Recent Articles

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  01.12.2023

  United Kingdom

  Update on the Smarter Regulation initiative in the energy context

  Alongside the Autumn Statement and the Connections Action Plan and Transmission Acceleration Action Plan (on which we commented in a recent separate article), the Department of Business and Trade (the DBT) published a number of documents relating to its wide-ranging Smarter Regulation programme.  This follows the Government’s May 2023 introductory policy paper on Smarter Regulation to Grow the Economy and is stated to be complementary to the ongoing October 2023 call for evidence on the regulatory landscape, which also forms part of the Government’s work on Smarter Regulation.  ...

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  01.12.2023

  England and Wales

  Woodlands Data Centre Refusal: key observations

  On 30 October 2023, the Secretary of State (“SoS”) on a recovered appeal refused to grant planning permission for a ‘hyperscale’ data centre within the Buckinghamshire Green Belt on the outskirts of Greater London.Situated within the Slough Availability Zone (“SAZ”), a recognized area for data centres spanning multiple counties, the 52-hectare former landfill site adjacent to the M25, south of Slough Road, was earmarked by developers for outline consent for data centre development (B8 (data centre)) of up to 163,000sqm across three buildings.The proposed development,...

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  01.12.2023

  United Kingdom

  Navigating the changes: An overview of updated Energy National Policy Statements

  The National Policy Statements were originally designated in 2011. Further to consultation on proposed drafts earlier in the year, revised updates to the Energy National Policy Statements (NPSs) were published on 22 November 2023.The purpose of the NPSs is to provide guidance to developers and consenting authorities and establish need and set policy in relation to nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) (as well as other major projects, where NPSs will often be a material consideration). The previous revised draft NPSs were published in March 2023 and were consulted on in the following...

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  01.12.2023

  United Kingdom

  Collective redundancies and possible criminal liability: Supreme Court provides important clarification for administrators

  Recent news reports have highlighted that the number of corporate insolvencies has continued to rise during 2022 and 2023, with the retail sector being particularly affected. Many companies are struggling to meet the demands of repaying government support provided during lockdown, increased running costs and high wages coupled with lower demand due to the cost of living crisis.Corporate insolvencies can impact employees in the affected business in many ways: an employer may be unable to pay wages, holiday pay or other sums due to employees and/or there may be a need to make mass redundancies. Insolvencies...

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  01.12.2023

  Germany

  Disharmony between Data Act and GDPR

  The draft EU Data Act applies in addition to the GDPR. It is not sufficiently aligned with the existing regulation.On 9 November 2023, the European Parliament adopted the EU Data Act by a large majority, after having previously agreed it with the Council in an informal trilogue (text of the EU Data Act). The goal of the EU Data Act is to create a starting framework for data sharing in the European internal market. It therefore naturally clashes with the traditional understanding of data protection, which aims to improve data economy and avoid the dissemination of data. Does the EU Data...

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  01.12.2023

  Middle East

  Sustainable Infrastructure in the UAE – Top 8 before COP28 mini series

  Sustainable and energy efficient infrastructure is essential for achieving ambitious carbon neutrality goals on a global scale. In 2018, the buildings and construction sector accounted for 36% of final energy use and 39% of energy and process-related CO2 emissions.[1] The United Nations Environment Programme’s 2022 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction highlights that, although there has been an increase around the world in investment and resultant success at lowering the energy intensity of buildings, the energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the buildings and construction...

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