Wholesale electricity markets were developed decades ago for a world of centralised supply and cheap gas. Today the landscape is much more diverse – so the model must be redesigned....more
The EU Emissions Trading System (the EU ETS) is one of the key pillars of the EU’s policy to combat climate change and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from regulated sectors....more
On 6 October 2022, the European Union published its eighth package of sanctions against Russia. This responds to the organisation of ‘referenda’ in the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions, the annexation of...more
On 1 January 2023, the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act will enter into force. In a first step, all companies which have a specific nexus to Germany and normally employ 3,000 people or more will have to comply with newly...more
President Biden recently issued “formal Presidential direction” on the risks that the United States will consider when evaluating in-bound foreign investment....more
With the EU FDI Regulation close to celebrating its second year anniversary, the European Commission (EC) has published its second annual report on EU FDI screening covering the operation of the mechanism in 2021. In...more
Over the last three months, the EU has imposed unprecedented sanctions against Russia and Belarus in response to the war in Ukraine (see our dedicated collection here). While adopting further sanctions is getting ever more...more
In response to events in Ukraine, the EU and the UK have continued to announce further and more extensive sanctions on Russia. In this bulletin, we set out an overview of the three EU sanctions packages announced to date, and...more
Paving the way to a sustainable business community in the EU.
On 23 February 2022, the European Commission (the EC) published the long-awaited proposal for a Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (the...more
In response to the Russian Federation’s formal recognition of two regions in Eastern Ukraine – Donetsk and Luhansk – as independent states, earlier this week the EU and the UK adopted an initial package of new sanctions...more
The tightening of controls on foreign direct investment (FDI), on national security or national interest grounds, is having a significant impact on technology transactions – a trend that is only likely to grow....more
As 2021 draws to a close, the European Commission (EC) has been busy. On 15 December 2021, it adopted several new documents in relation to environmental protection in the widest sense.
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The 177-page coalition agreement of the three parties set to form the new government in Germany provides for numerous innovations in the German real estate sector. In future, building and housing is to be affordable,...more
With its ruling passed on 9 November 2021, the German Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht; BVerwG) has put the brakes on the increasingly popular practice among local authorities across Berlin of asserting...more
For some time now, Berlin has been experiencing a shortage of affordable and socially subsidized housing.
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This briefing is Part 4 of a series of briefings aiming at providing an overview of the key elements of the new German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act.
On 11 June 2021, the German parliament approved the Federal Act on...more
The German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act imposes a mandatory obligation on certain companies operating in Germany to establish, implement and update due diligence procedures to assess compliance with specified fundamental...more
On 11 June 2021, the German parliament approved the Federal Act on Entrepreneurial Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains (“Gesetz über die unternehmerischen Sorgfaltspflichten zur Vermeidung von...more
On 15 March 2021, the European Commission (the Commission) published its long-awaited “Notice on tools to fight collusion in public procurement and on guidance on how to apply the related exclusion ground” (the Notice).
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On 1 May 2021, the latest amendment of the German Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regime entered into force, following a decision of the German government as of 27 April 2021.
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The Federal Constitutional Court (decision of the Second Senate of 25 March 2021, Ref. 2 BvF 1/20, 2 BvL 4/20, 2 BvL 5/20) has ruled that the so-called “Berlin rent cap” is unconstitutional due to lack of legislative...more
Following an extensive consultation process, the Equator Principles Association (EP Association) adopted a fourth iteration of the Equator Principles (EP4) on 18 November 2019. Originally, EP4 was due to come into effect on 1...more
On the same day as the Higher Regional Court of Dresden (judgment of 24 February 2021, case no. 5 U 1782/20), the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht; OLG) of Karlsruhe (judgment of 24 February 2021, case no. 7 U 109/20)...more
On 24 February 2021, the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) of Dresden (judgment of 24 February 2021, case no. 5 U 1782/20) took a stand on risk-sharing between landlord and tenant as a result of the pandemic-related...more
On 10 June of 2020, the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy released its National Hydrogen Strategy (Nationale Wasserstoffstrategie) (German Hydrogen Strategy) as a part of the Covid-19 actions to strengthen the...more