The Commission’s Communication “A competition policy fit for new challenges” (link) (the “Communication”) identifies key areas in which competition law and policy can support European efforts in dealing with the challenges of the green and digital transitions. The document covers all areas of competition law (antitrust, merger control, and State aid) and identifies various ways in which new and existing tools can contribute to addressing these challenges. While the document does not break new ground, it provides a comprehensive overview...

In this News Update, we discuss new European regulations on crowdfunding and regulatory publications on climate risks. We further highlight some other financial regulatory publications issued last month. EUROPEAN REGULATIONS ON CROWDFUNDING SERVICE PROVIDERS FOR BUSINESS On 10 November 2021, Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 on European Crowdfunding Service Providers ("ECSP") for business started applying across the EU. The ECSP lays down uniform rules for the provision of investment-based and lending-based crowdfunding services related to business financing. Compared to the existing regulations in the Financial...

World leaders representing governments and industry came together in Glasgow, Scotland for COP26 to address how to achieve targets set as part of the Paris Climate Agreement 20151.  The Paris targets—using pre-industrial temperature levels as a baseline—aim to limit the rise in global temperature this century below 2deg Celsius, and to pursue efforts to limit the rise even further to 1.5deg Celsius. Three years after the Paris Agreement, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on 1.5C...

Patent infringement litigation is expensive. It is typical to see legal fees in the seven-figure range to defend a patent litigation all the way to a jury trial. Facing the prospect of an injunction and damages can cripple a company’s cash flow or market power.  It also can take you away from focusing on running your business resulting in collateral damage to your business. The best and most inexpensive way to defend against a complaint for patent infringement is to...

In this fifth alert in our series regarding the European Parliament’s formal endorsement of a new collective actions legislation titled the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers, we analyze what laws, and their alleged infringement, may give rise to collective redress suits in the EU once enforcement of the Directive begins in 2023. We also consider what companies may do between now and then to prepare. What Laws...

On 18 November 2021, the European Data Protection Board (the “EDPB”) published guidelines on the interplay between article 3 GDPR, on the territorial scope of the GDPR, and Chapter V of the GDPR, on international transfers. The guidelines clarify the concept of international transfers and provide clarification on the necessity of a transfer mechanism through several practical examples. The extra-territorial applicability of the GDPR and ambiguity relating to international transfers The GDPR does not only apply to data controllers and processors...

With demand for energy on an increasingly upward trajectory over the course of the decade, the Government is concomitantly increasingly concerned about the security of Ireland’s energy supply. The challenges facing Ireland’s energy supply can be summarised in four key points: (1) lower than expected availability from some existing power stations; (2) anticipated new power stations not being developed as planned; (3) expected growth in electricity demand, including from data centres; and (4) expected closure of some power stations...