On 17 June 2020, the European Commission published its White Paper on levelling the playing field as regards foreign subsidies. This policy paper proposes options for enabling the EU to control the use of foreign, non-EU subsidies that distort the EU Single Market and give subsidised firms an advantage over non-subsidised firms, for example, by facilitating the acquisition of EU businesses, by distorting the subsidised firms’ investment decisions, market operations or pricing policies, or by…

On May 27, 2020, the European Commission put forward a proposal for the creation of a comprehensive recovery plan aimed at repairing the immediate economic and social damages caused by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and kickstarting the EU economy. The proposed plan, limited in duration and use, has its legal basis in Article 122 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which allows the Council of the EU, upon…

On 10 June 2020, the German government published its long-awaited national hydrogen agenda. Earlier, the Dutch government also published its own hydrogen agenda and the policy overlap is clear: as far as the Dutch and the Germans are concerned, hydrogen will play an important role in the future energy supply of Europe. The Dutch government published its hydrogen agenda on 30 March 2020. In the agenda, particular attention is paid to the creation of potential…

On 29 April 2020 the Netherlands Commercial Court (NCC) handed down a decision regarding a contractual break-up fee in an M&A transaction affected by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Furthermore, on 14 May 2020 the preliminary relief judge of the District Court of Amsterdam also handed down a decision related to an M&A transaction affected by the pandemic. These decisions shed some light on the legal position of parties under Dutch law in these…

(Read in English below.) Introductie Op 21 april 2020 heeft de Eerste Kamer het wetsvoorstel voor de Tijdelijke Wet COVID-19 Justitie en Veiligheid (de Spoedwet) aangenomen. De verwachting is dat de Spoedwet binnenkort in werking zal treden, waarschijnlijk al deze week. De Spoedwet past een groot aantal wetten aan waarmee voorgeschreven procedures en termijnen tijdelijk wijzigen op het gebied van burgerlijke, bestuursrechtelijke en strafzaken alsmede op het gebied van het rechtspersonenrecht. Deze blog gaat in…

In its ruling of 6 April 2020 the preliminary relief court of the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State (Afdeling Bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State) suspended the effect of a decision of the Municipal Executive of Rijswijk. Due to COVID-19-related measures, the president of the Administrative Jurisdiction Division opted to hear the parties via written submissions instead of a physical hearing. This is the new standard procedure during the COVID-19 crisis for…

Introduction As many countries reach the second stage of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, privacy protections may be relaxed under certain circumstances. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) issued a statement on the processing of personal data in this period of time, and several national data protection authorities have issued COVID-19 specific guidelines and advice. As there are considerable differences between the various guidelines, it is essential that organizations subject to these EU data…