The German Federal Ministry of Justice has published draft legislation to modernise arbitration law. The aim of the draft Bill is to improve Germany's appeal as a place for dispute resolution. The draft Bill highlights proposed changes to arbitration law, including freeform arbitration agreements in commercial transactions, publication of arbitration awards, video hearings and electronic arbitration awards and changes to proceedings before state courts which are connected to arbitration proceedings. Interested parties can comment on the draft Bill until 14 March 2024.

This article, written by Dr Anette Gärtner, Nils Müller and Jannick Thonemann of Eversheds Germany, explores the end of DABUS saga by an order of the German Federal Supreme Court and its impact.

• ‘All disputes arising out of or in connection with this Contract or concerning its validity shall be finally settled by arbitration in accordance with the Arbitration Rules of the German Maritime Arbitration Association’.

Construction analysis: The Technology and Construction Court (TCC) dismissed applications by the German defendants to set aside service out in three cladding remediation claims worth around £90 million. Mr Justice Moody held that the claimants had a real prospect of success in advancing contribution claims founded on section 149 and section 130 of the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022), including against a foreign associated company, and that the correct approach to the extra-territoriality issue was to begin with an applicable law analysis rather than assume section 130 was territorially confined. The court also refused to set aside an extension of time for service in one of the claims for alleged non-disclosure, although it observed that there had in fact been no good reason for the extension.

Arbitration analysis: The German Federal Court of Justice upheld the partial enforcement of a Swiss-seated ICC award against Libya arising from a military procurement contract. It held that the acquisition of military communications equipment and related services constituted non-sovereign commercial conduct and therefore did not attract state immunity. The court also distinguished recognition and enforceability from subsequent execution, confirming that potential immunity of particular State assets does not preclude an enforcement declaration. Libya could not rely on internal approval requirements to challenge its capacity to arbitrate under Article V(1)(a) of the New York Convention. The decision strengthens the position of award creditors seeking enforcement in Germany against states engaged in commercial transactions. Produced in partnership with Lucie Gerhardt of Noerr PartGmbB.

MLex: GEMA has brought a claim against OpenAI in the Munich Regional Court for using copyright protected works without a licence to train its artificial intelligence models. The German music rights collecting society alleges that the generative AI model has 'exploited' song lyrics to train its ChatGPT chatbot. GEMA aims to set up a licence fee to compensate creators and music publishers for the European subsidiary OpenAI Ireland Ltd and American parent company OpenAI LLC. 'Anyone who wants to use these songs must acquire a licence and remunerate the authors fairly', says GEMA chief Tobias Holzmüller.

1. What is the applicable legislation? Foreign investment control in Germany is mainly governed by: • Foreign Trade and Payments Act (Außenwirtschaftsgesetz—AWG), and • Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance (Außenwirtschaftsverordnung—AWV) The AWG lays out the main framework for foreign investment control in Germany, including legal and procedural effects of screening procedures, deadlines and sanctions in case of infringements. The AWV specifies the provisions of the AWG in practice, notably defining which categories of investments are subject to investment screenings in general and enhanced scrutiny specifically. The AWV is amended more regularly than the AWG, as reforms may be passed by the Federal Government alone without involvement of parliament. The last major reform of the AWV was passed in December 2022. In practice, the Act on the Federal Office for Information Security (Gesetz über das Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik—BSIG) and its subordinate Ordinance on the Identification of Critical Infrastructure (Verordnung zur Bestimmung Kritischer Infrastrukturen—BSI-KritisV) also play an important role in determining critical infrastructure subject to mandatory filing obligations under AWG and AWV. 2. Which government

This table summarises completed investigations by Germany’s competition authority (the Bundeskartellamt—BKa) into alleged cartels, anti-competitive agreements, abuses of dominant positions (Articles 101/102 TFEU and national equivalents) and sector inquiries since 2015. Note—only decisions that have been made public are included in this table. 2026 Investigations under Article 101 TFEU/Section 53 of the German Competition Act Case name, companies under investigation and industry Issues Developments Road maintenance • 6 undertakings (listed here) Restrictive agreements—bid rigging • Infringement decision announced—06/08/2026; fines totalling €60.3m imposed Tires • Maxxis International• Best4Tires Berlin• Reifen Muller• one individual Restrictive agreements • Infringement decision announced—21/07/2026; fines totalling €11.9m imposed Comparison portals• Check24 Restrictive agreements—MFN clauses • Commitments accepted—24/02/2026 Test and measurement equipment • CalPlus• Elektronik-Kontor Messtechnik• TVW Meßtechnik GmbH Restrictive agreements—price collusion • Infringement decision announced—15/07/2026; fines totalling €453,000 imposed Investigations under Article 102 TFEU/Section 19 of the German Competition Act The BKa has not yet issued any decisions under Article 102 TFEU/s19 in 2026. 2025 Investigations under Article 101 TFEU/Section 53 of the German Competition Act Case name, companies under investigation and industry Issues Developments Road repair• 12 undertakings

NOTE—to see whether notification thresholds in Germany and throughout the world are met, see further: Where to Notify. 1. Have there been any recent developments regarding the German merger control regime and are any updates/developments expected in the coming year? Are there any other ‘hot’ merger control issues in Germany? The German merger control regime has not undergone significant reforms since the 11th Amendment to the Act against Restraints of Competition (Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen) (ARC), which entered into force on 7 November 2023 and, inter alia, introduced lower thresholds for the general notification requirement (see further: Question 4). There are currently no announcements—let alone draft legislation—regarding a forthcoming reform. The Coalition Agreement of the current governing parties, which sets out the legislative agenda until the next regular federal election in autumn 2029, does also not envisage an upcoming reform. The President of the Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt (FCO) has publicly stated that, in his view, no fundamental overhaul of the German merger control regime is required. At the same time, he has indicated that

MLex: Germany is proposing changes to the EU's planned cybersecurity certification framework that would give national governments a greater role in deciding how security goals evolve as technology and cyber threats change, according to a discussion paper seen by MLex. The framework is part of the EU's proposed overhaul of the Cybersecurity Act, which would establish a single EU system for certifying the cybersecurity of information and communications technology (ICT) products and services, allowing certificates to be recognised across the EU.

MLex: Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Vodafone and other telecoms companies and internet platforms may face revised EU rules aimed at protecting privacy and security over communication networks, as EU officials try to break a deadlock that has dragged on for almost four years. Germany, which is chairing meetings between the EU’s national governments in the second half of the year, will present a revised text that could pave the way for a general agreement by EU governments.

Arbitration analysis: A new law aims to make Germany more attractive for international arbitration proceedings. In this article, Dr Sandra Gröschel and Lisa Oettig, both senior associates at Pinsent Masons, address these proposed changes and provide commentary on the implications.