6.1.2017

Official Journal of the European Union

C 3/1

RECOMMENDATION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 22 December 2016

to the Council of the European Union on the external auditors of the Bank of Greece

(ECB/2016/46)

(2017/C 3/01)

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,

Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular Article 27.1 thereof,

Whereas:

(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 Bank of Greece’s current external auditors, KPMG Certified Auditors AE, will end following the audit for the financial year 2016. It is therefore necessary to appoint external auditors from the financial year 2017.

(3)	The Bank of Greece has selected Deloitte Certified Public Accountants S.A. as its external auditors for the financial years 2017 to 2021,

HAS ADOPTED THIS RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended that Deloitte Certified Public Accountants S.A. should be appointed as the external auditors of the Bank of Greece for the financial years 2017 to 2021.

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 22 December 2016.

The President of the ECB

Mario DRAGHI

6.1.2017

Official Journal of the European Union

C 3/3

Euro exchange rates (1)

5 January 2017

(2017/C 3/04)

1 euro =

	Currency	Exchange rate
USD	US dollar	1,0501
JPY	Japanese yen	122,38
DKK	Danish krone	7,4341
GBP	Pound sterling	0,85440
SEK	Swedish krona	9,5341
CHF	Swiss franc	1,0704
ISK	Iceland króna
NOK	Norwegian krone	9,0215
BGN	Bulgarian lev	1,9558
CZK	Czech koruna	27,021
HUF	Hungarian forint	308,28
PLN	Polish zloty	4,3680
RON	Romanian leu	4,5065
TRY	Turkish lira	3,8020
AUD	Australian dollar	1,4401
CAD	Canadian dollar	1,3966
HKD	Hong Kong dollar	8,1431
NZD	New Zealand dollar	1,5087
SGD	Singapore dollar	1,5076
KRW	South Korean won	1 250,78
ZAR	South African rand	14,3244
CNY	Chinese yuan renminbi	7,2311
HRK	Croatian kuna	7,5770
IDR	Indonesian rupiah	14 029,62
MYR	Malaysian ringgit	4,7097
PHP	Philippine peso	51,993
RUB	Russian rouble	62,4526
THB	Thai baht	37,599
BRL	Brazilian real	3,3742
MXN	Mexican peso	22,3446
INR	Indian rupee	71,3394

(1) Source: reference exchange rate published by the ECB.

6.1.2017

Official Journal of the European Union

C 3/4

Commission notice on current State aid recovery interest rates and reference/discount rates for 28 Member States applicable as from 1 January 2017

(Published in accordance with Article 10 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 of 21 April 2004 (OJ L 140, 30.4.2004, p. 1))

(2017/C 3/05)

Base rates calculated in accordance with the Communication from the Commission on the revision of the method for setting the reference and discount rates (OJ C 14, 19.1.2008, p. 6.). Depending on the use of the reference rate, the appropriate margins have still to be added as defined in this communication. For the discount rate this means that a margin of 100 basispoints has to be added. The Commission Regulation (EC) No 271/2008 of 30 January 2008 amending Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 foresees that, unless otherwise provided for in a specific decision, the recovery rate will also be calculated by adding 100 basispoints to the base rate.

Modified rates are indicated in bold.

Previous table published in OJ C 372, 11.10.2016, p. 5.

From	To	AT	BE	BG	CY	CZ	DE	DK	EE	EL	ES	FI	FR	HR	HU	IE	IT	LT	LU	LV	MT	NL	PL	PT	RO	SE	SI	SK	UK
1.1.2017	…	-0,07	-0,07	0,76	-0,07	0,45	-0,07	0,16	-0,07	-0,07	-0,07	-0,07	-0,07	1,05	0,75	-0,07	-0,07	-0,07	-0,07	-0,07	-0,07	-0,07	1,83	-0,07	1,10	-0,36	-0,07	-0,07	0,78

6.1.2017

Official Journal of the European Union

C 3/5

Communication from the French Government concerning Directive 94/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the conditions for granting and using authorisations for the prospection, exploration and production of hydrocarbons (1)

Notice regarding applications for exclusive licences to prospect for liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons (‘the Courgenay Licence’)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2017/C 3/06)

On 26 February 2016, Société Pétrolière de Production et d’Exploitation SAS (ZA Pense Folie, 45220 Château-Renard, France) applied for an exclusive five-year licence, designated the ‘Courgenay licence’, to prospect for conventional oil and gas in the Aube and Yonne departments.

