Expertise

The 2019 Hague Convention in a nutshell On 1 September 2023, the 2019 Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (henceforth, “the Convention”) entered into force in Greece. Main purpose of the Convention, adopted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) during its 22nd Diplomatic Session, is to facilitate cross-border circulation of court judgments by establishing a uniform set of rules for recognition and enforcement. Through Decision no 2022/1206 adopted by the Council of the European Union on 12 July 2022 under the consent of the European Parliament, the European Union (except for the Kingdom of Denmark) was the first Signatory to accede to the Convention. As an EU-Member State, Greece is deemed to ha...

The new draft bill introduced by the Ministry of Economy and Finance under the title "Organisational and Procedural Provisions for Development, interventions to strengthen fair development transition and other urgent provisions", which has been under public consultation from 1.12.2023 and will continue until 8.12.2023, provides for the extension of the validity of the measures regarding the "household basket" and "combating of unfair profiteering phenomena". Household basket A six-month extension of the “household basket” initiative is foreseen, which will be in force until 30 June 2024. This measure, which normally expires on 31 December, had already been extended last summer and provides for the obligation of super markets with an annual turnover of more than EUR 90,000,000 per yea...

In a significant leap forward for the offshore renewable energy sector, Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management Company S.A. (“HEREMA”) has marked another key milestone in the development of offshore wind power installations by releasing the strategic environmental impact assessment study relating to the offshore wind development in Greece for public consultation. Here are the highlights (and some background): An (offshore) wind of investment opportunities. The enactment of Law 4964/2022 has set the stage for a cohesive regulatory framework - crucial for the advancement of both pilot and conventional offshore wind projects. This landmark legislation has introduced the licensing process to be followed by potential investors. In more detail, HEREMA, which has been ap...

On 23.11.2023 the Greek Parliament passed the bill Ν.5069/2023 of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (the “Law"), which - among others, regulates the operation framework of data centres. Although the specific type of investment has been in the radar of foreign and domestic investors in the past years, their operation framework remained largely unregulated. The Law aims to set forth specific rules, including in relation to building terms and conditions and licensing requirements which will hopefully create a more secure landscape for the establishment and operation of data centres in Greece. More specifically, the Law touches upon the following: Data Centre definition: The Law defines the Data Centres as ‘’facilities which are intended to host, interconnect, and operate informatio...