Slovakia experienced a boom in renewables in 2010/11, then it became silent. New rules, a government decision, the EU recovery fund, and the increasing energy costs have led to a renaissance of renewable energy in Slovakia.

In May 2022, the European Commission announced the REPowerEU Action Plan, proposing a package of measures to accelerate the energy transition, made even more urgent by the high dependence on Russian gas. Given the urgency of deploying renewable energy installations, the EC highlighted the generation of electricity from solar energy (i.e., solar power plants, photovoltaics) as a priority and key issue. Such technology has a minimal environmental impact (especially when installed on existing built surfaces), high public acceptance, the fastest technical feasibility, and, last but not least, a low cost (the price of the technology has fallen by around 82% over the last decade).

An in-depth look at Katarina Kresal of Senica & Partners covering her career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about her as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

Over the past few years, there has been a significant surge in the number of collective actions being filed by consumer organizations in Slovenia. Rojs, Peljhan, Prelesnik & Partners Partner Aljosa Krdzic and Jadek & Pensa Partner Mitja Podpecan discuss the current surge of collective actions being taken against companies, along with the primary factors driving it, and make predictions regarding the outcome of such litigations.

In the spirit of CEE Legal Matters’s upcoming Tenth Anniversary, Fatur Menard Head of M&A Practice Lea Vatovec Miklavcic and Senica Managing Partner Uros Cop provide an evolutionary insight into the Slovenian market from a legal, economic, and business standpoint.

An in-depth look at Ursula Rath of Schoenherr covering her career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about her as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

A December 2022 decision by the Austrian Constitutional Court to annul the media privilege in the Austrian Data Protection Act has raised questions on how the country’s approach to the legal landscape regulating the media will change. Wolf Theiss Partner Kurt Retter and DLA Piper Counsel Stefan Panic analyze the ruling’s implications.

Investment activity in Austria’s technology sector remained strong in 2022, despite the global economic downturn caused by the pandemic. Cerha Hempel Partner Christoph Reiter, Schoenherr Partner Thomas Kulnigg, and Dorda Managing Partner Axel Anderl talk about where the money is coming from, where it is going, and what can be expected for 2023.

Looking ahead to 2023, white-collar crime is likely to be a subject of close scrutiny by local and EU authorities across CEE. CMS CEE Partner Nedeljko Velisavljevic, from Serbia, and CMS Head of the Criminal Defense Practice in Romania Mihai Jiganie-Serban explore the current context, latest developments, and outlook of white-collar crime practices in CEE.

I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be a part of the CEE legal community for the better part of 30 years. I arrived in Prague as a young associate in July 1991 and, after a small hiatus in New York in the mid-90s, have been based in Budapest for the last 26 years, initially with White & Case and for the last eight years with Dentons. While I’ve had the privilege of working with other, more qualified lawyers than I in a variety of commercial situations, my heart and soul has been in the mergers and acquisitions world.

In The Debrief, our Practice Leaders across CEE share updates on recent and upcoming legislation, consider the impact of recent court decisions, showcase landmark projects, and stay up to date with the latest developments impacting their respective practice areas. 

In The Debrief, our Practice Leaders across CEE share updates on recent and upcoming legislation, consider the impact of recent court decisions, showcase landmark projects, and stay up to date with the latest developments impacting their respective practice areas. 

As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine hit the one-year mark, we asked Ukrainian law firms how they adjusted to the new circumstances, how their mandates and teams have evolved, and about the support they received from their colleagues abroad throughout this period.

Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the world faces an ever-increasing number of restrictive measures and sanctions introduced in various jurisdictions. While the global sanctions landscape has been long established, it has developed rapidly after February 24, 2022.

In the context of signing the Association Agreement with the European Union on June 27, 2014, the Moldovan legislation underwent fundamental changes aimed at harmonizing the domestic provisions with those of the European Union.

White-collar crime is a term first coined by sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1949 who defined it as “a crime committed by a respectable and high-social-status person during the profession.” Prior to Sutherland’s introduction of the concept of white-collar crime, the upper classes of society were thought to be incapable of engaging in criminal activity.

White-collar crime has mainly been regulated by the Macedonian Criminal Code (“Code”) from 2004. Certain areas of responsibility that may render authorized persons criminally liable are also stipulated by other laws. We will focus on the main rules on white-collar crime provided by the Code, and certain liabilities provided by the Company Law that may trigger criminal responsibility for shareholders.

Serious crimes, such as tax evasion, corruption offenses, or money laundering provoke serious responses from law enforcement authorities. When such offenses are committed, the law provides for compulsory precautionary measures to be taken against the assets of the offenders, at any stage of the criminal proceedings.