Regulatory & International Trade | RIT - Helping Businesses Clear Regulatory Hurdles in Europe

Solar package I: Overview of the Main New Solar Regulation in Germany

by Dr. Maximilian Uibeleisen and Dr. Simon Groneberg | May 20, 2024 | Energy

The waiting has come to an end: after the German Federal Government adopted the first draft of the Solar Package I in August 2023 and a small selected part of Solar Package I already entered into force in December 2023, the German Parliament and the German Federal Council have now adopted the remaining (main) part of Solar Package I. The Solar Package I, which was significantly amended during the legislative process, contains a number of new regulations for solar energy in Germany, particularly in the Renewable Energy Sources Act (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz – „EEG“) and in the Energy Industry Act (Energiewirtschaftsgesetz – „EnWG“). These new regulations are intended to facilitate and accelerate the expansion of solar energy in Germany and contain numerous changes for both ground-mounted and rooftop PV plants. Next to solar-related provisions, the Solar Package I also contains new regulations for the acceleration of grid connections as well as for the operation of electricity storage systems and introduces new or amended models for on-site electricity supply solutions.

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New UK Securitisation Framework | Regulators Publish Final Rules

by Ranajoy Basu, Priya Taneja, Vlad Maly, Kevin Cummings, Siddhartha Sivaramakrishnan, Fausto Giacomet, Michal Chajdukowski and Laura-May Jones | May 17, 2024 | United Kingdom

On 30 April 2024, the FCA and the PRA published their respective policy statements (PS24/4 [1] by the FCA and PS7/24[2] by the PRA) in response to feedback received on their proposed draft rules on securitisations, which were presented in 2023 (CP23/17[3] and CP15/23[4]).

The new UK securitisation framework seeks to repeal and replace retained EU law in the UK, as part of the wider post-Brexit programme. Market participants will now need to read the FCA and PRA rules together with the Securitisation Regulations 2024[5] (as amended[6]), as these will comprise the new UK securitisation framework. Although the framework is new, the rules share many similarities with those of the EU Securitisation Regulation (2017/2402/EU) as currently adopted in the UK.

Changes will take effect from 1 November 2024, giving participants a six-month implementation period.

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Extended Screening of Foreign Investment in France: A Risk of Incompatibility with Company Law?

by Sabine Naugès and Professor Rémi Dalmau | May 7, 2024 | France, Foreign Investment

Control of foreign direct investments in France (FDI) has been steadily tightened since 2014. The provisions of Articles L. 151-3 and R. 151-1 et seq. of the French Monetary and Financial Code (CMF), as supplemented by the Decree of December 31, 2019, organize this national screening mechanism based on the prior authorization of certain investments in sectors and activities considered sensitive.

In 2022, of the 131 FDI authorized, 70 were conditionally authorized, not without question as to the compatibility of these commitments with the free movement of capital and company law.

1. The filtering of FDI justifies questioning its compatibility with European requirements, as the European Commission or the Court of Justice is likely to consider it too restrictive. Moreover, it is by no means certain that all commitments imposed by the Minister of the Economy on the foreign investor in order to obtain authorization will pass the proportionality test of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

The control of FDI in France is triggered when three cumulative conditions are met:

i. The investor is deemed a foreign investor within the meaning of Article R. 151-1 of the CMF, i.e. any individual of foreign [...]

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European Union Criminalizes Violations of Sanctions

by Sabine Naugès, Raminta Dereskeviciute and Michal Chajdukowski | May 2, 2024 | Sanctions & Export Control

As announced in our last Quarterly Sanctions Update, on April 12, 2024 the Council of the European Union adopted a directive criminalizing sanctions violation at the European Union (EU) level. In this post, we provide a summary of the key provisions of this directive, to be followed by a second post focusing on its potential implementation in EU Member States.

Foreign Direct Investment Control in Germany | Recent Facts and Figures

by Dr. Laura Stammwitz, Alexandra Heberle and Dr. Deniz Tschammler | Apr 29, 2024 | Foreign Investment

Under the German Foreign Investment Control regime, the Government may review foreign investments in domestic target companies above certain thresholds. The Government has only recently published interesting statistics about the development of German investment screening over the past three years (available in German only). These statistics show that foreign investments across all industries have come under heavy scrutiny by the Government. Therefore, it has become indispensable for foreign investors to review potential FDI filing obligations or consider a voluntary FDI filing during legal due diligence, regardless of the investor’s place of origin, the size of the domestic target business or the industry affected by the contemplated investment.

Older Posts »

Solar package I: Overview of the Main New Solar Regulation in Germany

New UK Securitisation Framework | Regulators Publish Final Rules

Extended Screening of Foreign Investment in France: A Risk of Incompatibility with Company Law?

European Union Criminalizes Violations of Sanctions

Foreign Direct Investment Control in Germany | Recent Facts and Figures

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