The Act to Mitigate the Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Civil, Insolvency and Criminal Procedure Law (“COVID-19 Act”) provides for the option of online general meetings (“virtual general meetings”) for AGs [stock corporations], which numerous small and large stock corporations, including DAX-listed corporations, are already frequently using ...
On May 29, 2020, the “Act to Mitigate the Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Competition Law” entered into force. It includes provisions for a one-off extension of the examination periods of the Federal Cartel Office in the context of merger control. This applies exclusively to the examination periods for merger control notifications received by the Federal Cartel Office between March 1 and May 31, 2020 ...
The COVID-19 pandemic distinctly reminds us that during their term, contracts may be exposed to influences beyond the parties’ control, which may unforeseeably complicate their performance or make it impossible. Examples include civil wars, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, or pirate attacks on cargo ships ...
Email services can usually not be qualified as telecommunications services. These were the decisions of both the European Court of Justice (ECJ, judgment of June 13, 2019 – C-193/18) and the Higher Administrative Court of Münster (OVG Münster, judgment of February 5, 2020 – 13 A 17/16) in two recent judgments ...
On April 8, 2020, the federal government adopted draft wording presented by the Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection for a draft bill to mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in event contract law in order to protect organizers of recreational events and operators of recreational facilities from considerable outflows of liquidity ...
The EU Commission has implemented a Temporary Framework for State aid measures and provided the Member States with a toolbox of instruments to support their companies in the crisis. Germany has implemented some of these instruments. The following article takes a look at instruments that have been notified by other Member States and are also of interest to Germany ...
In recent months, the European courts have again decided numerous cases on state aid law. The following cases deal with antitrust law claims for damages for granting authorities, the effects of changes to the legal basis in state aid proceedings and the access to files in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 1049/2001 in state aid proceedings ...
The Heidelberg Regional Court rejected an employee’s claim for access to information about the employer’s processing of his personal data insofar as this data is merely located in backup files of his email account. Restoring such data was said to represent disproportionate effort for the controller in this individual case (judgment of February 6, 2020 – 4 O 6/19) ...
The COVID-19 pandemic with contact restrictions and travel bans also poses challenges for civil proceedings. In the future, the functionality in pandemic times could be the material factor for the choice between state courts and arbitral courts because flexibility and options for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic are varying. State court proceedings Despite the COVID-19 restrictions, court deadlines must still be met ...
GERMAN GOVERNMENT INTENDS TO INCREASE HURDLES FOR ACQUIRING GERMAN COMPANIES IN STRATEGICALLY IMPORTANT BUSINESS SECTORS On April 8, 2020, the German government adopted the draft bill of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs to amend the Foreign Trade and Payments Act (Außenwirtschaftsgesetz, AWG) ...
Even against the backdrop of the current COVID-19 pandemic (“corona”), cities, municipalities, and municipal associations need to continue to be efficient and, above all, capable of making decisions. This article provides an overview of the problems they are facing and offers some possible solutions. Problem Numerous scheduled meetings have been canceled and remain suspended until further notice ...
THE CURRENT STARTING SITUATION The spread of the corona virus is a considerable burden on the economy. Many companies in Germany are forced to reduce their business operations or even to close down completely or partially. In other sectors of the economy, such as food retailing or companies providing services of general interest, the increased demand for products or the increased demand can hardly be met ...
In the sensational decision of 14 May 2019 (Case C-55/18), the ECJ ruled that the Member States must oblige employers to introduce an "objective, reliable and accessible system enabling the duration of time worked each day by each worker to be measured”. The decision was largely understood primarily as an appeal to the legislators of the Member States to implement the EU legal requirements ...
In coordination with the EU Commission, the federal government has launched numerous support measures and state aid in the form of grants, loans, and guarantees with facilitated conditions in a short period of time. For this purpose, the federal government mainly used already existing funding programs. An explanatory article on the support measures and state aid provided by the federal government can be found here ...
Current status: March 31, 2020 Increasingly far-reaching restrictions with respect to the COVID-19 virus also bring to light the issue of timely drafting, auditing, adoption, and publication of annual and consolidated financial statements, in particular for listed companies. This against the background that capital market-oriented companies, i.e ...
The COVID-19 virus has a worldwide impact on travel activities, affecting foreigners such as employees of companies intending to travel to Germany as well as those who are already in Germany but are now effectively unable to leave. 1. RESTRICTIONS ON ENTRY AND VISA ISSUANCE The countries of the Schengen area have decided to impose entry restrictions on all non-essential travel from third countries ...
On April 1, 2020, the European Commission published a “Guidance on using the public procurement framework in the emergency situation related to the COVID-19 crisis” (Official Journal of the European Union, 2020/C 108 I/01). In particular, the Commission explains various options for awarding public contracts as quickly as possible within the European public procurement framework, which remains unchanged in this respect ...
The legislator acts - Special regulations on, among other things, deferral of claims, insolvency law, tenancy law and loan agreements in Germany to come. At the end of March, the German legislator adopted special regulations in response to the COVID 19 pandemic in fast-track proceedings. The law was passed by the German parliament (Bundestag) on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, and, in a special session, also by the German Federal Council (Bundesrat) on Friday, 27 March, 2020 ...
In view of the current and imminent economic challenges, many companies are asking to what extent cooperation and concerted practices with competitors are able to ensure the supply of goods, thus cushioning the threat of an economic downturn. While the antitrust authorities have been keeping quiet on this issue for some time, several official statements have now been issued which we would like to comment on briefly below ...
In recent weeks, the corona-related effects on the economy have led to hectic activities by the EU Commission, the federal government, and the German states to make State support services available at short notice and in a manner that is as unbureaucratic as possible. This article provides an overview of the measures taken at federal and state level and their legal framework ...
Current status: March, 30, 2020 Corona-related sales slumps in many industries are leading numerous companies to experience short-term liquidity bottlenecks. To cover these shortages quickly, the federal government adopted theKfW Special Program 2020, which is available for commercial enterprises and members of the independent professions with immediate effect. Loan terms were improved and standardized yet again to make it easier for companies to access favorable loans ...
Current status: March, 26, 2020 The joint guidelines of the federal government and the German states of March 16, 2020 also provide for the closure of retail and wholesale stores and the partial closure of restaurants and food outlets. It is now at the latest that it becomes apparent how the COVID-19 pandemic will also have a direct impact on commercial lease law ...
