Publications
The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Cartels & Leniency 200803/03/08 / Publications
Pavel Nosek and Ivo Šimeček have recently written an article for The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Cartels & Leniency 2008, published by Global Legal Group, examining newly enacted provisions on regulation of cartels and the leniency program in the Czech Republic and briefly commenting on basic Czech competition law and the powers of the Czech Antitrust Office. The article also sets out basic information on proceedings before the Office, including reviews of its decisions and appeals.
Leniency Regimes – second edition06/12/07 / Publications
Pavel Dejl, Pavel Nosek and Ivo Šimeček have recently contributed a chapter on the Czech Republic for publication in Leniency Regimes (pub. European Lawyer Limited) reflecting changes applied as from 28 June 2007 by the Czech Office for the Protection of Economic Competition and based on the ECN Model Leniency Program and the existing European Commission Leniency Program. Under the new regime, the Office may use its discretion to reduce fines imposed on parties to secret horizontal cartel agreements if they work together with the Office to detect and disclose such arrangements. The contribution is a full update on the position under the former Leniency Program dating from 2001.
Implementation of PPP should accelerate, not slow down. PPP Bulletin No. 2/200716/08/07 / Publications
Christian Blatchford publishes an article in the PPP Bulletin, the professional quarterly of the PPP Association, appealing for acceleration of implementation of PPP projects in the Czech Republic as necessary. To download the article (in Czech only) click here.
Getting the Deal Through – Gas Regulation 200701/05/07 / Publications
Václav Rovenský and Tomáš Sequens prepared the article on legal regulations and rules for the Czech gas market business. The contribution is part of the publication Getting the Deal Through – Gas Regulation 2007, issued by the London based analytical company Law Business Research. The publication summarizes national gas markets in 36 world-wide jurisdictions. The chapter covering the Czech gas industry was included in the publication for the first time since 2003, when the publication started.
The contribution can be downloaded from here.
Freeman’s Guide to European Property 200701/03/07 / Publications
Helena Navrátilová contributed to the publication Freeman’s Guide to European Property 2007 with an article focusing on tax issues in the field of real estate in the Czech Republic. The publication analyses the details of the property market in more than thirty European countries.
The contribution can be downloaded from here.
The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Pharmaceutical Advertising 200631/08/06 / Publications
Hana Heroldová and Jana Schovancová drafted a chapter dealing with regulation of advertising in the pharmaceutical sector in the Czech Republic for the publication The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Pharmaceutical Advertising 2006. In their article they reply to questions concerning advertising of medicinal products, rules regulating advertisements of health professionals and other experts dealing with health issues, including advertising of health institutions such as hospitals. The article also answers questions concerning Internet advertising in the field of pharmacy, including regulation of advertising of health technology. The publication was issued by the British publishing house Global Legal Group.
Structural Funds01/08/06 / cata_legal-tax-update
The European Parliament has approved five orders regulating project financing from structural funds for 2007- 2013. EUR 308 billion has been allocated for the Solidarity Fund, European Social Fund, Regional Development European Fund and for the new European Association for Territorial Cooperation in the EU’s seven-year budget. The approved legislation defines targets and in particular the criteria for drawing on the funds and for their distribution in the extended EU. The means for drawing on the funds is opening in the amount of almost EUR 308 billion for 2007 through 2013, which is more than one third of the total financial framework. EUR 23.6 billion (i.e. more than CZK 773 billion) is allocated for the Czech Republic from the funds. For allocation of the funds from structural funds and the Solidarity Fund among operation programs in the Czech Republic in 2007-2013 and other details see http://www.strukturalni-fondy.cz/operacni-programy-2007-2013/.
Amendment to the Trade Licensing Act01/08/06 / cata_legal-tax-update
On May 19, 2006, Act No. 214/2006, Coll. was announced in the Collection of Laws, which amends Act No. 455/1991, Coll., the Trade Licensing Act, as amended, and certain other acts; this act became effective on August 1, 2006.
The aim of the amendment is to simplify procedures during registration of an entrepreneur in the area of small trade business activities; such simplification is to be achieved by reduction of the number of acts and visits that the entrepreneur is obliged to perform in connection with commencement of its business activities. The act also concentrates certain acts that the entrepreneur had so far to perform separately into a single location.
The Trade Register is newly pronounced by the act as a public administration information system. The Trade Licensing Office of the Czech Republic is its administrator and the Trade Register is operated by municipal and regional trade licensing offices in the extent set forth by law. More
Chemical Industry20/07/06 / cata_legal-tax-update
Negotiations concerning the draft order titled REACH, which regulates in particular the registration of chemicals by their producers and the effectiveness of which is envisaged in 2007, is in the final phase. This is a very significant legal regulation concerning de facto all companies involved in the chemical industry. All documentation concerning these issues is available at http://ecb.jrc.it/REACH/.
