Client Alerts
Abolishment of stamp duties on residential lease agreements
A peculiarity of Austrian laws has - partially - been abolished Stamp duties on certain legal transactions were introduced nearly 300 years ago to enable the illiterate to enter into legal agreements. Even after the decrease in illiteracy, these stamp duties have never been abolished....
A happy new year with the amendments to the Hungarian competition act?
The end of October brought new amendments to the Hungarian Competition Act. Most changes focus on administrative and procedural issues which are less relevant for businesses. Some of the amendments, however, directly affect the day-to-day operation of businesses in Hungary. They take effect as of 1 January 2018....
New data protection guidelines on GDPR
Important news in the data privacy field after the Article 29 Working Party Plenary held in October 2017: the drafts of two new guidelines were finalized and a final form of a third one was adopted. The guidelines are aimed at ensuring a harmonized application of the GDPR, after 25 May 2018....
Status update on the e-privacy regulation –The next key regulatory initiative after GDPR
On 10 January 2017, a proposal for a new Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the respect for private life and the protection of personal data in electronic communications and repealing Directive 2002/58/EC ("e-Privacy Regulation") was published on the European Commission's website....
Mandatory electronic mailboxes for legal entities
As of 1 August 2016, the Slovak Republic instituted the mandatory use of electronic mailboxes (accounts) (hereinafter the "emails") for legal entities. The obligation was introduced by Act No. 305/2013 Coll., on e-Government as amended (hereinafter the "Act on e-Government"), whereby the respective state authority was obliged to activate the emails by 1 August 2016....
The Bulgarian traders of energy products are facing the market abuse regulation
Effective as of the end of September 2016, Bulgarian traders of energy products must comply with market abuse prevention requirements....
Significant improvements in the Ukrainian merger filing process
On 20 September 2016, the Ukrainian competition authority (the "AMC") announced the extension of its so-called amnesty program for merger control violations for another six months....
Mandatory RES-E quota benefiting from the GC support scheme was approved
In a shift in green energy policy in Romania, the mandatory RES-Electricity quota benefiting from the green certificate support scheme was approved yesterday by the government....
Prohibited advertising in FBIH
New Law in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina aims to regulate protection of merchants from prohibited advertising....
The Serbian commission for the protection of competition publicises its aftermarkets study
The Serbian Commission for the Protection of Competition recently published a market study in which it assessed the state of competition in after-sales services for motor vehicles and home appliances in 2015. The Commission also invited all interested parties to comment on the results of the study by 31 December 2016....
Slovakia: Public procurement
Do you take part in public tender procedures and conclude (concession) contracts or framework agreements with public contracting authorities? Do you receive financial means from the state budget, from EU funds or state aid? Do you use state property?...
New strict regulation on Best Price Clauses
As of 01 January 2017 amendments of the Austrian Act against Unfair Competition (Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb, UWG) and of the Price Labelling Act (Preisauszeichnungsgesetz) come into force, which ban Best Price Clauses as "aggressive business practices" and declaring such contractual provisions as void. This legislative change is a reaction to concerns also raised by authorities in other countries across the EU (eg decision of the German Federal Cartel Office dated 23 December 2015). In France similar provisions are already in place....