Impact of AI in the Workplace
AI is already affecting employment levels across Europe – and labour law is catching up fast. ADVANT experts examine how Germany, France and Italy are addressing the legal consequences of AI-driven workforce reductions, from individual dismissals to collective redundancy procedures.
Mickaël d'Allende, ADVANT Altana Markus Künzel, ADVANT Beiten Patrizio Bernardo, ADVANT Nctm
WATCH THE FULL VIDEO A single market needs a single corporate law. Building European corporate law for competitiveness
The Position Paper analyses the proposal for a Regulation establishing the European Company (EU Inc.), an initiative of central importance in the European corporate law landscape. The proposal seeks to introduce a uniform European corporate regime aimed at supporting innovation, facilitating access to capital and enhancing the competitiveness of undertakings. The analysis is placed within the framework of the priorities set out in the Letta and Draghi reports and of the agenda on the Savings and Investment Union, highlighting how corporate law today performs a function that is no longer confined to normative harmonisation, but extends to that of an instrument of economic and industrial policy. Assonime supports the Commission’s initiative, identifying in the fragmentation of national laws a decisive obstacle to the integration of capital markets. The document sets out five guiding principles for the success of EU Inc.: (i) autonomy of the European regime vis-à-vis national laws; (ii) enhancement of statutory autonomy and freedom of contract; (iii) universal accessibility, irrespective of the size, sector or life-cycle stage of the undertaking; (iv) full recognition of the instruments typical of venture capital for start-ups and scale-ups; (v) creation of a uniform enforcement system, based on specialised jurisdictions, judicial training and recourse to arbitration.
Francesca Rogai, ADVANT Nctm Davide De Fazio, ADVANT Nctm
READ THE FULL ARTICLE Cross-border shareholders loans and insolvency: the CJEU Clarifies the limits of choice of law defences
By its judgment in Case C-43/25 of 19 March 2026, the Court of Justice of the European Union clarified the scope of Article 13 of Regulation No. 1346/2000 on insolvency proceedings. The case concerned two companies belonging to the same group - SML (Austria) and MAPLAN (Germany, subject to insolvency proceedings) - and the recovery of repayments of intra-group loans characterised by the insolvency administrator as payments on subordinated claims under German law. SML had invoked the applicability of Austrian law, as the law governing the financing agreements, in order to resist the recovery claim. The Court held that Article 13 cannot be relied upon by the recipient of repayments of shareholder loans detrimental to the insolvency estate where the recovery action seeks to enforce the ranking of claims prescribed by the lex concursus. The principle has significant implications for cross-border intra-group financing: the rules on subordination of shareholder loans laid down by the insolvency law of the State of the opening of proceedings cannot be circumvented through the choice of a foreign law as the law governing the contract.
Francesca Rogai, ADVANT Nctm Ada Cicatiello, ADVANT Nctm
READ THE FULL ARTICLE New law: directive on repair of goods also applies to importers!
Directive (EU) 2024/1799 on the repair of goods, in force since 30 July 2024, introduces a new consumer right to have defective products repaired, to be transposed by Member States by 31 July 2026. The obligation applies irrespective of the product’s origin and independently of the seller’s contractual liability under statutory warranty rules, extending also to damage caused by the consumer. The Directive establishes a tiered liability system: the manufacturer is primarily responsible; where established outside the Union, its authorized representative must comply; failing that, the importer, and, in exceptional cases, the distributor. Each obligated party may subcontract repair services and must provide clear, accessible and free information on such services, which will also be discoverable through a new European Repair Platform expected to be operational in 2027. The obligation covers the product categories identified under the Ecodesign Directive 2009/125, including household appliances, electronic displays, mobile phones and tablets, and goods containing batteries for light vehicles. Importers commercializing such products in the EU should therefore factor these repair obligations into their business case.
Rainer Bierwagen, ADVANT Beiten Angelika Kapfer, ADVANT Beiten Oliver Korte, ADVANT Beiten
READ THE FULL ARTICLE Unsold consumer products: the EU framework for derogations to the destruction ban
Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/296, published in the Official Journal of the European Union of 26 June 2026, supplements Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 by setting out the derogations from the prohibition on the destruction of unsold consumer products. The act seeks to ensure the effective application of the prohibition, avoiding distortive effects and enabling operators to manage exceptional situations in a proportionate manner, in line with sustainability objectives. Destruction is permitted only in specific circumstances, including product hazardousness, regulatory non-compliance, infringement of intellectual property rights, contractual restrictions, technical impossibility of reuse, non-repairable damage or defects, refusal of donations, or absence of eligible recipients. The Regulation further lays down specific documentation obligations, to be complied with within 30 days, in order to ensure the traceability and verifiability of the derogations relied upon. The provisions apply from 19 July 2026.
Luca Cavagnaro, ADVANT Nctm Maria Stella Maisano, ADVANT Nctm
READ THE FULL ARTICLE EU Commission creates new category for companies: SMCS (Small Mid-Caps)
The Omnibus Package IV, published by the European Commission on 21 May 2025, introduces a new category of undertakings positioned between traditional SMEs and large companies: the Small Mid-Cap Enterprises (SMCs). An undertaking qualifies as an SMC where it employs between 250 and 749 persons and either generates an annual turnover between Euro 50 million and Euro 150 million or has a balance sheet total between Euro 43 million and Euro 129 million. The new definition is to be incorporated into several EU instruments to provide targeted relief to mid-sized companies: under the GDPR, the exemption from the obligation to keep records of processing activities is to be extended to SMCs and confined to particularly risky processing; under the Prospectus Regulation, a simplified EU Growth Issuance Prospectus is envisaged, easing corporate actions and IPOs; further tailored measures concern the Batteries Regulation, the basic Anti-Dumping and Anti-Subsidy Regulations and the F-gas Regulation. The initiative pursues the Commission’s objective of reducing the administrative burden on companies by an average of 25%, and by up to 35% for mid-sized undertakings, thereby improving competitive conditions and capital market access, subject to the outcome of the ongoing legislative process before the European Parliament.
Julius Bauer, ADVANT Beiten Gerhard Manz, ADVANT Beiten
READ THE FULL ARTICLE EU-US tariff agreement: the new regulations and their safeguard architecture
The European Council has adopted two regulations implementing the tariff commitments set out in the EU-US Joint Statement of 21 August 2025, completing the legislative process and strengthening the stability of transatlantic trade relations. The measures eliminate the remaining EU duties on US industrial goods, introduce preferential access for specific fishery and agricultural products through tariff quotas and reduced duties, and extend the suspension of duties on lobster, including processed lobster. The regulations also provide for enhanced safeguard and suspension mechanisms, allowing the Commission to intervene swiftly in the event of import surges or of non-compliance with the commitments on the part of the United States. The main regulation will expire at the end of 2029, while the lobster regulation will apply retroactively from 1 August 2025 until 31 July 2030.
Filippo Di Peio, ADVANT Nctm Ada Cicatiello, ADVANT Nctm
READ THE FULL ARTICLE |
