In the first half of 2022, the Corona Virus broke out again in many places in China. From early March to early June, the infection numbers in Shanghai had also developed rapidly. For this reason, massive lockdown measures were issued by the local government, which resulted in the closure of almost all companies in Shanghai. After the lockdown was released, general support policies have now been introduced in various regions, including Shanghai, which include rent reduction/exemption measures for locally based companies.

As of 26 July 2022, Royal Legislative Decree 13/2020 changed the contribution system for self-employed persons to the social security system. Under the new system, self-employed persons now pay their contributions according to their net income.

The European Commission’s Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“VBER”), which was previously potentially applicable to distribution, whereby agreements between manufacturers or suppliers and retailers are exempt from the ban on cartels, ceased to be in force on 31/05/2022, because the original period of validity of 12 years was reached. These new versions bring some changes which relax requirements compared to the previous legal situation, but also tighten requirements, which primarily take into account the area of tension between online/offline sales.

LEGAL500 has published its report on the best law firms – in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) – by category. SDZLEGAL SCHINDHELM Public Procurement (TIER3) practice was among those honoured – exactly the year we celebrate our 20th anniversary.

The current isolationist policy, as well as the associated extremely strict entry restrictions and other coronavirus measures in the People's Republic of China, has for a long time presented a significant problem for European companies with Chinese subsidiaries: There is a creeping loss of control over the subsidiaries, since adequate control of the company by the European shareholder is no longer guaranteed on-location. In the following, we would like to provide an overview of the regularly occurring abuses, as well as best practice solutions for preventing these abuses and harm to company.

Already in 2020, the European Commission presented the draft for a new EU regulation on a single market for digital services, through which the latest developments in the field of digital services are to be incorporated and regulated at EU level. The proposal aims at better protection of consumer rights in the digital environment and at the joint internal market-related enforcement potential of the EU Member States.