Latest news – Page 4
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News
The UK Internal Market Bill and the Rule of Law
On Wednesday 9 September, the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) laid before Parliament the UK Internal Market Bill (UKIM). This is primarily concerned with the functioning of the UK market after the end of the transitional period, with provisions ensuring non-discrimination in the provision of ...
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Compromise reached on collective redress directive
On 30 June and 7 July 2020 respectively the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee confirmed the compromise text of a new Directive on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers, repealing Directive 2009/22/EC and paved the way for its ...
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2019 Hague Judgments Convention: will the EU sign it?
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the EU accession to the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention, asking feedback from stakeholders whether the Convention provides sufficient safeguards to effectively protect the fundamental rights of EU businesses and citizens.
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‘Making rule of law conditionality ‘smart’: punishing governments not citizens’ by Sandro Gozi MEP
In a guest feature, Sandro Gozi MEP discusses the latest EU proposal to make the receipt of the EU funding conditional on the core values of the EU. He stressed that ’ the rule of law in the EU isn’t a ‘nice to have’, but an immovable basis upon which ...
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Internal Market Bill – View from the Law Society Wales Office
Jonathan Davies from the Wales Office of the Law Society of England and Wales discusses the key features and implications of the UK Internal Market Bill currently debated in the UK Parliament. This Bill potentially undermines the current devolution settlement by providing the UK Government with a suite of quick ...
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Amanda Millar, President of the Law Society of Scotland, talks about her Presidency priorities
I took office on 1 June 2020 and I believe it is fair to say that so far, my presidency has been like no other in the Society’s 70-year history. Whereas there would previously have been a modest physical hand-over ceremony between predecessor and successor during the May meeting of ...
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Defending the defenders - spotlight on the CCBE activities
The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) discusses their latest activities in the field of human rights and defending lawyers around the world. The CCBE represents the bars and law societies of 45 countries, and through them more than 1 million European lawyers. The CCBE places great ...
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Valdis Dombrovskis appointed as new EU trade commissioner
On Tuesday 8 September, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that European Commission Executive Vice President, Valdis Dombrovskis, will be the new EU trade commissioner after the shock departure of Ireland’s Phil Hogan in August. The appointments signal the first reshuffle for the Commission President since she took office. ...
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Webinar on the EU-UK data flows post-2020, 30 September
Wednesday 30th September 13 00 - 14 30 (CEST) Join the UK Law Society for a webinar panel discussion on facilitating UK-EU data flows in the future relationship
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Law Society of England and Wales publishes its guidance on the end of the transition period
Law Society of England and Wales has published its guidance on the preparation for the end of the transition period.
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CJEU invalidates EU-US Privacy Shield in landmark judgment on data transfers
On 16 July, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) delivered its long awaited judgment on the validity of personal data transfers outside of the EU. The Court did not declare invalid the Decision 2010/87/EU on standard contractual clauses (SCCs). However, it invalidated the Commission Decision 2016/1250 on ...
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Germany takes over the Presidency of the Council of the EU
On 1 July, Germany took over the Presidency of the Council of the EU for the coming six months. It took over from Croatia whose bulk of the Presidency fell into the Covid-19 crisis and several month lockdowns throughout the EU.
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Commission loses State Aid case against Apple
The Commission suffered a legal setback on Wednesday 15th July when the General Court of the European Union annulled the 2016 decision against Apple over its Irish tax affairs. In its ruling, the General Court held that the Commission did not succeed “in showing to the requisite legal standard that ...
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The Commission adopts the White Paper on Foreign Subsidies
On the 17th June the EU Commission published a White Paper on foreign subsidies, aimed at dealing with the distortive effects caused by lack of level competition. This was a priority of Margrethe Vestager when she re-took office in the Commission of Van der Leyen. The Commission consultation is open ...
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Recognition and enforcement of judgments after Brexit: is Lugano a solution to hand?
We discuss the importance of the recognition and enforcement of judgments in the new EU-UK partnership agreement. The Lugano Convention, like Brussels I Regulation for the EU countries, provides for the recognition and enforcement of a wide range of civil and commercial judgments between the EU and EFTA states. It ...
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Negotiations on the EU Transparency Register resume
Following the 16 June political meeting between the Commission, Parliament and Council, the negotiations on the new inter-institutional agreement (IIA) resumed and will continue over the summer. The IIA is the instrument that regulates the operation of the EU Transparency Register.
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Brexit and its effect on trade
Daniel Dalton, CEO of the British Chamber of Commerce in Belgium, gives his views on current topics including diversity, coronavirus and the Brexit transition period.
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Black Lives Matter and the legal profession by I. Stephanie Boyce
Deputy Vice President of the Law Society of England and Wales I. Stephanie Boyce shares her insights on diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and the Law Society’s activities to promote them.
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Commission launches a public consultation on the Digital Services Act
The Commission launched a public consultation to identify issues that may require intervention through the proposed Digital Services Act (DSA). The consultation also aims to identify additional topics related to the environment of digital services and online platforms, which will be further analysed in view of possible upcoming initiatives, ...
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Agreement on the proposals on taking evidence and on service of documents in civil and commercial matters
On 30 June European Parliament and European Council negotiators reached an agreement on two proposed pieces of legislation on taking evidence and on service of documents in civil and commercial matters. The aim of the new legislation is to make judicial cross-border cooperation between national courts more efficient through digitalisation. ...