Dr. Alexander Ehrle is a member of the Firm's International Trade Practice in Baker McKenzie's Berlin office. Alexander studied law at the Universities of Heidelberg, Montpellier (France), Mainz, Munich and New York (NYU) specializing in Public International and European Law. He worked as advisor and member of a delegation of a developing country at the United Nations before qualifying for the German bar. He spent his clerkship with the Higher Regional Court in Berlin, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin and Tokyo as well as an international law firm in Frankfurt and Milan. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on the structural changes of public international law and their conceptualization in academic discourse basing his research on the governance of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Alexander is admitted to practice in Germany and New York.
Alexander co-chairs the Business & Human Rights Committee of the American Bar Association’s International Law Section and has been recognized as one of 40 under 40 lawyers worldwide for foreign investment control by the Global Competition Review.
President Biden’s issuance of the Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence (AI) on 30 October 2023 marks a significant legislative stride in AI regulation. This directive, extending beyond the US, has profound implications for European businesses and the EU’s regulatory landscape on AI.
On 14 December 2023, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament reached a compromise on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), paving the way for its formal adoption by both institutions and thus the CSDDD’s entry into force before year end. The CSDDD is intended to significantly reshape corporate due diligence obligations regarding human rights and environmental standards in the EU and beyond. With its imminent enactment, the EU Member States will have two years to enact national laws providing for respective corporate due diligence obligations, similar to that already provided for by the German Supply Chain Act in its current form.
On 11 October 2023 the German Federal Government approved the Financial Crime Prevention Act, which shall come into force on 1 January 2024. The law will establish a new federal authority – the Federal Office to Combat Financial Crime. This new institution will have competences with respect to the fight of money laundering, sanctions and illicit financial flows.
On 18 November 2023, Germany, France, and Italy reached a significant agreement on the future of AI regulation, marking a step forward in shaping the AI landscape within the European Union.
The United Kingdom just hosted the first-ever global Artificial Intelligence Safety Summit on 1 and 2 November 2023, an event that brought international attention to the regulation of Artificial Intelligence. UK Prime Minister Sunak underscored the urgency for global collaboration in the governance of AI, a technology that defies national boundaries and demands a collective regulatory approach. The summit’s outcome was the Bletchley Declaration, a commitment signed by leading nations, including Germany, the United States, and China, to enhance cooperation in the development and regulatory oversight of AI technologies.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled The EU’s Eleventh Sanctions Package against Russia on 26 June 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Blog Series: Sanctions Enforcement Around the G7, the German Perspective on 22 March 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
Welcome to our Virtual Year-End Review of Import/Export and Trade Compliance Developments Conference resource center. Baker McKenzie’s international trade compliance lawyers from around the world discussed the major global legislative, judicial and administrative activities and trends in export controls, trade sanctions, customs compliance, and import requirements in nine 75 minute sessions which took place from 15 to 17 November 2022.
On 21 September 2022, colleagues from the German Baker McKenzie offices will host a webinar exploring current developments in German and European Antitrust Law. The event will be in German only.
Join us for our 19th Annual Global Trade and Supply Chain Webinar Series entitled, “International Trade Developments in a Challenging New World,” which includes the latest international trade developments. This year, in a variety of sessions, our panels of experts will cover the key developments and latest trends on sanctions, export controls and Foreign Investment Review regimes. On the inbound side, there will be sessions on opportunities and compliance challenges arising out of FTAs, hot topics on Customs valuation, trends in customs audits and supply chain compliance challenges and logistics.