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The European Commission has published EU proposals for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US.
According to the Commision press release, these are specific proposals for legal text, setting out binding commitments which the EU would like to see in the parts of the agreement covering regulatory and rules issues. The proposals cover competition, food safety and animal and plant health, customs issues, technical barriers to trade, small and medium-sized enterprises, and government-to-government dispute settlement.
European Commission publishes TTIP legal texts as part of transparency initiative
As of 10 January 2015 the amended Brussels I Regulation will come into force. It will render cross-border judgments automatically enforceable across the EU.
An enforceable judgment in civil and commercial matters in one Member State will be automatically enforceable anywhere in the EU. This amendment puts an end to the exequatur procedure.
Cutting red tape: Savings of up to €48 million thanks to new rules for cross-border judgments
The Protocol and Interpretative Protocol between the UK and Canada, which were signed in London on 21 July 2014, entered into force on 18 December 2014.
The treaty will take effect as follows:
In the United Kingdom in respect of:
In Canada in respect of:
Canada: Entry into force of the 2014 Protocols to the 1978 Double Taxation Convention (as amended)
To view the news article, please click here. (Article is in Russian).
On 10 January 2015 the EU published a Notice in the Official Journal to the effect that the Council intends to renew the restrictive measures against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Tunisia.
The persons concerned may submit a request to the Council to obtain the information that relates to them before 15 January 2015.
The new China International Economic Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) Rules came into effect on 1 January 2015, and apply to arbitrations commenced on or after that date.
Notable amendments include a revised procedure for the appointment of emergency arbitrators, a mechanism for a claimant to commence a single arbitration where the dispute arises from multiple contracts, and special provisions for arbitrations administered by the CIETAC Arbitration Centre in Hong Kong.
The Council has announced that it has extended EU economic sanctions introduced in response to Russia’s alleged destabilising role in Eastern Ukraine until 31 January 2016.
This follows an agreement at the European Council in March 2015, when EU leaders linked the duration of these sanctions to the complete implementation of the Minsk agreements, which is foreseen by 31 December 2015.
The restrictive measures were imposed in July 2014 and reinforced in September 2014. They target certain exchanges with Russia in the financial, energy and defence sectors and dual-use goods.
The Decision extending the economic sanctions against Russia for a further six months has been published in the Official Journal.
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