EU Law

Pursuant to Article 35 of the Brussels I recast Regulation, the local judge may order provisional or protective measures, even though another judge has been given – or has accepted – jurisdiction to rule on the merits of the case, in particular under the terms of a jurisdiction clause.

In a decision handed down on January 27, 2021, the Court de Cassation (French Supreme Court) ruled on the French judge’s power to order preparatory inquiries in futurum (literally for the future) and aligned its position with the autonomous notion of “provisional, including protective, measures” provided for by European Law.

Does a player who is a little too experienced and victorious for an online poker site – this player having won 227,000 euros in less than a month and a half – retain the status of non-professional “consumer” within the meaning of Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of December 22, 2000 (known as the Brussels I Regulation)?

In a judgment issued on December 10, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union answered yes to this question.

The EU-US Privacy Shield, which allowed the transfer of personal data from the European Union to the United States in accordance with the GDPR, was invalidated by the Court of Justice of the European Union on July 16, 2020.

A look back at this decision and its impact on data transfers to the United States.

The recent Panama Papers and LuxLeaks scandals have illustrated the urgent need to establish legislation to protect whistleblowers, as their revelations have raised awareness of the serious breaches of EU law – particularly harmful to the public interest – and of the precariousness of their status.

After the agreements between the European Union and Canada and Japan, it is now the turn of the European Union – Singapore free trade agreement to enter into force. This agreement – the first free trade agreement between the European Union and a Member State of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – marks a further step towards the European Union’s external trade openness.

Regulation (EU) 2019/452 of the European Parliament and of the Council of March 19, 2019 establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the European Union entered into force on April 10, 2019. It will automatically apply in EU Member States from October 11, 2020. The objective of this new Regulation is to create cooperation mechanisms between Member States on the one hand, and between Member States and the European Commission on the other hand, in order to control foreign direct investments in sensible European business sectors.