Telecommunication15/07/06 / cata_legal-tax-update
The European Union prepares a fundamental reform of the existing European telecommunication policy. For this purpose, the General Directorate of the European Commissions’ Information Company opens an expert public discussion. For details see http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/874. Potential standpoints can be sent until October 30, 2006.
Competition/Retail Banking05/07/06 / cata_legal-tax-update
The General Directorate for the Economic Competition of the European Commission addressed the expert public and asked for a standpoint concerning issue connected with retail banking, specifically issues concerning current accounts and associated services. The base for an expert discussion should be the Commission’s Report concerning these issues issued in June 2006. Expert standpoints can be presented until October 9, 2006. For details on these issues see the European Commission’s web page http://ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/antitrust/others/sector_inquiries/financial_services/public_consultation_2.html.
Energy and Transport01/07/06 / cata_legal-tax-update
The General Directorate for Energy Industry and Transportation of the European Commission published on its web page a fundamental document “Annual Report on Energy Industry and Transportation for 2004“. The full text of this publication can be obtained free of charge on the European Commission’s web page – see http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/energy_transport/figures/energy_review_2004/index_en.htm.
State Aid, Energy, Transport01/07/06 / cata_legal-tax-update
In the European Union a public discussion has just ended on the proposal for a change of the existing order No. 69/2001 on application of Articles 87 and 88 SES (state support) for de minimis public support in the area of transportation and coal industry. Therefore, it is possible to expect that this proposal will be negotiation in a short time. Quite interesting is the fact that the Commission also made available full texts of standpoints of certain entities concerning this proposal, such as those of Scottish Coal, CoalPro, IG Bergbau Chemie Energie, Eurelectric, etc. The proposal is available at http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/energy_transport/state_aid/consultation/2006_04_15_en.htm.
Fundamental changes in the Czech labour law since January 1 2007 – a new Labour Code and a new Act on Safety and Health Protection at Work01/07/06 / cata_legal-tax-update
The Labour Code (LC) cancels fifty-eight valid legal regulations with effect as of January 1, 2007 and is drafted as a labour-law code containing, save for certain exceptions, complete labour-law regulations. As up to now, the legal regulation of collective bargaining remains outside the Labour Code. More
New Public Procurement Act01/07/06 / cata_legal-tax-update
On July 1, the new Public Procurement Act No. 137/2006, Coll. (the "Act") became effective, which became to exist as a part of a legislative package creating a legal framework for public procurement and concessions (which are newly regulated in a separate Act No. 139/2006, Coll.). It can be stated that adoption of this act represents apparent improvement of the existing legislation, since it brings legal precision of the conditions for orders with simultaneous guaranteeing a more free attitude to the orderers procedures and starts from consistent respecting the proportionality principle in the sense of balancing the achievable degree of the formality of the applied rules (generally contributing to higher transparency) with a practically tolerable amount of administrative costs and time of the prescribed procedures. Read more here/p> More
Act on unilaterally increasing apartment rent and other changes to legal regulation of apartment leases01/04/06 / cata_legal-tax-update
On March 14, 2006, Act No. 107/2006, Coll., on Unilateral Increase of Apartment Rent and on Amendment to Act No. 40/1964, Coll., the Civil Code, as amended (called the “Four Years Act”) was announced in the Collection of Laws becoming effective March 31, 2006. The regulation of increasing the rent is valid until December 31, 2010. More
Cross-Border mergers directive26/03/06 / cata_european-union-news
Directive 2005/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council dated 26 October 2005, on cross-border mergers of limited liability companies (OJ [2005] L 310) More
State Aid: Repayment of state aid ordered by the European Commission26/03/06 / cata_european-union-news
Decision by the European Court of Justice in Case C-148/04 – Unicredito Italiano SpA v. Agenzia delle Entrate, Ufficio Genova 1, dated 15 December 2005 More
Freedom of Establishment: Tax relief for parent company as a result of losses incurred by its subsid26/03/06 / cata_european-union-news
Judgement by the European Court of Justice in Case C-446/03 – Marks & Spencer plc vs. David Halsey (Her Majesty’s Inspector of Taxes), dated 13 December 2005 More
Freedom of movement for workers and recognition of diplomas26/03/06 / cata_european-union-news
Judgment by the European Court of Justice in Case C-330/03 Colegio de Ingenieros de Caminos (Institution of Civil Engineers), Canales y Puertos v Administración del Estado (State Administration), dated 19 January 2006 More