The amendments to the Serbian Energy Law, enacted in late April 2021, prescribed the obligation for transmission system operators in the electricity and natural gas sector to implement the EU electricity and natural gas network codes.

The amendments to the Serbian Energy Law, enacted in late April 2021, prescribed the obligation for transmission system operators in the electricity and natural gas sector to implement the EU electricity and natural gas network codes.

Hungary has adopted the integrated energy policy guidelines of the EU, which aim to decrease greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% compared to the ‘90s level, increase the proportion of renewable energy in energy consumption to 32%, increase energy efficiency by 32.5%, and further the increased interconnection of the EU electric energy system. In that context, renewable energy is currently a hot topic.

The year 2021 has seen several major developments in the field of green energy in Slovakia.

On June 23, 2021, the lower chamber of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina, the House of Representatives, passed a decision instructing the Government to “analyze the existing legal framework in relation to the construction of small hydroelectric power plants and to initiate the parliamentary procedure of amending the existing laws in order to protect the rivers and the environment.” Such a broad and generic decision comes after months of campaigning by several NGOs, supported by local and Hollywood celebrities, aimed against the construction of SHPPs on Bosnian rivers, citing environmental concerns.

These are dynamic times for the Croatian energy sector, as the legislative framework is expected to undergo major changes very soon.

The fiscal regime of companies and contractors operating onshore in the exploration & production segment of the oil and gas industry in Albania was fundamentally changed by Law no. 153/2020 On the Fiscal Regime in the Hydrocarbon Sector (the Hydrocarbon Fiscal Law or HFL), that came into effect on February 2, 2021.

In 2016, Kosovo adopted Law No. 05/L-082 on Natural Gas (the Natural Gas Law). The purpose of the law was to lay down a legal basis for the establishment of a legal framework that will govern the transmission, distribution, supply, usage, and storage of natural gas. The Natural Gas Law is deemed to be aligned with EU law, including Directive No. 2009/73/EC on common rules of the internal European natural gas market and Regulation No. 715/2009/EC on conditions of access to natural gas transmission networks.

The energy market in Latvia is in a constant process of development, on both the regulatory and business sides. The following highlights suggest the energy sector will remain active in the foreseeable future, providing new opportunities for potential investors.

The year 2021 is expected to be a long-awaited turning point for the Moldovan electric energy market.

The year 2020 proved to be positive for renewable energy in the EU. Data published by Eurostat shows an overall increase in the share of energy produced from renewable sources, and the share of renewable electricity exceeded that of electricity produced from fossil fuels.

Although Lithuania cannot boast rich oil resources lying beneath its territory, a number of large oil industry facilities are successfully operating in the country. This suggests that Lithuania has sufficient technical capacity to import oil and petroleum products from various countries, as well as diverse and technically ensured possibilities of supplying petroleum products. Moreover, the country has secured the required amount of petroleum product state reserves, which affords protection against disruptions in their supply.

Change is brewing in Montenegro. The country finds itself exposed to both unprecedented internal and external factors, turning the gears and taking Montenegro in an uncharted direction. The COVID-19 pandemic has, for the last eighteen months, been putting pressure on economies, health systems, and the people themselves, forcing humanity to combat a deadly adversary through measures unseen in modern history. Montenegro was no exception and had to adjust to the new situation adopting preventive measures in order to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic. An external factor, the virus, was not the only thing that shook things up for the Montenegrin people. There has been a large upset in the political scene, with the parliamentary election being narrowly won by the opposition, removing the Democratic Party of Socialists from power. The new government is faced with many challenges, including continuing the development of the energy sector through innovative and appropriate legislative, regulatory, and strategic action.

Following the record-long period, since May 25, 2018, during which Slovenia failed to adopt a relevant GDPR-implementing act, the Slovenian Government has sent a new draft of the Slovenian Data Protection Act for public discussion. If the parliamentary process runs uninterruptedly, the adoption of the new Act can be expected by the fall of this year.

The right to privacy that is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo is embodied in the new Law on Protection of Personal Data, which was approved in January 2019 as an amendment and supplement to the old law, which had been in force since 2010. With the introduction of the new LPPD, Kosovo has implemented an advanced and comprehensive regulatory and institutional framework for data protection, incorporating the main principles and provisions of the EU General Data Protection Regulation.

To comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), companies must have technical and organizational measures in place to protect personal data. In light of the recent decision of the Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency (AZOP) against a leading local security company, one measure that requires closer scrutiny is the prevention of data breaches by employees. What happens if, regardless of various security measures, a careless employee commits a data breach? Will the company be liable for a breach committed by its employee?

The Serbian Data Protection Law that was adopted in November 2018 to align Serbia’s data protection laws with the GDPR has now been in force for almost two years (its application commenced nine months after its date of adoption, in August 2019).

Privacy pros are now celebrating the three-year anniversary of the GDPR, even as we are living through the current pandemic. It is, in fact, almost impossible to talk about privacy trends without touching on the COVID-19 crisis.