On 15 December 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the challenges and prospects for multilateral weapons of mass destruction arms control and disarmament regimes. The resolution calls for the EU to play a strong role, and for member states to show continuous support, in all major disarmament treaties and non-proliferation regimes.
Today, more than 28 million people in the EU work through digital platforms in a wide variety of sectors. With the aim of improving the working conditions of these platform workers, the Commission published a proposal for a Directive on 9 December 2021. According to the Commission, the proposed Directive should ensure greater protection of platform workers. If the Directive is adopted, European member states will have two years to adapt their national legislation accordingly.
EU Member States must implement the European Whistleblowing Directive (EU WBD) by 17 December 2021. However, only Denmark, Sweden and Portugal have passed their implementing legislation.
Health Technology Assessment is a scientific evidence-based process that allows competent authorities to determine the relative effectiveness of new or existing health technologies. This multidisciplinary process evaluates the medical, social, economic and ethical issues related to the use of a health technology. Health technologies encompass medicines, medical devices, in vitro diagnostic medical devices and medical procedures, as well as measures for disease prevention, diagnosis or treatment.
The Baker McKenzie International Commercial and Trade team is delighted to invite you to watch our pre-recorded webinar on the latest developments in relation to sanctions against Belarus, as at 10 December 2021. The webinar covers sanctions measures imposed against Belarus by the US, the EU, the UK, Canada and Switzerland, with a particular focus on the most recent measures announced in December 2021, in response to the migration crisis on the Belarus/EU border. The webinar lasts just over 30 minutes, and is intended to give you an overview of the developments, and the key takeaways to ensure compliance by your business
On December 2, 2021, the EU, UK, US, and Canada all imposed additional coordinated sanctions on Belarus as a punitive action against the government led by President Alexander Lukashenko, which has been accused of human rights violations and creating a migrant crisis at Belarusian borders. As further described below, the sanctions included the designation of a number of parties (individuals and entities), whilst certain individuals will also be subject to travel bans preventing them entering or transiting the EU and UK. The US has also introduced financial sectoral sanctions, similar to those already imposed by the EU, UK and Canada.
New Intrastat requirements will enter into force as of January 2022. Intrastat is the EU’s system to track the movement of goods between countries of the EU. Authorities use the statistical data on international trade obtained with Intrastat for example when negotiating trade agreements and to monitoring of the functioning of the internal market.
As of November 30, 2021, a number of retaliatory measures have been suspended by the European Commission with regard to certain products originating in the US, based on Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2083. These measures were initially introduced on June 20, 2018, in response to US import tariffs on steel and aluminium originating from the EU. The US has meanwhile announced on October 31, 2021 that it will lift these measures under tariff rate quotas effective as of January 1, 2022.
The European Commission has sent a letter to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU announcing a delay to the date of application of regulatory technical standards (RTS) under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). The Commission has now deferred implementation of the SFDR RTS to 1 January 2023.
The UK Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has published its response to the recent call for evidence on product safety in the UK (“Response”). In line with the government’s aim to capitalise on Brexit opportunities, the Response emphasises that the UK now has a genuine opportunity to “think boldly” about how to regulate product safety. One concern that is not addressed in detail in the Response is the risk that divergence from the EU product safety and regulatory regime could actually make the UK less attractive for business and in fact discourage innovation within the UK.