On 19 October 2021, the EU Commission published its 2022 Work Programme, which sets out the key goals that the EU Commission hopes to achieve in 2022. Chief amongst these is a desire to make “A Europe Fit for the Digital Age”, with a key proposal to achieve this being a possible “European Chips Act”. In the Programme, the EU Commission has stated that it will publish a proposal for a European Chips Act in the first half of 2022.
The European Whistleblowing Directive is to be implemented by the European Union’s 27 member states by no later than 17 December 2021 and will impact employers with operations in those jurisdictions. With most of the Member States yet to pass their implementing legislation, employers will face a period of intense activity in the coming months.
A number of reports have cited the disproportionately negative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the employment and earnings of women. There is a risk that the effects of the pandemic could further entrench preexisting inequalities, and that the economic impact of the pandemic on businesses could push pay equality down the agenda. Instead, we see the return to “normality” as the perfect opportunity to take stock and identify where inequality can be tackled.
The law of 21 July 2021, effective as of 31 July 2021, has implemented the European prudential regime applicable to investment firms authorized under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II set out under the Investment Firms Directive and the Investment Firms Regulation into Luxembourg law.
Last June, the Superior Court of Justice of the Basque Country delivered a decision with wide repercussion with regards to advertising of medicinal products by pharmaceutical companies. The decision ruled on an appeal filed by Farmaindustria (the Spanish trade association bringing together innovative pharmaceutical companies) against a regional Order regulating the advertising of pharmaceutical products through medical sales representatives in the context of the Basque Health System.
In the event that a position becomes redundant, employers are obliged to investigate whether the affected employee can be reassigned to another suitable position, before they can pursue termination. The reassignment assessment must cover the entire group of companies, which raises a number of questions, especially for large multinationals. Because what exactly is expected of employers and what does this mean in practice?
On 15 October 2021, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that the Dutch government has revised its licensing policy for exports of military-related items to Turkey. This policy covers both military items within the meaning of the EU Common Military List and dual-use items in case of a military end-use. The changes were announced in a letter to Dutch Parliament.
On 6 September 2021, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI“) published its 2021 frozen asset reporting notice. The notice is a reminder that all persons that hold or control funds or economic resources belonging to, owned, held, or controlled by a designated person must provide a report to OFSI with the details of these assets by 15 October 2021. This is part of HM Treasury’s annual review of frozen assets to update its records and to capture any changes during the reporting period.
Against the background of the EU Posting Workers Directive and the ECJ case law, the Wage and Social Dumping Prevention Act (“Lohn- und Sozialdumping-Bekämpfungsgesetz”, “LSD-BG”) has been amended effective as of 1 September 2021. In summary, the scope of the Wage and Social Dumping Prevention Act was limited and the provisions regarding administrative penalties were mitigated. However, provisions for long-term postings are now stricter.
The WU-Baker McKenzie conference “Tax in the European Union: What happened and what’s next?” will take place on Thursday, 4 November. This Conference is jointly hosted by the Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law at WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business) and Baker McKenzie and will welcome guest speakers from the European Commission. The purpose of the conference is to give the business community and other interested parties an update on the hottest topics within the EU tax world and on what you need to know to stay on top. Insights will be shared from the European Commission, the academic world and practices.