The perimeter of the area covered by this licence is demarcated by the straight lines connecting the points defined below:

Point	NTF meridian of origin Paris		RGF93 meridian of origin Greenwich
Point	Longitude East	Latitude North	Longitude East	Latitude North
A	1,30 gr	53,70 gr	3°30′24″	48°19′48″
B	1,40 gr	53,70 gr	3°35′48″	48°19′48″
C	1,40 gr	53,60 gr	3°35′48″	48°14′24″
D	1,30 gr	53,60 gr	3°30′24″	48°14′24″

The area as defined above covers approximately 66,88 km2.

Submission of applications and criteria for awarding rights

The initial applicants and competing applicants must prove that they meet the requirements for obtaining the licence, as specified in Articles 4 and 5 of Decree No 2006-648 of 2 June 2006 (as amended) concerning mining rights and underground storage rights (Official Journal of the French Republic, 3 June 2006).

Interested companies may, within 90 days of the publication of this notice, submit a competing application in accordance with the procedure summarised in the ‘Notice regarding the granting of mining rights for hydrocarbons in France’, published in the Official Journal of the European Communities C 374 of 30 December 1994, page 11, and established by Decree No 2006-648 of 2 June 2006 (as amended) concerning mining rights and underground storage rights (Official Journal of the French Republic, 3 June 2006).

Competing applications must be sent to the Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Marine Affairs at the address given below. Decisions on the initial application and any competing applications will be taken within two years of the date on which the French authorities received the initial application, i.e. by 5 March 2018 at the latest.

Conditions and requirements regarding performance of the activity and cessation thereof

Applicants are referred to Articles L161-1 and L161-2 of the French Mining Code, and to Decree No 2006-649 of 2 June 2006 (as amended) on mining and underground storage operations and the regulations governing mining and underground storage (Official Journal of the French Republic, 3 June 2006).

Further information can be obtained from the Office of Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production at the Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Marine Affairs (Tour Séquoia, 1 place Carpeaux, 92800 Puteaux, France, telephone: +33 140819527).

The abovementioned laws and regulations can be consulted on the Légifrance website: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr

(1) OJ L 164, 30.6.1994, p. 3.

6.1.2017

Official Journal of the European Union

C 3/6

Prior notification of a concentration

(Case M.8279 — NN Group/CBRE/PV/Real Estate Portfolio in Germany)

Candidate case for simplified procedure

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2017/C 3/07)

On 21 December 2016, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which the undertakings NN Group NV (‘NN Group’, Netherlands), via its wholly owned subsidiary REI Germany Cross Docks BV (Netherlands), on the one hand, and CBRE Group Inc. (‘CBRE’, USA) and Poste Vita (‘PV’, Italy) on the other hand via a fund structure, acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of a logistics real estate portfolio comprising 10 real estate assets located in Germany (‘Portfolio’, Germany) by way of a share deal (‘the Transaction’).

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

— for NN Group: global financial institution offering investment and insurance services,

— for CBRE: publicly-listed corporation (on the NYSE) with real estate services activities in, among other places, the European Union,

— for PV: an Italian insurance company belonging to Poste Italiane which offers postal, logistics, savings and investments, payment, insurance and digital communication services,

— for Portfolio: comprises the following 10 real estate (logistics) assets located in Germany and leased out under long-term agreements to DHL: DHL Aachen-Würselen, DHL Hamm, DHL Essen, DHL Moers, DHL Böblingen/Holzgerlinen, DHL Kassel, DHL Brühl/Köln, DHL Freiburg, DHL Dortmund, DHL Lörrach.

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 the 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.

