What do Panama, the Netherlands, Latvia, and Serbia have in common? A shipment of over 5,000 high-quality athletic sneakers travelled through these countries before being halted at customs over authenticity concerns.

Following the implementation of the first stage of the Competition Law reform, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMC) unveiled a new Draft Law on 24 July 2024, marking the second stage of the reform. This draft aims to further align Ukrainian competition legislation with EU standards and refine certain previous changes.

To support the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, on 26 June 2024, the Hungarian National Bank issued two new regulations, incorporating changes in domestic legislation, guidelines of the European Banking Authority and lessons learned from supervisory experience.

Since 1 July 2023, interest income has been subject to a 13% social contribution tax (‘szocho’) in addition to the 15% personal income tax (‘szja’). Originally this was only for the duration of the emergency caused by the armed conflict in Ukraine. However, a new act published in the Hungarian Official Gazette on 18 June 2024, changed the situation.

The Parliament of Albania has recently passed amendments to the Albanian Labour Code (“Code“), specifically regarding employee annual paid vacation entitlements.

The EU’s Al Act (Regulation 2024/1689) enters into force today, August 1, 2024. The groundbreaking Act is designed to ensure that AI systems are safe, transparent, and governed by rules that protect fundamental rights. The Act categorizes AI applications into risk-based tiers, with each tier subject to different levels of regulatory scrutiny and compliance requirements.

New regulations governing agreements to complete a job (in Czech: dohoda o provedení práce) came into effect in the Czech Republic on 1 July 2024, with additional provisions set to be implemented on 1 January 2025. These amendments significantly modify the original provisions outlined in the Czech Consolidation Package (Act No. 349/2023 Coll.).

In line with the recent developments across the world, the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2024-2025 Action Plan (“Action Plan“) was published, prepared in cooperation with the Presidential Digital Transformation Office of the Republic of Türkiye and the Ministry of Industry and Technology, and in line with the opinions of various public and private actors and nongovernmental organizations (“NGOs“), to advance Türkiye’s framework on artificial intelligence practices and strengthen its global position in terms of artificial intelligence.

In July 2024, the Hungarian Central Statistical Office began sending formal notifications via email regarding changes to the statistical codes of various activities. Although the required procedure takes only a few minutes, non-compliant companies may face penalties.

The Montenegrin Ministry of Internal Affairs recently implemented a Rulebook on Ultimate Beneficial Owner (“UBO”) Registration, effective from 27 July 2024. It introduces significant changes in how legal entities in Montenegro must manage their UBO information as part of the country’s effort to strengthen its fight against money laundering.

As a result of major market changes, business entities more often suspend their operations and become insolvent, during which arises the question of the collectability of the claims of their creditors and associates, as well as persons who are in other relationships with such insolvent business entities.

On 17 May 2024, Law No. 127/2024 for the approval of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 5/2015 on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (Law No. 127/2024) entered into force, after a laborious journey marked by extensive debates and negotiations, thus finalizing a legislative process that began in 2015.

From 29 July 2024, the administrative service fees relating to procedures for land registry, plot formation, land surveying and mapping, and the provision of data from the land register and the state databases will be increased significantly.

The new Czech Building Act (Act No. 283/2021 Coll., the Building Act, as amended (NBA)) became effective on 1 January 2024 and gradually replaces legislation set forth primarily in Act No. 183/2006 Coll., on zoning and building regulations (Building Act), as amended (OBA).

On 26 June 2024, the Romanian Competition Council (the "RCC") announced that it had conducted a dawn raid as part of an investigation concerning the possible abuse of a superior bargaining position by a company active in the supply of liquid medicinal oxygen against a public hospital. The investigation has been launched ex officio as a result of information received from public sources. The case is noteworthy as it marks the first time the RCC has launched a review regarding an alleged abuse of superior bargaining position, a relatively new type of infringement under Romanian competition rules.

Serbia’s 2020 Trademark Law introduced a novel provision to local law: the trademark holders have been explicitly empowered to claim profit surrender in cases where the infringement was not intentional or grossly negligent.

On 14 June 2024, the Serbian Competition Commission (the “Commission”) initiated two proceedings against companies belonging to the Agromarket Group for allegedly implementing notifiable concentrations without obtaining prior approval from the Commission. The acquisitions occurred in 2020 and 2024 and both concern targets located outside of Serbia.

You may have noticed that there has been a discussion about an amendment to the Act on Protection of Competition in recent weeks. If it passes the legislative procedure, what would it mean in practice?