Five years ago, probably the most common concern of companies across the European Union was to reach compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation. In the recent years, tempers have calmed down, nevertheless the application of the GDPR raises interesting legal questions from time to time. To celebrate the GDPR’s fifth birthday, we collected five landmark decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union interpreting the GDPR that made a high impact on data controllers’ lives.

We would like to remind you that tomorrow is the final day for legal entities in Serbia to register as users of the e-government portal.

In January 2023, the Serbian Ministry of Mining and Energy initiated the procedure for the amendments to the Law on the Use of the Renewable Energy Sources (“Amendments”) whose purpose was, among others, to limit the installed power of the prosumers.

Significant changes are expected in the Hungarian tax system in the coming years, which could have a major impact on economic operators and individuals alike. As a result of the changes, the State is likely to lose significant revenues and the means to replace these revenues are not yet known.

Despite entering the corporate lexicon back in 2004, the concept of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) remained relatively obscure for over a decade. However, with the intensification of discussions around global warming, ESG has become a significant part of the conversation and a focal point for today's companies.

The Commission for Protection of Competition of Serbia (the “Commission”) announced on 3 May 2023 that it initiated an antitrust investigation against the companies KTG Solucije d.o.o. Subotica and Eco Sense d.o.o. Subotica due to alleged restrictive agreement – colluding in public procurement procedures (bid rigging).

In a recent case (under No. BDT2023.4623), the Budapest Court of Appeal made an important decision on the issue of jurisdiction. The case related to challenging the fairness (and the validity) of general terms of business (GTCs) of foreign service providers engaging in business with consumers in Hungary.

EPS (Elektroprivreda Srbije) seeks a strategic partner to design, build, fund, operate and maintain at least 5 new solar power plants.

In the previous article, we reviewed in detail some of the proposals of the European Commission for a comprehensive overhaul of European pharmaceutical legislation, contained in the new draft Directive on the Union code relating to medicinal products for human use (the “Directive”) and in the draft Regulation laying down Union procedures for the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products for human use and establishing rules governing the European Medicines Agency (the “Regulation”), which were not addressed by the Bulgarian media.

At the beginning of May 2023, a new bill to amend certain laws to increase the competitiveness of the economy was submitted for public consultation. The bill proposes amendments to many laws, but the most important of these is the regulation of construction right in the Civil Code.

The European Commission is preparing a new regulation on so-called green bonds, the draft for which is already in its final form and should be approved by the European Parliament shortly. The regulation will allow issuers to issue bonds under the unified designation "European green bond", in exchange for compliance by issuers with certain conditions and obligations related to the financing of their sustainable projects.

The regulations allow, and even mandate, a consequential amending of a public contract in certain cases. However, they do not prejudge whether such an amendment is state aid.

A new Law on supplementing and amending of (i) Law no. 350/2001 on spatial planning and urbanism and (ii) Law no. 50/1991 on the authorization of the execution of construction works has been adopted by the Romanian Parliament on 11 May 2023 (law draft PL-x nr. 110/2023). To enter into force, the law is yet to be promulgated by the President and subsequently published in the Official Gazette.

On 26 April 2023, the European Commission presented its long-awaited proposal for a comprehensive reform of the European pharmaceutical legislation.

Starting on 22 May 2023, it will be possible to establish and register family foundations in Poland. The Polish legal system will thus be expanded by a new institution that allows assets to be accumulated and managed, and profits to be distributed to beneficiaries. The legislature wished to provide the means for family-owned businesses and their owners to engage in intergenerational wealth management and to grow their wealth over time while protecting it from dispersal to unrelated entities and persons. Hence, family foundations may serve as a means to retain and multiply a family's wealth, independent of inheritance law.

Contributed by Karanovic & Partners.

Contributed by ACI Partners.

Contributed by SK Legal Stokłosa & Kot.