1 It is admitted that the Claimant has undertaken occasional cycle courier assignments for the Respondent since about [insert date]. It is denied that the Claimant was a worker or that he was engaged under the contract set out at paragraph 2 of the Grounds of Claim. The terms set out are standard terms for the Respondent’s worker contracts but the Claimant was never engaged on such a contract. 2 The Claimant offered cycle courier services through his limited company, Speedy Delivery. The Respondent engaged the services of Speedy Delivery from time to time when it had too many deliveries for its own workers to complete. Work was provided to Speedy Delivery on the basis that a competent cycle courier would be provided to carry out assignments. There was no requirement that the Claimant provide services personally and on several occasions the work was carried out by

1 It is denied that the Claimant was an employee of the Respondent. As the term set out at paragraph [2.2] of the Grounds of Claim makes clear, there was no mutuality of obligation between the Claimant and the Respondent. 2 In the circumstances it is denied that the Claimant is able to bring a claim for unfair dismissal under Regulation 2 of the Exclusivity Terms in Zero Hours Contracts (Redress) Regulations 2015 or at all. 3 Paragraph 2 of the Particulars of Claim is admitted. 4 No

[Insert: in para 6.1 of response form ET3:] 1 The Claimant had been employed by [insert name of employer] as a [set out job title, eg branch manager]. 2 On [insert date] [insert name of employer]

[Insert in para 6.1 of response form ET3:] 1 It is [admitted OR denied] that the Claimant was dismissed for the reasons stated or alleged in the claim.

Effluent Treatment Plant

MLex: A revamp of the EU’s telecom rules won’t weaken ‘open internet’ principles that ensure that network traffic is treated equally by service providers, EU digital chief Henna Virkkunen reaffirmed on 18 May 2026. The European Commission has kept in place the EU’s net-neutrality rules, which require internet service providers to treat all internet traffic equally. Telecom companies have argued for more flexibility for advanced network services.

The legislative and policy agenda of the 2024–2029 Commission (led by President von der Leyen for her second term) is being primarily driven by two, linked, objectives: boosting EU competitiveness and growth and regulatory ‘simplification’. The Commission adopted its 2025 Work Programme outlining key initiatives for the year ahead on 12 February 2025, including several measures to simplify existing regulatory regimes. The 2025 Work Programme built upon the longer-term framework established by the Competitiveness Compass, as published in January 2025. Alongside the 2025 Work Programme, the Commission published a Communication on Simplification and Implementation, which set out how the Commission plans to make implementation of EU rules easier in practice, and provides further detail on the Commission’s plans to simplify a number of EU legislative measures. As explained in the Communication on Simplification, one of the Commission’s key targets for the next five years is to reduce administrative costs (including reporting costs) by at least 25% for all companies, and by at least 35% for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The simplification agenda is designed

Omnibus I (sustainability simplification package)—introduction The Commission published a Communication on Simplification and Implementation on 12 February 2025, setting out how the Commission plans to make implementation of EU rules easier in practice during its 2024–2029 term, and provides further detail on the Commission’s plans to simplify a number of EU legislative measures. As explained in the Communication, one of the Commission’s key targets for this period is to reduce administrative costs (including reporting costs) by at least 25% for all companies, and by at least 35% for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As a matter of priority, the Commission is trying to tackle what it deems as overlapping, unnecessary, or disproportionate rules that burden on EU businesses and which may, therefore, inhibit growth and prevent development. This goal is to be primarily achieved via adoption of ‘simplification’ omnibus packages of legislation. The Commission published the first of its planned omnibus simplification packages on 26 February 2025, containing split proposals to: • postpone the implementation of Directive (EU) 2022/2464 (the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD))

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. Context In 2050, with a forecast world population of nine billion, intense competition for oil, gas and other resources is likely to make fossil fuels more expensive unless important improvements are achieved in energy efficiency and more investment in non-fossil energy sources is made. The EU could not stand still and as such proposed what is known as the ‘2050 low-carbon economy roadmap’ (the 2050 Roadmap). In 2011, the Commission published its Communication entitled “A Roadmap for moving to a competitive low-carbon economy in 2050”. The 2050 Roadmap complemented the 2020 EU Climate and Energy package for a resource-efficient Europe by setting out key elements that should shape the EU's climate action for it to become a competitive low-carbon economy by 2050. The approach was based on the view that innovative solutions are required to mobilise investments in energy, transport, industry, information and communication technologies and that more focus is needed on energy efficiency policies. Together with the White Paper on Transport

The European Parliament's Agriculture and Rural Development Committee (AGRI) conducted a vote on 8 September 2025, to adopt amendments that would bolster farmers' positions in the food supply chain. The vote passed with 33 votes in favour, ten against, and five abstentions. The amendments clarify labelling criteria for ‘fair’ products and define requirements for a ‘short supply chain’. They also mandate written contracts for agricultural deliveries—with potential sector exemptions—and expand the sustainability standards eligible for derogations from EU competition rules, while opposing the creation of separate organic producer organisations. The adopted report will face a plenary vote during an upcoming session of Parliament.

The European Commission has announced that the European Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) has come into force on 1 August 2024. The AI Act is designed to ensure that AI is developed and used in a way that safeguards people's fundamental rights. The majority of rules in the AI Act will start applying on 2 August 2026 and Member States have until 2 August 2025 to designate national competent authorities to oversee the application of the rules for AI systems and carry out market surveillance activities. The European Commission is also developing guidelines which will define and set out how the AI Act should be implemented, and facilitating co-regulatory instruments like standards and codes of practice. As well as acting as the enforcer for the rules for general-purpose AI models, the European Commission's AI Office will be the key implementation body for the AI Act at EU-level.

Law360: Artificial intelligence (AI) has been the financial story of the last year, with soaring valuations for AI businesses dominating the markets pages of the financial press. Unsurprisingly, AI companies have been the targets of merger and acquisition activity.