Welcome to our little Swiss Dish. Where we highlight several interesting news stories in Switzerland in a cheesy way. Chef’s choice: Summer is here and people are eager to be outside with their friends, enjoying their favorite beverage, singing and dancing to the music playing by the bands on stage at an open air. End of June to August music connoisseurs can pick almost every weekend a festival they would like to attend. All genres are represented and spread throughout Switzerland....

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Midnight on July 3, 2023, heralded the deadline for potential gatekeepers to notify the European Commission (EC) as to whether they meet the thresholds for gatekeepers set out in Article 3 of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). By the morning of the U.S.’s Independence Day, five U.S. companies and two Asian companies—but no European—had submitted their notifications: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, ByteDance, and Samsung. Booking.com, a European travel booking platform, stated that the impact of COVID-19 meant it did...

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Following the Swedish term, the European Council has welcomed Spain for their Presidency on 1 July. During this process, Spain will chair the Council meetings whilst ensuring the external representation of the EU with regards to common foreign and security policy. This remains an important process as this mandate will determine how the EU will handle certain oncoming issues and how they will address them. Earlier this week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a statement at a...

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On 23 June 2023, the Council of the European Union adopted its eleventh package of restrictive measures against Russia, which supplements those discussed in our previous newsflashes_. This latest package aims to tackle the circumvention of previously adopted sanctions and also adds additional restrictions. The Council has adopted three regulations: Council Regulation (EU) 2023/1214 of 23 June 2023 amending Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine. Council Regulation (EU) 2023/1215...

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Wind power and hydroelectricity supplied 25% and 23%, respectively, of the electricity consumption in the first half of the year, said REN. Renewable production supplied 61% of Portugal’s electricity consumption in the first half of the year, especially wind power at 25% and hydroelectricity at 23%, Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN) reported on Tuesday. According to REN, photovoltaic production supplied 7% of electricity consumption and biomass 6%, while natural gas production accounted for 19%, and the remaining 20% corresponded to the import...

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At last it’s here. Long-awaited Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 on machinery (the “Machinery Regulation”) was published in the EU Official Journal on 29 June 2023. Private industry and public authorities alike will now have a new set of rules on the safety requirements for machinery, which will replace Directive 2006/42/EC on machinery (the “Machinery Directive”) that has been in force for 17 years. Even though the Machinery Regulation does not constitute a paradigm shift for industry, it nevertheless introduces numerous...

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The UK Government is trying to tackle a number of problems that are linked to immigration, but require contradictory solutions – inflation in food prices, increase in net-migration and a shortage of skilled workers. Inflation and immigration are not normally subjects easily joined, but the International Monetary Fund have commented on the UK economy.  Gita Gopinath (Deputy Managing Director of the IMF) said recently that "with inflation as high as it is... there are benefits to having workers come in". Ms...

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It times like these in the transportation and logistics industry that we really begin to look for opportunities to reduce our costs. Times when rates and demand are down, and we begin to look at our people, processes, and technologies for things that will directly impact the bottom line. In these moments, you might have wished your organization had two superpowers. First, the ability to put your most time-consuming, labor-intensive, and detail-oriented processes on autopilot so you could focus...

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In May, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that the Form I-9 flexibilities allowing for remote verification will end on July 31, 2023. DHS regulations designed to create a permanent remote examination process were anticipated but have not been issued. Therefore, employers must comply with the pre-pandemic Form I-9 in-person inspection and verification requirements for all new hires onboarded on or after August 1, 2023, including remote personnel. For all current...

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