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.8279 — NN Group/CBRE/PV/Real Estate Portfolio in Germany, to the following address:

European Commission

Directorate-General for Competition

Merger Registry

1049 Bruxelles/Brussel

BELGIQUE/BELGIË

(1) OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’).

(2) OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.

6.1.2017

Official Journal of the European Union

C 3/7

Prior notification of a concentration

(Case M.8316 — Advent/Brammer)

Candidate case for simplified procedure

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2017/C 3/08)

On 21 December 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 Advent International Cooperation (‘Advent’, United Kingdom) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation control of the whole of Brammer plc (‘Brammer’, United Kingdom) by way of purchase of shares.

2.	The business activities of the undertakings concerned are: — for undertaking Advent: global private equity investor with holdings in various sectors, — for undertaking Brammer: distribution of industrial products used for maintenance, repair and overhaul.

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 the 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.

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

European Commission

Directorate-General for Competition

Merger Registry

1049 Bruxelles/Brussel

BELGIQUE/BELGIË

(1) OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’).

(2) OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.

6.1.2017

Official Journal of the European Union

C 3/8

INFORMATION NOTICE — PUBLIC CONSULTATION

Geographical indications from Australia

(2017/C 3/09)

Within the framework of the Agreement between the European Community and Australia on trade in wine (1) (hereafter ‘the Agreement’), Australia has submitted a request for protection in the European Union (EU) of four Geographical Indications which are protected in Australia.

The European Commission is currently considering whether these Geographical Indications shall be protected under the Agreement as Geographical Indications within the meaning of Article 22(1) of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.

The Commission invites any Member State or third country or any natural or legal person having a legitimate interest, resident or established in a Member State or in a third country, to submit oppositions to such protection by lodging a duly substantiated statement.

Statements of opposition must reach the Commission within two months of the date of this publication. Statements of opposition should be sent to the following email address: AGRI-A2@ec.europa.eu

Statements of opposition shall be examined only if they are received within the time limit set out above and if they show that the protection of the name proposed would:

(a)	conflict with the name of a plant variety or an animal breed and as a result is likely to mislead the consumer as to the true origin of the product;

(b)

be wholly or partially homonymous with that of a name already protected in the Union under Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products (2) or contained in the agreements the Union has concluded with the following countries:

—

Republic of Albania: Council Decision 2006/580/EC of 12 June 2006 concerning the signing and conclusion of the Interim Agreement on trade and trade-related matters between the European Community, of the one part, and the Republic of Albania, of the other part (3) (Protocol 3 on reciprocal preferential concessions for certain wines, the reciprocal recognition, protection and control of wine, spirit drinks and aromatised wine names),

—	Bosnia and Herzegovina: Council Decision 2008/474/EC of 16 June 2008 on the conclusion of an Interim Agreement on trade and trade-related matters between the European Community, of the one part, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, of the other part (4),

—	Canada: Council Decision 2004/91/EC of 30 July 2003 on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Community and Canada on trade in wines and spirit drinks (5),

—	Republic of Chile: Council Decision 2002/979/EC of 18 November 2002 on the signature and provisional application of certain provisions of an Agreement establishing an association between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Chile, of the other part (6),

—

the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: Council Decision 2001/916/EC of 3 December 2001 on the conclusion of an Additional Protocol adjusting the trade aspects of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Community and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, to take account of the outcome of the negotiations between the parties on reciprocal preferential concessions for certain wines, the reciprocal recognition, protection and control of wine names and the reciprocal recognition, protection and control of designations for spirits and aromatised drinks (7),

—	Montenegro: Council Decision 2007/855/EC of 15 October 2007 concerning the conclusion of the Interim Agreement on trade and trade-related matters between the European Community, of the one part, and the Republic of Montenegro, of the other part (8),

—	Republic of South Africa: Council Decision 2002/51/EC of 21 January 2002 concerning the Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of South Africa on trade in wine (9),

