The EU Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of sole control of Worldgrid France SAS and other entities and assets constituting the Worldgrid Smart Energy Solutions business segment (“Worldgrid”), based in Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Morocco and the United Kingdom, by Alten SA, based in France.
The transaction relates primarily to the distribution of building materials. The Commission concluded that the notified transaction would not raise competition concerns, given the companies’ limited combined market position resulting from the proposed transaction. The notified transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure.
The Commission approved the original scheme in April 2002 (SA.8562). The so-called “Flexi-jobs” scheme is aimed at supporting the employment of workers who would not be able to hold a job in regular terms, for example due to disabilities, through subsidies to the employer or the self-employed person. The aid amount is calculated as a percentage of the remuneration provided by the relevant collective agreements. With today’s decision the Commission
The Regulation lays down measures for the establishment of an internal cybersecurity risk management, governance and control framework for each Union entity, and sets up a new Interinstitutional Cybersecurity Board (IICB) to monitor and support its implementation by Union entities. It provides an extended mandate of the Computer Emergency Response Team for the EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies (CERT-EU), as a threat intelligence, information exchange and incident response coordination
While the benefit of a novelty search would remain limited, as it could not include non-registered designs, it would negatively affect the overall duration of the registration process and cause extra burdens and costs for intellectual property offices and businesses seeking design protection. In the context of the public consultation on the evaluation of the CDR, a clear majority (66%) of respondents were not supportive of novelty examination being carried
The Parliamentary Under Secretaries of State at the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology wrote to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) asking it to set out its plans and proposed timelines to implement the new Digital Markets competition regime as envisaged under Part 1 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill. The CMA has responded confirming that it will publish a
Fully digital meetings will be allowed again for legal entities under private law, such as private companies, public limited companies, associations, cooperatives and Home Owners’ Associations. This was temporarily permitted during the COVID pandemic. On the proposal of Minister Weerwind for Legal Protection, the government has approved the submission of a legislative proposal on this matter to the House of Representatives.
Companies are classified based on their balance sheet total and net turnover. The categories of companies are micro, small, medium and large. The threshold amounts of this classification will be increased by 25%, so that some companies will fall into a lower category. In this lower category, they have to include less information in their annual reporting and in some cases, they no longer have to have it audited by
Descendants of enslaved persons will be able to change their surname for free as of 2024. The Council of Ministers has agreed to send this regulation to the Council of State, as proposed by Minister for Legal Protection Weerwind. This is one of the measures taken by the government so as to increase knowledge and raise awareness of the history of slave-trading and, in doing so, aid the healing process
On 28 December 2023, the Commission disbursed €779.5 million to Hungary in loans, €109.8 million to Lithuania in loans, as well as €5 billion to Poland in loans and grants, as part of pre-financing relating to the REPowerEU funds under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). These pre-financing payments will help to kick-start the implementation of the crucial investment and reform measures outlined in each REPowerEU chapter. This will accelerate
New transparency rules that will help EU Member States to crack down on Value-Added Tax (VAT) fraud came into force on 1 January. The new rules will provide tax administration of the EU Member States with payment information allowing them to detect VAT fraud more easily, with a particular focus on e-commerce which is particularly prone to VAT non-compliance and fraud. This in turn creates holes in the tax revenues
On 29 December 2023, the Commission received Italy’s fifth payment request for €10.6 billion in grants and loans (net of pre-financing). Italy’s fifth payment request concerns a total of 22 milestones and 30 targets. It covers transformative reforms in areas including public procurement, frameworks for spending review, industrial property system, competition law, waste management and education, as well as follow-up measures to keep up the implementation efforts concerning the already
The Council today introduced additional restrictive measures against one person and one entity responsible for actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. The new listings target the company PJSC Alrosa and its CEO Pavel Alekseevich Marinychev. PJSC Alrosa is the largest diamond-mining company in the world, owned by the Russian state and accounts for over 90% of all Russian diamond production, and the company constitutes
While preparing its dispatch the Federal Council commissioned a number of studies on the impacts of removing industrial tariffs. Based on 2016 trade figures, the total economic welfare gain was estimated to be around CHF 860 million. This was calculated at the time as around CHF 490 million in direct tariff savings for companies and some CHF 100 million in savings on the administrative burden. Added to this are the
As of 1 January 2024, Finland will start to apply Article 14.4 of the EU’s Visa Code, which provides for the introduction of a maintenance and accommodation agreement. With the introduction of the proof of sponsorship, the fact that a Finnish citizen or a person residing in Finland with a residence permit undertakes to finance the travel of the visa applicant may be taken into account in the visa consideration.
Under the Act on Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, a politically exposed person (PEP) is a person who is entrusted with prominent public functions. The act obliges certain entities to have appropriate procedures in place to determine whether a customer is a politically exposed person or a family member or close associate of a politically exposed person. The purpose is, among other things, to prevent the misuse of public
Due to the war in Ukraine, the EU Temporary Protection Directive was activated by decision of the Council of the European Union on 4 March 2022. The decision provides certain Ukrainian citizens and their family members with the right to temporary protection if they were forced to flee Ukraine on 24 February 2022 or later as a result of the military invasion by the Russian armed forces. In April 2022,
The President of the Republic has approved the amendments to the Vessel Traffic Service Act, the Ship Safety Control Act and the Act on the Enforcement of a Fine. Most of the amendments will enter into force on 1 January 2024. The amendments required by the Regulation establishing a European Maritime Single Window environment (EMSWe) will enter into force on 15 August 2025.
The aim is to accelerate and streamline the administration of vaccines and to alleviate the shortage of healthcare personnel. The amendments that are being circulated for comments would allow dentists, senior pharmacists, pharmacists, practical nurses and biomedical laboratory scientists to administer vaccines. The amendments would also make it easier to organise vaccination at pharmacies’ health service points. Currently, vaccines can only be administered by doctors or by nurses, public health
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has granted approximately EUR 30.9 million in energy investment aid under Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan to 12 projects related to energy infrastructure and the electrification and decarbonisation of industrial processes. Minister of Climate and the Environment Kai Mykkänen signed the aid decisions on 19 December 2023. The investments relate to recovering and utilising waste heat, improving energy efficiency and electrifying industrial processes.
Germany received the first payment under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The payment amounts to € 4 billion. On 15 September, Germany submitted to the Commission the first request for payment of € 4 billion under the RRF covering 28 milestones and 8 targets. The overall recovery and resilience plan of Germany will be financed by € 28 billion in the form of grants. Read more on the German
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