Today, on Earth Day, the United States made a bold move to resume international leadership on climate change by announcing the United States’ new target to achieve a 50 to 52 percent reduction in economy-wide greenhouse gas pollution from 2005 levels by 2030.  The President announced the target on the first day of the Leaders Summit on Climate, which he is hosting to raise ambition and set the stage for a successful United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) later this year in Glasgow.

Briefing for certiorari has recently completed in Volkswagen v. Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County.  The challenged Ninth Circuit decision, if permitted to stand, could have significant effects on federal administration of motor vehicle emissions regulations, and enforcement actions against auto manufacturers.

In Penhallurick v MD5 Ltd [2021] EWHC 293 (IPEC) the Court held that the copyright in various literary works relating to software Mr. Penhallurick created during his tenure with former employer MD5 belonged to MD5. The Court found that the works were created in the course of Mr. Penhallurick’s employment with the result that MD5 was deemed the owner of the works (under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988), despite the fact that some of the work was done from Mr. Penhallurick’s home, outside normal office hours and using his own computer.

In December 2020, the European Commission presented a proposal for a new Regulation on Batteries and Waste Batteries.  The proposed Regulation aims to replace the current framework of Directive 2006/66/EC and seeks to achieve objectives set out in the European Green Deal and subsequent strategies, such as the transition to a carbon neutral and circular economy and the growth of renewable energies and clean mobility.  (Covington lawyers hosted a webinar that outlines the main features of the proposed Regulation and the ordinary legislative procedure that the proposal will follow.)

The proposal includes a host of product sustainability and safety requirements, conformity assessments and end-of-life management obligations for the producers of all types of batteries.  These requirements concern, among many others, carbon footprints, recycled content, chemical restrictions, durability, removability, replaceability, supply chain due diligence, waste collection, treatment and recycling, conformity assessments and CE markings, etc.  The proposed rules are expected to have a significant regulatory impact on the emerging European markets for industrial batteries and e-vehicle batteries.

One of the most striking features of the proposal is that many of its provisions are limited to establishing general principles and empower the European Commission to adopt the regulatory details by means of “Commission Delegated Regulations” and “Commission Implementing Regulations.”  In effect, the Commission’s proposal would leave it to the officials of the Commission and Member States to decide many of the technical details, which will eventually shape the markets of e-vehicle, industrial, automotive and portable batteries in Europe.  While delegating powers to the Commission is very common in EU legislation, the extent to which the proposal leaves regulatory decision-making to the Commission seems unprecedented.  It is uncertain whether the European Parliament and Council will agree to relinquishing so many critical details to the Commission.

This substantial delegation of power to the Commission also means that companies active on these markets that wish to advocate their position on the regulatory framework of batteries will need to do so not only during the proposal’s ordinary legislative procedure, but also during the adoption of the implementing rules and guidance by the Commission.  This is likely to be a long and ongoing process that will take at least six years after the conclusion of the ordinary legislative procedure.

In December 2020, the European Commission presented a proposal for a new Regulation on Batteries and Waste Batteries (see Covington’s webinar on the proposal).  The proposed Regulation seeks to achieve the objectives set out in the European Green Deal and subsequent strategies, such as the transition to a carbon neutral and circular economy and the growth of renewable energies and clean mobility.  The European Parliament and Council are currently considering the proposal for its adoption through the ordinary legislative procedure, which is not likely to be completed before mid-2022.

Florida may be next state to join the growing number of states with a consumer privacy law, as both chambers of Florida’s legislature are currently considering comprehensive state privacy legislation.  Both HB 969 and SB 1734 resemble the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), though they contain some notable differences.  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis expressed support of these measures, stating that these proposals “finally check these companies’ unfettered ability to profit off our data and ensure the protection of Floridians’ personal and private information.”

Over the last year we have seen increasing interest from our global client base in investing in strategic, transformational technology transactions with European counterparties.  These transactions often facilitate access to key technologies, geographies and, of course, data.  In this note we set out 6 key points to keep in mind when planning, negotiating and executing these types of transactions across Europe.

On March 18, 2021, China’s State Council released a significant revision of the framework regulation for medical devices, the Regulation for Supervision and Administration of Medical Devices (“Revised RSAMD”), which will go into effect on June 1, 2021. The National Medical Products Administration (“NMPA”) subsequently released several draft updates to the corresponding implementing regulations for…

Like many companies in other sectors, oil and gas companies are increasingly confronted with the need to address Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) imperatives in their businesses.  Traditionally viewed as ‘license to operate’ issues—effectively ensuring that companies continued to have ‘social permission’ to operate—these considerations have assumed an ever-greater importance as companies face both an accelerating energy transition and increased shareholder activism and government regulation. But, whilst many companies are keen to demonstrate their ESG credentials, they are hampered in doing so effectively by an absence of globalised standardised ESG metrics.