The Court of Justice dismisses the appeals brought by EUIPO and a Spanish company against the judgment of the General Court authorising football player Lionel Messi to register the trade mark ‘MESSI’ for sports equipment and clothing In August 2011, the footballer Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini filed an application with the European Union Intellectual Property […]
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The CJEU rules against the Italian law which prevents Vivendi from acquiring 28% of the capital of Mediaset
That provision constitutes a prohibited impediment to the right of establishment as it is not appropriate for achieving the objective of protecting pluralism of information In 2016, the French company Vivendi SA, which is the parent company of a group active in the media sector and in the creation and distribution of audiovisual content, launched […]
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The CJEU invalidates Decision 2016/1250 on the adequacy of the protection provided by the EU-US Data Protection Shield
However, it considers that Commission Decision 2010/87 on standard contractual clauses for the transfer of personal data to processors established in third countries is valid. GDPR and the transfer of data The General Data Protection Regulation (‘the GDPR’) provides that the transfer of such data to a third country may, in principle, take place only […]
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The General Court of the European Union annuls the decision taken by the Commission regarding the Irish tax rulings in favour of Apple
The General Court annuls the contested decision because the Commission did not succeed in showing to the requisite legal standard that there was an advantage for the purposes of Article 107 TFEU. In 2016 the Commission adopted a decision concerning two tax rulings issued by the Irish tax authorities (Irish Revenue) on 29 January 1991 […]
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Judgment of the CJEU on the sale of vehicles unlawfully manipulated by the manufacturer
A motor vehicle manufacturer whose unlawfully manipulated vehicles are resold in other Member States may be sued in the courts of those States The damage suffered by the purchaser occurs in the Member State in which he purchases the vehicle for a price higher than its actual value The Verein für Konsumenteninformation (VKI), an Austrian […]
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Increase in cumulative charges for terrorism and war crimes
Prosecutors in the EU are increasingly cumulating charges against returning foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs), members of ISIS and its affiliates, with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, so-called core international crimes. In over 20 cases in five Member States, judgments have been delivered or investigations and trials are ongoing where FTFs are charged not […]
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Intensified judicial response to serious cross-border crimes
Judicial authorities across the EU increasingly turn to Eurojust, the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, to work together to tackle serious cross-border crime. Eurojust’s 2019 Annual Report, shows that prosecutors from across the European Union and beyond turned to Eurojust for tailor-made support in nearly 8 000 cases, an increase of 17% compared with 2018. […]
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Judgment of the CJEU on homophobic discrimination in the workplace
Homophobic statements constitute discrimination in employment and occupation when they are made by a person who has or may be perceived as having a decisive influence on an employer’s recruitment policy. In the judgment in Associazione Avvocatura per i diritti LGBTI (C-507/18), delivered on 23 April 2020, the Court held that statements made by a […]
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Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have failed to fulfil their obligations under European Union law
Those Member States can rely neither on their responsibilities concerning the maintenance of law and order and the safeguarding of internal security, nor on the alleged malfunctioning of the relocation mechanism to avoid implementing that mechanism. In the judgment in Commission v Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic (C-715/17, C-718/17 and C-719/17), delivered on 2 […]
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