BLOMSTEIN advises Chinese terminal operator COSCO Shipping Ports Limited (COSCO) on foreign direct investment aspects relating to its entry into the German market. COSCO is acquiring a minority stake of 35 % in Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT) from the Port of Hamburg Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA). The deal is subject to various FDI and merger control clearances.

Today, 17 December 2021, is the deadline for implementing the EU Whistleblower Directive. So far, only Sweden and Denmark have transposed the Whistleblower Directive into respective national regulations; Portugal managed to pass a law by majority vote of the parliament in time, but the Portuguese transposition law will not enter into force until mid-2022. Germany, on the other hand, is threatened with infringement proceedings as the coalition partners of the old government could not agree on a first draft bill, the so-called Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) of the Federal Ministry of Justice. However, the recently published coalition deal of the newly elected coalition picks up the issue again, so that new developments on the Whistleblower Protection Act seem to be underway. The coalition agreement commits to implement the directive, which creates a uniform legal framework for the protection of whistleblowers throughout the Union, in a “legally secure and practicable” manner. Germany plans to protect whistleblowers from legal disadvantages not only when reporting breaches of EU law, but also when reporting significant breaches of national regulations or any other significant misconduct, where disclosure is of special public interest.

BLOMSTEIN has successfully advised Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (Teva) on the German foreign direct investment aspects of its strategic licensing collaboration with MODAG GmbH (MODAG).

A Comissão Europeia apresentou, em 17 de novembro de 2021, a “Proposta de regula-mento sobre produtos sem desmatamento” (Regulamento sobre Desmatamento ou Regulamento, cujos documentos relevantes podem ser encontrados aqui), com objetivo de evitar a comercialização em seu território de produtos associados a desmatamento ou degradação florestal. A lista de produtos é definida pelo art. 1º do Regulamento sobre Desmatamento, a saber: gado (seja o gado in natura, carne ou couro), cacau, café, óleo de palma, soja e madeira, bem como subprodutos, produtos que contenham ou que resultem dos mesmos (em conjunto, Produtos Relevantes). O Anexo I do Regulamento apresenta a lista exaustiva dos subprodutos e derivados sujeitos a suas regras.

The common rules of origin and cumulation of the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean (PEM) Convention are a central instrument in the facilitation of trade and the integration of supply chains by way of preferential tariff treatment within the PEM zone, which stretches across the European Union to the other 24 contracting parties (EFTA countries, the Faroe Islands, Turkey and the Mediterranean countries of the Western Balkans, North Africa and the Middle East, including some of their neighbouring countries). The Contracting Parties have been negotiating a revision of the convention since 2012, in order for it to better reflect changing economic realities.

Roland M. Stein was one of the speakers of the webinar: The Importance of Compliance Programs in World Bank Projects, hosted by the Brazilian Association of Infrastructure and Basic Industries (ABDIB) on 26 July 2021. The panel also had as key speaker Lisa Miller, Integrity Compliance Officer at The World Bank and as a mediator Thiago Jabor Pinheiro, partner at the Brazilian law firm Mattos Filho.

Roland Stein and Bruno Galvão will be editing a column at the Brazilian legal journal JOTA. JOTA is a leading specialised legal journal in Brazil, with an average of one million readers each month.

As of 1 July 2021, BLOMSTEIN has appointed Florian Wolf as the firm’s first counsel.

Florian Wolf (36) has been an integral part of the BLOMSTEIN team since the firm was founded in spring 2016. He advises international clients on all public procurement and foreign trade issues. Highlights of his public procurement practice to date include advising the successful bidding consortium Kapsch TrafficCom and CTS EVENTIM in the public procurement procedure of the German Federal Ministry of Transport for the collection of car tolls as well as representing German Naval Yards Kiel and FSG in various maritime procurement review proceedings. He has also represented one of the largest European construction companies before various higher regional courts. His foreign trade law practice is characterised by advising various IT, high-tech and industrial companies on sanctions and export control law with regard to the import and export of goods and technology as well as the provision of services abroad.

BLOMSTEIN advised OMR on public procurement law questions regarding the establishment and operation of Germany’s biggest vaccination centre located in Hamburg.

On 4 and 5 March 2021, this year’s Forum Contracting Annual Conference 2021 took place digitally for the first time. BLOMSTEIN partner Roland M. Stein gave a presentation on external audits in the field of energy and electricity tax. A recording of the presentation is now available online.