The deadline has already passed for any UK-EU Agreement to be reached in time for translation and consideration by the European Parliament before the end of the Parliamentary term on 16th of December. In a gesture of conciliation, the parliament has indicated it may be prepared to convene on 28 December.
However, as the pressure…
In three related judgments of October 5, 2020 (T-249/17, T-254/17 and T-255/17) the General Court (the “GC”) partially annulled European Commission inspection decisions which were the basis for dawn raids on several French retailers. The judgments further develop the position adopted in Czech Railway and Nexans where the GC confirmed that, to…
Briefings from both the EU and UK sides have been more positive over the last few days, with the Commission President briefing on 20 November that most major issues were now agreed. That adds to the impression that a Deal is close to being signed off (even if some members of the UK’s Cabinet have…
The bipartisan Internet of Things (“IoT”) Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2020 (S. 734, H.R. 1668) has passed the House and the Senate and is headed to the President’s desk for signature. The bill was sponsored in the House by Representatives Hurd (R-TX) and Kelly (D-IL), and in the Senate by Senators Warner (D-VA)…
Employers that have employees residing in California are now required by AB 1554 to provide notification in two different forms to employees about deadlines for withdrawing funds from flexible spending accounts (“FSAs”). One of the forms of notification may be electronic. Examples of permissible notification forms include: e-mail, telephone, text message, mail, or in-person. The…
In what is expected to be one of the last meetings under the leadership of current Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) Chairman Ajit Pai, the agency will consider adopting a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) that proposes to modify certain aspects of the FCC’s device authorization rules. Specifically, the NPRM will propose to allow the importation…
In a landmark judgment on 19 November 2020, the CJEU ruled in Case C-663/18 that cannabidiol (“CBD”) is not a narcotic drug under the UN Conventions. This is the case even where the CBD is derived from the whole cannabis plant. The ruling provides clarity on the non-controlled status of CBD and the free movement…
With the UK due to host the COP 26 climate summit in a year’s time, the UK Government is keen to set out its credentials as a global ‘green‘ leader and demonstrate not only that it can make good on its election promise to level up (with much of the promised Green Industrial Revolution investment…
On Thursday, November 12, 2020, President Trump signed an Executive Order (the “Order”) that, beginning on January 11, 2021, will prohibit U.S. persons from transacting in the publicly traded securities of 31 companies that the Department of Defense has identified as “Communist Chinese military companies.” The requirement for the Department of Defense to create a…
On November 16, the IRS added two new FAQs to its website that address an issue that has been concerning employers since the CARES Act was adopted. For purposes of the employee retention credit (“ERC”), Section 2301(d) of the CARES Act includes an aggregation rule that treats all employers required to be aggregated under section…
