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Showing posts from November, 2022

Opinion on the Proposal for a Regulation on horizontal cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1020

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The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) published its  Opinion on a proposed Regulation laying down cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements .  Concretely, the proposed Regulation aims to set out EU-wide cybersecurity requirements for a broad range of hardware and software products and their remote data processing solutions. These include, for example, browsers, operating systems, firewalls, network management systems, smart meters or routers. Wojciech Wiewiórowski, EDPS, said:  “The cybersecurity of products with digital elements is of utmost importance to protect effectively individuals’ fundamental rights in the digital age, including their rights to privacy and data protection. Harmonised cybersecurity requirements across the EU should reduce the risks for Europeans of being victims of cyber-attacks and of the vast consequences that these may entail, such as the theft and misuse of their personal data.” In its Opinion, the EDPS reiterat...

Mergers: Commission opens in-depth investigation into the proposed acquisition of eTraveli by Booking

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The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition by Booking Holdings (‘Booking') of Flugo Group Holdings AB, that operates under the trading name ‘eTraveli'.  The Commission is concerned that the proposed acquisition would allow Booking to strengthen its position on the market for accommodation online travel agencies (OTAs). Booking and eTraveli are both active in the provision of OTA services, respectively focusing on accommodation OTA and flight OTA services. Booking is also active in the market of metasearch services (MSS) mainly through its price comparison platform KAYAK. The Commission's preliminary investigation indicates that Booking may have a dominant position on the market for the provision of accommodation OTA services and that the transaction may significantly reduce competition in this market by combining eTraveli's activities in flight OTA services with Booking's own s...

Legal battle between mother and aunt on adoption of an adult child: Request for an advisory opinion by ECtHR

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The European Court of Human Rights has accepted a request for an advisory opinion under Protocol No. 16 to the European Convention on Human Rights received from the Supreme Court of Finland on 10 October 2022.  In its request, the Supreme Court of Finland has asked the European Court of Human Rights to provide an advisory opinion on the procedural rights of a biological mother in proceedings concerning the adoption of her adult child.  The request will be dealt with by the Grand Chamber, comprising 17 judges, which will be constituted in accordance with Rule 24 § 2 (g) of the Rules of Court. The President of the Grand Chamber has also established a time frame for submissions from the parties to the domestic proceedings or any other interested party. Protocol No. 16 enables member States’ highest national courts and tribunals to ask the Court to give advisory opinions on questions of principle relating to the interpretation or application of the rights and freedoms defined in t...

The partim occupation of business’ premises in strike through the lens of a recent judgment of the German Federal Labour Court

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By Evlampia Tsolaki, Lawyer* I. Τhe concept of strike  Irrespective of the regulations composing a national legal order’s framework of industrial relations, in western world at their center of gravity is posed the right to strike as it constitutes the highest manifestation of employees’ organized struggle directed to the assertion of their rights’ enhancement concerning their employment and in general financial conditions. By this means, in practical terms, the individual power of employees is channeled and pooled in the competent trade unions in order to collectively attain a better level of terms for their job positions through the united race against the employers’ omnipotence. In this vein, strike is popularly conceptualized in a lato sensu, namely more loose, meaning, in other words as it is commonly understood by a layman’s perception.  In strictly legal terms, strike is called [1]  the partial or total abstention of employees from the provision of the services owne...

Editorial

Editorial
George Kazoleas, Lawyer