In 1998, in the aftermath of the most famous class action in history, Philip Morris and three other tobacco companies had to pay a $ 206,000,000,000 settlement covering medical costs for smoking-related illnesses.

In a recent update to the VAT Act in Slovenia, notable amendments have been introduced, particularly focusing on services in the public interest. Article 42(1)(5) of the VAT Act has changed, emphasizing VAT exemptions exclusively for services provided within activities deemed in the public interest.

On 1 February 2024, the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) in Romania published for consultation an order aimed at approving new rules in the power grid connection sector.

Processing personal data through video surveillance and GPS tracking is a widespread practice that is used for a variety of purposes. Nonetheless, this is a matter that is not clearly defined by law, and there is no consensus practice that would provide guidelines for data processors on how to achieve legal compliance.

In German case law the stance was taken recently that questions on a test undertaken by a specific individual do not constitute personal data within the meaning of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). The court’s position is that these questions, therefore, should not be included in the copy of data issued or provided in accordance with Article 15(3) of the GDPR (right to access to personal data undergoing processing).

As background, in December 2022, the EU Council adopted the policy programme ‘Path to the Digital Decade’, aiming to facilitate a seamless transition to digital transformation by 2030, aligning with EU values. This program sets specific digital targets for EU countries to achieve by 2030, including the development of national trajectories and strategic roadmaps to enhance digital infrastructure's security, accessibility, and sustainability. Notably, a key focus area of the EU digital strategy is digital services.

Most of us have likely encountered a situation where we bought our favourite chocolate at the grocery store, only to be surprised upon opening it at home to find that the size and weight of the chocolate had decreased, while the packaging and price remained unchanged.

On January 31, 2024, Ukraine’s National Energy and Utilities Services Commission (the Regulator) adopted Resolution No. 232 On Approval of Amendments to the Resolution of the Regulator 1812 dated October 4, 2023 (the Amendments).

According to the Provisional Article 1, that is added to the Turkish Code of Obligations with the 4th article of the "Law on Amendments to the Lawyers' Code and the Turkish Code of Obligations" numbered 7409, which was published in the Official Gazette on 11.06.2022 and is valid as of that day residential rent agreements regarding the rental fee to be applied in the renewed rental periods between the date of entry into force of this article and 01.07.2023 (including these dates) are valid, provided that they do not exceed twenty-five percent of the rental fee of the previous rental year. In other words, contracts containing more than a twenty-five percent increase in housing rent compared to the previous year were deemed invalid in terms of the excess amount. 

Looking back at 2023, we witnessed important developments in the legal framework for environmental protection (in the broad sense).

On 24 January 2024, the NEURC adopted the Resolution "On Amendments to Certain Resolutions of the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission (NEURC)" (the "Resolution") to bring the secondary legislation in line with the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Restoration and Green Transformation of the Energy System of Ukraine" No. 3220-IX dated 30 June 2023 (the "Law on "Green" Transformation").

The broader online advertising sector will be affected by the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA), even though they apply directly only to certain types of organisations, with expanded obligations on the largest organisations.

Exciting developments are on the horizon for the Romanian banking community, as efforts are underway to streamline the framework regulating outsourcing arrangements.

The GDPR generally prohibits the processing of data relating to sexual orientation. In practice, this can be an obstacle to efforts towards inclusion.

On 29 December 2023, the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Regulation on financial support for dual education ("Official Gazette of the RS", No. 120/2023), which entered into force on 6 January 2024 (hereinafter: the Regulation).

The World Economic Forum established the AI Governance Alliance, bringing together leaders from diverse sectors such as industry, government, academia and civil society to support the responsible global development and use of transparent and inclusive AI systems.

Dear readers, during the New Year's rush, it may have escaped your attention that on 29 December, the Amendment to the Medicines Act was published in the Collection of Laws, in volume 203 under number 456/2023 Coll. Barring one exception, which we discuss below, the amendment already went into effect on 1 January 2024.

The Government of Ukraine introduced draft law No.10449 to the Parliament, aiming to improve certain issues of mobilization, military records and military service. The published version of the draft law is not final, however, as of now, the Government is proposing the following changes to the current legislation.