The 2022 Fall Tax Package has been officially accepted by the Hungarian Parliament with the changes for 2023. The tax package does not bring fundamental changes, but includes finetuning with many different taxes, e.g. SMEs, real estate transactions and local business taxation.

Under art. 90, par. 1 of the Bulgarian Contracts and Obligations Act, a party may refuse to perform its obligations if there is non-performance by the counterparty under the same transaction ("Statutory Retention Right").

Spanish authority in charge of personal data protection has recently fined a personal data controller for using the audio recording option of its surveillance system, which data was subsequently used for termination of an employment contract.

On 11 December 2022, Law No.2759-IX of Ukraine "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Preventing and Countering Mobbing (Hostile Environment)" dated 16 November 2022 (Law) came into effect. Among other things, the Law: (i) provides the definition of "mobbing"; (ii) introduces new grounds for dismissal of employees in connection with mobbing; and (iii) guarantees compensation of moral damages for employees who have suffered from mobbing.

Since 1 March 2021, Slovakia had a limited FDI regime applicable only to critical infrastructure. However, right after it was adopted, the government started preparing comprehensive legislation that would apply not only to selected industries but to all foreign investments in general (in line with FDI regimes in other EU Member States). After many drafts and lengthy negotiations, this new regime was finally adopted in late November 2022.

Investigations of the Turkish Competition Authority against certain undertakings operating in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry as producers, suppliers, and retailers to determine whether Article 4 of the Law on the Protection of Competition has been violated are ongoing and currently, verbal self-defense processes are being submitted.

Law No. 265/2022 on the trade register and for amending and supplementing other normative acts with impact on the registration in the trade register (“Law No. 265/2022”) was published in the Official Journal of Romania No. 750, Part I, of 26 July 2022. Law No. 265/2022 entered into force on 26 November 2022.

"In 10 years you won’t go to meetings – you’ll digitally teleport to them." Meta Founder, Mark Zuckerberg

In a recent decision, the Austrian Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) addressed party status and the requirements for an eligible complaint by recognised environmental organisations (EOs) in permit procedures under water law.

The Slovak Republic has now adopted legislation that focuses on the technological development for autonomous driving and intelligent mobility. On 8 November 2022, the President of the Slovak Republic signed the Act amending certain laws in relation to the development of automated vehicles.

European Union (EU) and Western Balkans telecommunication operators signed a Roaming Declaration at the EU-Western Balkans Summit held on Tuesday in Tirana. According to the Declaration, Western Balkans – EU roaming charges will be reduced voluntarily from 1 October 2023, with subsequent reductions gradually leading to their complete elimination. The commitment was also reinforced as part of the Tirana Declaration, which was agreed upon at the Summit.

The Hungarian Parliament recently adopted a rather significant update to Act LVII of 1996 on the prohibition of unfair market practices and the restriction of competition (“Hungarian Competition Act”). The updates are, at a number of points, based on recommendations made by the Hungarian Competition Association (with DLA Piper’s antitrust group providing significant input). The amendments will generally enter into force on 1 January 2023 (with some exceptions for 1 February 2023). Below, we have collected some of the key changes for Hungarian and international businesses.

"The total insurtech industry value in 2022 was $5.4 billion. Revenue forecast for 2030 is $152 billion." Grand View Research, Insurtech Market Size, Industry Report, 2022-2030

The amendment to the Austrian Copyright Act introduces a whole range of new provisions on copyright contract law, strengthening the position of authors and performers. In our first Legal Insight ("Austria: The (new) Copyright Contract Law") we provided some background information and an overview. In our second and third Legal Insights, we introduced the new remuneration provisions ("Austria: The (new) copyright remuneration rules for authors and performers") and the transparency obligation ("Austria: The (new) copyright transparency obligation"), which are based on the DSM Directive.

On 28 November 2022, the Council of the European Union gave final approval on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

December 2022 – On 1 December 2022, the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic (“the Ministry”) published a call for the submission of applications for the provision of a subsidy to cover additional costs due to the increase in gas and electricity prices (“the Call”). The aim of the Call is to compensate qualifying companies and natural persons (entrepreneurs) for excessive energy prices in August and September 2022. In this article, we present an overview of the related key information.

What's new in Polish corporate law?

In the Official Gazette of the RS no. 131/2022 of November 29, 2022, the Decision on Fees for Registration and Other Services Provided by the Business Registers Agency was published, which regulates the type, amount and method of payment of fees for the registration procedure and other services provided by the Business Registers Agency in keeping registers and records (“the Decision”).