In terms of recent updates, on 25 February the Council of the European Union adopted the tenth package of economic and individual sanctions against Russia in response to the armed conflict in Ukraine, coinciding with the one-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Although negotiations regarding the method of capping electricity and gas prices are still ongoing, both at the national level and in the EU, the Government of the Czech Republic has already issued the expected amendment specifying the capping of energy prices for large enterprises.

Until 2014, less than 10 percent of the largest companies in the European Union regularly disclosed non-financial information about their operations as part of reports that supplement annual financial consolidated reports. Although they were obliged to do so by the then-current Directive of the European Union, the requirements of the existing legislation proved to need to be more transparent and more effective.

Companies who are the victims of trade secret thefts by their employees in Hungary are protected on more levels: in addition to relying on the Business Secret Act, they can invoke the Labour Code, as well.Less clear is to which court should employers turn to in case they decide to sue their former employee and the competitor, employing the latter. Is the commercial court or the labour court the right forum? We analyse the question in the light of a recent judgment of the Hungarian Supreme Court.

On 23 February 2023, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted the Law of Ukraine “On Compensation for Damage and Destruction of Certain Categories of Real Estate as a Result of Hostilities, Terrorist Acts, and Sabotage Caused by the Armed Aggression of the Russian Federation Against Ukraine, and the State Register of Property Damaged and Destroyed as a Result of Hostilities, Terrorist Acts, and Sabotage Caused by the Armed Aggression of the Russian Federation Against Ukraine” No. 2923-IX (“Law”), which will enter into force on 22 May 2023.

2022 was a year of significant legislative changes in the field of competition, and 2023 is set to present several challenges for the business environment. This article discusses three of the most significant competition law challenges faced by Romanian companies in 2023: no-poaching, foreign direct investment (FDI), and abuse of superior bargaining position.

It has recently been noted that social actors show a growing interest in concluding collective agreements at various levels, the justification being manifold: this either represents a way to retain employees, or it is an attempt to align to market practices, etc.

The announced amendments to the Law on Foreigners and the Law on the Employment of Foreigners contain significant novelties. The most important changes relate to the simplified and digitized procedure for obtaining a residence and work permit for foreigners, new categories of foreigners who will be able to work and/or establish employment only based on residence permit, as well as the extended period of validity of permits.

Hungary has been traditionally the go-to hub for filming in Europe.

“Even if the deleted correspondence is restored, the act of deletion is considered by the Competition Board as hindering the on-site investigation.”

The history of artificial intelligence can be traced back to the 1950s, when researchers and computer scientists first explored the possibility of creating machines which could accomplish tasks typically performed by humans. Since then, AI has undergone several significant phases of development, each of which has been marked by essential landmarks and milestones. In 1997, IBM’s Deep Blue computer famously defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov. In recent years, AI has seen the development of deep learning and neural networks capable of processing large amounts of data and making complex predictions.

In December 2022, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 on digital operational resilience for the financial sector and amending Regulations (EC) no. 1006/2009, (EU) no. 648/2012, (EU) no. 600/2014, (EU) no. 909/2014 and (EU) 2016/1011 (the “Digital Operational Resilience Act” or “DORA”).

At the extraordinary session of the Parliament of Montenegro held on February 28, 2023 a set of tax acts was adopted. The Parliamentary Committee for Economy, Finance and Budget of Montenegro has given its support for introducing aforementioned acts, which will result in higher budget revenues for the state through higher taxation and the introduction and change of excise duties on certain products.

On February 24, 2023, the Latvian Constitutional Court issued a long-awaited Judgement in case 2022-03-01 confirming that the current control mechanism over arbitration in Latvia is incomplete and unconstitutional. This means that the government will now be required to introduce a procedure for setting aside arbitral awards made by tribunals seated in Latvia.

Since 2010, the regulations and practices relative to the ESG requirements in the EU have been rapidly evolving. The EU has implemented significant rules by adopting the Taxonomy Regulation, the Non-Financial Disclosure Directive (NFRD), the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). These regulate the disclosure obligations of certain companies and private equity funds in connection with their sustainability obligations and their commitment to respecting human rights.

When calculating the cost of running a business, companies typically tend to analyze factors such as labor cost, operating expenses, marketing and advertising, inventory, insurance, and taxes. Only, what happens when unexpected costs occur, such as a security data breach exposing the customers’ personal data to unauthorized parties? And is it still reasonable to consider such costs as unexpected?

Under Hungarian law if someone’s right to the protection of personal data is infringed, the person may be entitled to compensation for non-material damages. But does the unlawful processing of personal data always mean the infringement of the right to the protection of personal data, triggering the right for compensation? A fresh decision of the Hungarian Supreme Court analysed in this article provides answer to these questions.

The Polish Parliament is finally moving forward with the implementation of the EU directive on predictable and transparent working conditions (Directive (EU) 2019/1152).