Im Zeitalter der globalisierten Wirtschaft beziehen zahlreiche deutsche Unternehmen Waren oder Produktkomponenten von Zulieferern aus aller Welt. Doch grenzüberschreitende Lieferketten bergen oft ein Dilemma: Einige Zulieferer operieren in Ländern, in denen Arbeitsbedingungen und Umweltschutzmaßnahmen nicht internationalen Standards entsprechen.

Das Gesetz über die unternehmerischen Sorgfaltspflichten zur Vermeidung von Menschenrechtsverletzungen in Lieferketten (LkSG) markiert hier einen Wendepunkt im deutschen Wirtschaftsrecht und nimmt Unternehmen in die Pflicht. Es verpflichtet sie, ihre Lieferketten im Vorfeld auf mögliche Risiken für Menschenrechte und Umwelt zu überprüfen und gegebenenfalls ihre Geschäftspraktiken anzupassen, um negative Auswirkungen zu minimieren. Die Geschäftstätigkeit wird so zu einer ethischen Gratwanderung, die nicht nur die Rentabilität, sondern auch die soziale Verantwortung im Blick hat.

In diesem Briefing werden die gesetzlichen Anforderungen an die Risikoanalyse im Rahmen des LkSG erörtert, praktische Umsetzungsfragen diskutiert und strategische Empfehlungen gegeben, um die Einhaltung der Sorgfaltspflichten sicherzustellen und rechtliche Risiken zu minimieren.

This briefing gives a short overview of the latest developments in the national German hydrogen strategy. The German government has recently passed the Hydrogen Acceleration Act (Wasserstoffbeschleunigungsgesetz, WasserstoffBG), acknowledging the urgency of a decarbonisation of the German industry sector. We will address the key aspects of the draft legislation.

As announced in January, BLOMSTEIN is publishing a series of briefings introducing into European and German legal defence matters. In our last briefing, we gave an overview over EU funding opportunities for defence and security projects and focused specifically on the legal remedies available against grant allocation decisions in the context of EU defence funding.

This edition is on new funding opportunities for the defence and security sector provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB). The EIB, an institution of the European Union, stands as one of the foremost financiers of climate-related initiatives. Since its inception in 1958, the EIB has extended loans and expert advice to thousands of projects across more than 160 countries. The EIB is dedicated to promoting sectors that significantly enhance growth, employment, regional cohesion, and environmental sustainability within Europe and globally. Recognizing the increasing importance of security in Europe, the EIB has revised its statutes this year to explicitly incorporate security-related activities within the scope of its financing capabilities.

This briefing is the third in a series on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), where BLOMSTEIN addresses the key aspects that (in)directly affect businesses both within and outside the EU, explores its interplay with the existing legislation in Germany (LkSG) and examines interactions with other recently adopted EU legislation (e.g., EUDR and CSRD) which partially set overlapping obligations.

In today’s briefing we explore the main differences and points of convergence of the CSDDD and the European Union Regulation on Deforestation-free products (EUDR), particularly which companies might be affected by both and how to leverage synergies when implementing compliance procedures.

This briefing is second in a series on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which addresses the key aspects that (in)directly affect businesses both within and outside the EU, explore its interplay with the existing legislation in Germany and examine interactions with other  recently adopted acts of EU legislation (e.g., EUDR and CSRD), which partially establish overlapping obligations.

Sustainability and competition law has been a hotly debated topic. While some competition authorities have dedicated specific guidelines for cooperations among competitors in the name of sustainability, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) has been adamant that it will adopt a case-by-case approach and that guidance can only be derived from specific precedents. It has continuously invited companies to bring forward specific cases - and sometimes the president of the FCO, Andreas Mundt, jokingly even questioned whether there was really such a big need for guidance given the low numbers of precedents on which the FCO‘s position was actively requested. Last week, the FCO finally had another chance to provide its assessment and expressed its support for a project introducing a reusable system in the plant trade sector to reduce plastic waste (see press release).

This briefing is the first in a series on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) that BLOMSTEIN will be publishing over the coming weeks. We will address the key aspects that (in)directly affect businesses both within and outside the EU, explore its interplay with the existing legislation in Germany (LkSG) and examine interactions with other acts recently adopted EU legislation (e.g., EUDR and CSRD) which partially set overlapping obligations.

As announced mid-January, BLOMSTEIN is publishing a series of briefings introducing into European and German legal defence matters. In our last briefing, we discussed the relevance of merger control in the European consolidation of the defense industry.

The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) represents a pivotal shift in the European Union's approach to mitigating climate change by imposing a carbon price on imports of certain goods from outside the EU. It aims to prevent carbon leakage by ensuring that ambitious climate efforts within the EU do not lead to the relocation of carbon-intensive production to countries with less stringent emissions standards. The CBAM is designed to complement the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS) by applying a similar carbon cost to imports, thus leveling the playing field for EU producers.

On December 12, 2023, an agreement was reached in the European Parliament on a draft of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), paving the way for its timely adoption. This raises the threat of further regulatory obligations for companies that produce with critical raw materials.

BLOMSTEIN hat Fastned bei dem erfolgreichen Angebot im Rahmen der Autobahnlose-Ausschreibung beraten. Die Autobahn GmbH hat am 9. Februar 2024 den Zuschlag auf das Angebot von Fastned in dem bereits 2021 eingeleiteten Vergabeverfahren erteilt. Fastned wird im Rahmen des Deutschlandnetzes in den nächsten Jahren an 34 Standorten an unbewirtschafteten Autobahnraststätten Schnellladeinfrastruktur errichten. Der Autobahnlose-Ausschreibung kommt eine maßgebliche Bedeutung für die Entstehung eines flächendeckenden Schnellladenetzes zu.