International Digital Regulation Hub: Surf the wave

The CMS Data Protection Group is pleased to launch the 5th edition In the six years since the GDPR came into force, this powerful framework to protect personal data has certainly helped to raise awareness and encourage compliance efforts – just as the European legislator intended. At the same time, the risk of fines of up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s global annual turnover can also lead to fear and reluctance or ignorance about compliance issues. We still believe that facts are better than fear. This is why we continuously update our list of publicly known fines in the GDPR Enforcement Tracker and established the GDPR Enforcement Tracker Report as an annual deep dive approach to provide you with more insights into the world of GDPR fines.

Last week (9 and 10 May 2024), our team represented CMS RRH Competition practice at the “Meet to Compete Competition Law and Policy Conference – Tools for New Rules” held in Opatija, Croatia. Dieter Zandler from CMS Austria, Marija Zrno Prošić, Dina Čeliković and Filip Bjelinski from Croatia, Srđan Janković and Maja Živanović (Serbia, Montenegro & North Macedonia), and Robert Kordić and Gašper Hajdu from Slovenia, together spent two wonderful days in interactive discussions with representatives of competition authorities, judges, attorneys, in-house lawyers, and other legal practitioners from all over the Europe. During the first day of the conference, discussions centered on topics including concentrations and FSR, the implications of the "effects-based approach," and recent developments in the Central and Southeast Europe (CEE & SEE) region. The team spent their first conference day pleasantly networking at the coffee break powered by CMS and in the evening at the cocktail and dinner with conference attendees. The second day of the conference was all about workshops covering topics such as exclusionary abuses of dominance, horizontal agreements and disagreements, RPM, etc. Our Marija Zrno Prošić led a focused workshop on the most common vertical restraints, using practical examples from the field and engaging with the audience through survey questions to enhance interaction and understanding. The audience reactions were very positive and discussions continued after the workshop. Overall, we were happy to have our close-nit competition team at this conference, as such events with regional outreach are crucial in fostering collaboration, enhance understanding of regulatory nuances, and promote best practices across different jurisdictions. About the Conference The Conference traditionally offers a platform for discussion about recent antitrust developments, with a particular focus on Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and South-East Europe (SEE). The Conference is supported by the Croatian Competition Agency, universities and local organizations, with great speakers from the OECD, European Commission, universities, industry and regulators from the entire region and Europe.  

1. Which laws are applicable regarding advertising of medicines and medical devices? 1.1 Medicines  The advertising of medicinal products is mainly regulated under the Medicinal Products in Human Medicine...

1. Is there any legislation relating to working from home in your country? Yes. Section VIIIа of the Bulgarian Labour Code regulates the additional conditions for work at home, while Section VIIIb of...

At CEEntre Stage 

Pat­ents: As­sign­ment 1. How may a patent be assigned (by law and/or transaction) and is it required to record the assignment in the national patent register to become effective?  A patent can be transferred...