor products to outdoor retailers.

—   Sonae MC: retail and wholesale trade in food and non-food products and management of related real estate assets.

—   Balaiko: investment vehicle company.

—   JDSH: retail trade in sports goods in Portugal and Spain under the banner brands JD, ‘size?’ and Sprinter.

—   SPZ: retail trade in sports goods in Portugal and Spain under the banner brand Sport Zone.

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.

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. The following reference should always be specified:

M.8710 — JD/Sonae MC/Balaiko/JDSH/Sport Zone

Observations can be sent to the Commission by email, by fax, or by post. Please use the contact details below: