In a recently published judgment, the Curia ruled that a private e-mail address containing the full name of a natural person qualifies as personal data. However, the unlawful processing of personal data does not automatically constitute a violation of the right to the protection of personal data in the absence of other elements.

The Future Is Here! And it is here to stay. What we could only imagine some years ago is now part of our reality, and AI has become an ever-present topic. AI is everywhere, from banking and healthcare to transportation and entertainment.

An Overview of Important Legislative Changes in Slovakia

April 2023 – An amendment to Act no. 283/2021, Building Act (the “New Building Act”) has been approved by the Chamber of Deputies, bringing key changes to Czech construction laws and permitting processes (the “New Amendment”). The New Amendment has been passed to the Senate, which should approve it shortly. The original New Building Act, representing a major change of Czech building regulations, was adopted back in July 2021.

Several years have passed since the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) has been in force in the EU, regulating personal data protection. Although the GDPR is directly applicable, the act governing the matter of personal data protection must nevertheless be adopted in each member state, as some areas in the GDPR are left to be governed by the national law of each country.In addition, the adoption of a national law is a precondition for imposing fines and appointing a supervisory authority. Those are the main reasons for systematic regulation of the field of data protection in Slovenia by the new Personal Data Protection Act (“Act”). The Act will apply as of 26 January 2023.

On 20 April, the European Parliament endorsed two regulations which will fundamentally change the crypto-asset market landscape in the EU and potentially beyond: the Regulation for Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) and the recast version of the Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR recast). As a forerunner in regulating crypto business, Estonia has had local crypto laws in place since 2017, however, MiCA and TFR recast will be directly applicable in the EU and will replace the respective local legislation.

Following the 7.8. and 7.5. magnitude earthquakes occurred in Kahramanmaraş on 06.02.2023, the Presidential Decree on the declaration of the State of Emergency for 3 months in the cities affected by the earthquakes was adopted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly on 09.02.2023 and was published in the Official Gazette No. 32100 dated 10.02.2023. A number of measures concerning work and social security field were also envisaged in the scope of the State of Emergency.

The Romanian public and sectoral procurement legislation has recently undergone several important changes aimed at clarifying certain provisions that used to be open to interpretation and/or have given rise to disputes in practice.

Regulation (EU) 2022/1925, The Digital Markets Act, is set to apply from 2 May 2023

Addressing digital developments and concerns regarding contestability and fairness in the digital economy, the Digital Markets Act – an ex-ante regulatory system – entered into force on 1 November 2022 and will apply from 2 May 2023. Designed to complement competition law, the Digital Markets Act lays down prohibitions and obligations for designated gatekeepers that provide a range of “core platform services” and gives the European Commission broad investigative and enforcement powers. Generally speaking, the Digital Markets Act aims to prevent unfair practices by gatekeepers.

Following the general election, the new coalition government has committed to balancing the state budget and consequently revealed many intended taxation changes. While these ideas are not yet set in stone, here are the key changes that could be expected based on what has been communicated.

On 28 March 2023, the Curia established that certain provisions of the municipality decree of the 18th District of Budapest on local taxes are contrary to other legislation, and therefore annulled the provisions on air passenger tax with retroactive effect to 1 January 2023.

April 2023 – Early 2023 is shedding light on how to implement the numerous changes to Romanian labour law that occurred during 2022. In addition, at the EU level, a new directive which is set to come into force provides for equal pay for women and men.

Under a law passed by Parliament yesterday, all companies with more than 50 employees will be obliged to have a whistleblowing system in place from December. Employers with 250 employees cannot wait any longer, as they will have 60 days to implement the system. The question is, of course, whether companies will see the regulation as another unnecessary administrative burden or whether it will trigger an avalanche of internal investigations.

Following the legislative changes introduced at the beginning of 2022 concerning the long-term visa for digital nomads, the Romanian tax authorities have published Law no. 69/2023 in the Official Gazette no. 265 of 30 March 2023.

On 24 March 2023, the Commission for the Protection of the Competition (“Commission”) initiated an investigation against the Hotelsko, Ugostiteljsko i Turisticko preduzece Moskva doo (“Moskva”) for possible gun-jumping.

The business world is evolving at lightning speed, and technology is at the forefront of this change. One of the most significant technological advancements is the use of chatbots such as OpenAI's ChatGPT. Even though using ChatGPT might sound like a good idea and simplify workflows, its widespread use in the workplace can be a double-edged sword, raising concerns about the potential risks and legal issues that employers must take into account to safeguard their business.

The Hungarian Data Protection Authority (NAIH) recently issued a new guidance on the making and keeping of copies of employees' qualifications to comply with ISO 9001:2015 quality management standards.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to change how we perceive intellectual property.  With the recent surge of AI, people are discovering that AI can generate works of art.  This raises important questions, such as the attribution of authorship for these creations and the protection of intellectual property (IP) rights.