25 Jun 2021

Data protection and Big Tech: Is it just a bump in the road?

The topic of data protection and Big Tech keeps on giving.  It appears the subject of data protection simply does not want to leave the main stage and wishes to remain in everyone’s center of attention.  This should not come as a surprise, since the world is only starting to become more integrated in terms of digital services provided by Big Tech companies. The most recent “controversy” on data protection and Big Tech comes from Germany, or to be more precise, Hamburg’s Commissioner for Data Protection (“Commissioner”).  The Commissioner investigated Facebook’s use of personal data gathered from WhatsApp users and […]

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21 Jun 2021

Serbia: One small step for a legislator means one big step for the EU acquis alignment

In the process of gradually aligning its legislation with the EU acquis the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted two bylaws on 11 March 2021 in the field of state aid, complementary to the recently adopted new State Aid Control Act. All this adds value to the start of talks on the Chapter 8 – Competition Policy of Serbia’s negotiation process and may speed up Serbia’s EU accession. Regional Aid Regulation This regulation is designed to promote economic development of the least developed regions or the development of regions with a high level of unemployment. It also allows state […]

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14 Jun 2021

Gatekeepers and Digital Markets – EU Digital Saga continues

Some reports say that it would be impossible to live in the digital world outside of the ecosystem created by Big Tech giants.  The concentration of power in a small number of platforms has allowed some tech companies, popularly known as the Four Horsemen” to exercise unparalleled economic power and social impact almost without any oversight by regulators.  These companies have complete market dominance, each in their respective field of expertise: Apple in consumer electronics and mobile operating systems;  Facebook in the social media, Google in online searches, video-sharing and mapping-based navigation; and, finally, Amazon in the e-commerce market.  Hence, […]

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10 Jun 2021

The Status of Influencers in North Macedonia

The imaginary familiarity with a famous person through platforms such as Instagram is more common when the other party is a so-called influencer – a person that enjoys appreciation of a large number of users due to their reputation.  The imaginary closeness is, on the other hand, a very powerful tool in hands of influencers as users often aspire to emulate their lifestyle.  However, the lifestyle the influencer presents is not always genuine as the content presented often includes (some form of) promotion.  When an influencer shows on their profile that they use a certain product, there is a great […]

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08 Jun 2021

Ognjen Colić Discusses Local Projects at 4th Serbian PPP Conference

Ognjen Colić, head of Gecić Law’s corporate practice, spoke at the 4th Serbian Public Private Partnership Conference, a hybrid event held today, organized under the auspices of the British-Serbian Chamber of Commerce, the British Embassy in Belgrade, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Construction, Transportation and Infrastructure of the Republic of Serbia. Opening remarks were delivered by several high government officials and experts, including Tomislav Momirovic, Minister of Construction, Transportation and Infrastructure and Andjelka Atanackovic, Minister of Economy of the Republic of Serbia.  Besides high government officials, developers, contractors and service providers engaged in public-private partnerships also attended […]

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07 Jun 2021

Amazon Wins Major Tax Battle Against EU

The EU’s second-highest court sided with Amazon.com (“Amazon”) recently, saying it did not owe millions to Luxembourg in unpaid taxes.  On May 12, 2021, the General Court (“Court”) overturned the European Commission’s (“Commission”) order to Amazon to pay EUR 250 million to Luxembourg, as reimbursement of illegal State aid. The Court held that the European Commission’s primary finding of an alleged advantage was based on an incorrect analysis.  Precisely, the Court argued that none of the findings set out by the Commission in the contested decision were sufficient to demonstrate the existence of an advantage for the purposes of Article […]

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03 Jun 2021

A Snitch in the Cartel – the Leniency Program

Business cartels between competing market participants are designed to limit or eliminate competition between them, with the objective of increasing prices and profit of the cartel members.  In practice, this is generally achieved by fixing prices, market sharing, limiting output, allocating customers or territories, bid-rigging, or a combination of the above.  Cartels are harmful to consumers and society as a whole since the participating businesses charge higher prices (and earn higher profits) than would be the case in a competitive market. Because of their negative impact on the market, competition legislation fights against cartels, imposing substantial fines on participants, which […]

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31 May 2021

The status of influencers in Bosnia & Herzegovina

Legal Framework for the so-called influencing  To say that there is no special advertising act in Bosnia and Herzegovina (“BiH”) is not completely true.  Namely, certain forms of (illegal) advertising are regulated by the Prohibited Advertising Act.  This Act regulates the protection of merchants from illicit advertising, the protection of procedures and determines forms of illicit advertising.  On the other hand, advertising as such is regulated indirectly at the level of the Federation. In this regard, the Consumer Protection Act is applicable, considering that BiH is one of few European countries that has neither a media act nor an electronic […]

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28 May 2021

EU and Japan create Green Alliance to fight climate change

The European Union (“EU”) and Japan created a Green Alliance and issued a document on May 27 that defines their joint goals on climate change.  They committed to green growth and reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, reaffirming their commitment to the Paris Agreement. The creation of the alliance comes ahead of the UN climate conference in Glasgow in November. The event should define the implementation of the Paris Agreement. In the meantime, the EU and Japan have promised to promote green economy goals. They noted that they will help developing nations transition to low-carbon energy use. The two sides also […]

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27 May 2021

Global Corporate Tax (R)evolution

Joe Biden’s first big clash with the largest businesses in the US came as a result of his proposal to increase corporate tax and raised quite a few eyebrows.  Although Corporate America initially welcomed the massive government spending plan, it later expressed genuine concerns on the topic.  International corporate taxation has long presented a challenge for tax authorities worldwide, causing them losses in billions of tax dollars.  The US has been one of the largest backers of negotiations on a large-scale reform of international corporate taxation that have been going on for quite some time. However, an agreement is yet […]

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