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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On 28 June 2023, the European Commission proposed new measures that will modernise and update how Europeans pay for goods and services. The new rules, put forward under the Financial Data Access proposal and the revision of the Payment Services Directive (PSD3) will improve competition in electronic payments, improve consumer protection and empower consumers to share their data in a secure way.    The Financial Data Access proposal (FIDA) will establish clear rights and obligations to manage customer data sharing in the...

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Following the interinstitutional negotiations on Tuesday 27 June 2023, EU legislators struck a deal on a new EU Data Act that aims to regulate access and sharing capabilities of AI generated data by connected devices.  The proposed EU Data Act aims to unlock non-personal industrial machine and device generated data ranging from industrial roots to dishwashers and various house appliances. This new law will allow for users of said connected devices to get easier access to machine generated data and...

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