Until recently, news reports regarding cookies have only discussed the gigantic fines imposed by foreign data protection authorities (DPAs) on tech giants (Google, Amazon, Meta). For economic reasons, operators of simple websites are continuing to use their illegal practices without risk until the last possible moment.

Serbian Minister of Finance issued the Rulebook on interest rates that are considered to be in line with the arm’s length principle for the year 2023 (the Rulebook), which enters into force on 6 April 2023.

The Serbian Competition Commission initiated an infringement investigation. On 20 April 2023, the Commission for the Protection of the Competition (“Commission”) initiated one more infringement investigation and carried out a dawn raid, this time against KTG Solucije d.o.o. Subotica (“KTG”) and Eco-Sense doo Subotica (“Eco Sense”) for possible RPM (resale price maintenance) and sharing of markets or source of supply in public procurement proceedings related to the materials and means for maintaining hygiene in facilities.

On 5 April 2023, the Government approved a long-awaited amendment to the Labour Code that incorporates several European directives and brings a number of fundamental changes that will affect most employers.The draft amendment will now be discussed in the Chamber of Deputies. If it passes swiftly, which is expected, the amendment could already be mostly effective during the summer holidays.

The Ministry of Commerce of the Republic of Serbia has announced that the applications regarding the incorporation of companies (among others, limited liability companies and joint stock companies) can be submitted only in electronic form as of 18 May 2023 via a designated user application of the Serbian Business Registers Agency (“SBRA”).

Start-up, which was first introduced in Silicon Valley in the US, has started to be more and more involved in our lives with the globalizing world. The main purpose of start-up companies, which are rapidly increasing in number today, is to produce solutions to a specific situation or problem and provide their solutions to people in a short time. They aim to develop rapidly and become one of the most popular companies with these solutions that appeal to a wide audience. While they are mostly focused on software and technology, there are also start-up companies operating in different fields such as banking and finance.

Recent years have seen the amendment of multiple tax regulations that have introduced numerous incentives for a variety of taxpayers. These tax breaks have made Serbia a highly attractive country for foreign investment, which has in turn led to the development of a start-up ecosystem, job creation and more benefits for employees, and growth in several industries, most notably information technology (IT).

After 5 years of drafting and procedural manoeuvres, the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina finally adopted last year amendments to the Public Procurement Law.

Law No. 7445 on the Amendment of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law and Certain Laws (“Law“), also known as the 7th Judicial Package, has been published in the Official Gazette numbered 32154 on April 5, 2023.

The Russian military invasion of Ukraine and the consequent energy crisis in Europe have brought the issue of energy independence to the forefront of the public agenda in Poland – raising it to an issue not only of economic stability but of national security.

Serbia has been making great strides in expanding its use of renewable energy in recent years, focusing on reducing its dependence on non-renewable sources and ensuring sustainable growth for its energy sector. Although the country has a wealth of natural resources, by now, Serbia’s reached a renewable energy capacity of 3,490 megawatts, of which 2,342 megawatts are from hydropower plants and the rest are from other renewable resources. Serbia’s abundant wind and solar energy potential will enable substantial progress in transitioning to green energy in the years to come. The impact of renewables on the Serbian industry will be significant, leading to reduced energy costs for businesses and greater energy independence. The growth of the renewables sector will also create new employment opportunities, particularly in construction, maintenance, and engineering. The industry will become a significant catalyst for Serbia’s economic development.

The last few years have seen a long list of investors turning their eyes to the Greek renewable energy source market and an abundance of new projects being developed throughout the country – to the extent that one would assume an excessive capacity of the Greek distribution network. Sadly, that is not the case. The occupation of grid space has been very loosely regulated for quite a long time, and final grid connection offers (GCOs) have been granted to licensed producers largely on a first come first served basis, and without any specific priority requirements.

In the pursuit of promoting renewable energy sources and achieving goals like decarbonization, as well as more ambitious ones such as energy independence, the European Union constantly both encourages and imposes achieving these objectives on the member states. As the whole world was recently shaken by pandemics and war, we are now facing an energy crisis worsened by these tragedies. In this context, in the second half of last year, Romanian legislators adopted several pieces of legislation aimed at mending various blockages encountered in practice by RES developers.

According to the national energy mix, only 5.6% of energy was produced by renewable sources in 2021 in the Czech Republic. Most energy was produced by nuclear sources (40.4%) and fossil fuels (54%).

The renewable energy sector in Ukraine has been one of the most promising sectors of the economy over the last decade. Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine has impacted the lives of every citizen and the country. Renewable energy projects have also been subject to adverse effects due to military actions.

The EU intends to implement a horizontal regulation on the qualification, recycling, and waste management of batteries (Battery Regulation) aiming to replace the existing Batteries Directive. Once the EU approves the Commission’s proposal, the new regulation will make the batteries more sustainable throughout their entire lifecycle, according to EU officials. Given Hungary’s significant role in battery production, we summarize the additional statutory obligations and consequences that could be imposed on battery producers.

Bulgaria has great potential and is currently attracting major investors interested in large-scale renewable energy projects. Currently, over 1,500 megawatts of solar and over 800 megawatts of wind projects are operating. Still, the country’s power generation is highly dependent on its baseload power capacity coming from thermal power plants (over 3,600 megawatts). However, to meet the net zero economy targets, renewables could be the solution to replace these capacity volumes. Thus, at least 2,600 megawatts in RES capacity are expected to be installed by 2025, to allow Bulgaria to meet its target of 30.33% of energy produced from renewable sources.

The ongoing energy crisis in Europe has underscored the urgent need to limit the reliance on imported energy sources. In a country lacking traditional energy sources like Moldova, the way to achieve that is to push for a rapid and sharp increase in renewable energy generation.