—

Swiss Confederation: Decision of the Council, and of the Commission 2002/309/EC, Euratom as regards the Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, of 4 April 2002 on the conclusion of seven Agreements with the Swiss Confederation (10), and in particular the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Federation on trade in agricultural products — Annex 7 (11),

—	United States of America: Council Decision 2006/232/EC of 20 December 2005 on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Community and the United States of America on trade in wine (12);

(c)	in the light of a trademark’s reputation and renown and the length of time it has been used, be liable to mislead the consumer as to the true identity of the product;

(d)	jeopardise the existence of an entirely or partly identical name or of a trademark or the existence of products which have been legally on the market for at least five years preceding the date of the publication of this notice;

(e)	or if they can give details from which it can be concluded that the name for which protection is considered is generic.

The criteria referred to above shall be evaluated in relation to the territory of the Union, which in the case of intellectual property rights refers only to the territory or territories where the said rights are protected. The eventual protection of these names in the European Union is subject to their inclusion in Annex II of the Agreement between the European Community and Australia on trade in wine.

List of Geographical Indications for wines (13)

Description of products	Name as registered in Australia
Wine	New England Australia
Wine	Pokolbin
Wine	Upper Hunter Valley
Wine	Mount Gambier

(1) OJ L 86, 31.3.1994, p. 3.

(2) OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 671.

(3) OJ L 239, 1.9.2006, p. 1.

(4) OJ L 169, 30.6.2008, p. 10.

(5) OJ L 35, 6.2.2004, p. 1.

(6) OJ L 352, 30.12.2002, p. 1.

(7) OJ L 342, 27.12.2001, p. 6.

(8) OJ L 345, 28.12.2007, p. 1.

(9) OJ L 28, 30.1.2002, p. 3.

(10) OJ L 114, 30.4.2002, p. 132.

(11) OJ L 114, 30.4.2002, p. 132.

(12) OJ L 87, 24.3.2006, p. 1.

(13) List provided by Australia, in the framework of the Agreement between the European Community and Australia on trade in wine.

		ISSN 1977-091X
Official Journal of the European Union		C 3

English edition	Information and Notices	Volume 60 6 January 2017

Notice No	Contents	page
	I Resolutions, recommendations and opinions
	RECOMMENDATIONS
	European Central Bank
2017/C 3/01 ECB/2016/46	Recommendation of the European Central Bank of 22 December 2016 to the Council of the European Union on the external auditors of the Bank of Greece (ECB/2016/46)	1

	II Information
	INFORMATION FROM EUROPEAN UNION INSTITUTIONS, BODIES, OFFICES AND AGENCIES
	European Commission
2017/C 3/02	Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.8233 — Rockaway E-Commerce/EC Investments/Bonak/Sully Systems) ( 1 )	2
2017/C 3/03	Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.8319 — CEFCI/JSC Kazmunaigaz/Rompetrol France) ( 1 )	2

	V Announcements
	PROCEDURES RELATING TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPETITION POLICY
	European Commission
2017/C 3/07	Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.8279 — NN Group/CBRE/PV/Real Estate Portfolio in Germany) — Candidate case for simplified procedure ( 1 )	6
2017/C 3/08	Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.8316 — Advent/Brammer) — Candidate case for simplified procedure ( 1 )	7
	OTHER ACTS
	European Commission
2017/C 3/09	Information notice — Public consultation — Geographical indications from Australia	8

	IV Notices
	NOTICES FROM EUROPEAN UNION INSTITUTIONS, BODIES, OFFICES AND AGENCIES
	European Commission
2017/C 3/04	Euro exchange rates	3
2017/C 3/05	Commission notice on current State aid recovery interest rates and reference/discount rates for 28 Member States applicable as from 1 January 2017(Published in accordance with Article 10 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 of 21 April 2004 ( OJ L 140, 30.4.2004, p. 1 ))	4
	NOTICES FROM MEMBER STATES
2017/C 3/06	Communication from the French Government concerning Directive 94/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the conditions for granting and using authorisations for the prospection, exploration and production of hydrocarbons — Notice regarding applications for exclusive licences to prospect for liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons (the Courgenay Licence) ( 1 )	5