This Practice Note presents the thresholds values for the applicability of EU public procurement Directives and their legal basis. Relevance and setting of thresholds The EU public procurement Directives apply to contracts whose contract value does not fall below the thresholds specified in the respective Directive (see Practice Note: The applicability of EU public procurement. These provisions are set out in: • Article 4 of Directive 2014/24/EU, the EU Public Contracts Directive • Article 15 of Directive 2014/25/EU, the EU Utilities Directive • Article 95 of the EU Utilities Directive also provides a threshold for design contests organised as part of a procurement procedure for services over the set threshold. The threshold is the estimated value net of VAT of the service contract, including any possible prizes and/or payments to participants • Article 8 of Directive 2014/23/EU, the EU Concession Directive • Article 8 of Directive 2009/81/EC—Directive on defence and sensitive security procurement The

The benefits payable under long term or life assurance policies may be linked to the value of specific assets. These assets are usually, but not invariably, investment funds or unit trusts. The insurance policy may be expressed as linked to the value of or return on a specific number of units in the fund in question. Or the policy may be linked to a share index. Such policies are usually referred to as ‘unit-linked’ or ‘linked long term contracts’ (‘unités de compte’ in French and ‘fondsgebundene’ in German). The expression ‘unit-linked’ is in a sense a subset of ‘linked long term’ since an assurance contract may link directly to the value of a non-unitised asset, although that is rare. They give rise to a number of legal and regulatory issues that are summarised in this Practice Note. EU regulatory status Linked long-term contracts are classified as Class III under Annex II to Directive 2009/138/EC (the Solvency II Directive). Types of unit-linked insurance policies Unit-linked insurance products may include: • mortgage endowments • whole of life policies

This Practice Note summarises Directive (EU) 2019/633 of 17 April 2019 on unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain (EU UTP Directive). It provides details on the background, scope, enforcement of the EU UTP Directive. It explains the practices which are allowed provided that the supplier and the buyer agree on them beforehand in a clear and unambiguous manner and the unfair trading practices which are regarded as unfair in all circumstances. The EU UTP Directive was adopted on 17 April 2019, EU Member States had to transpose it by 1 May 2021 and had to apply the measures by 1 November 2021. This Directive aims to protect weaker suppliers in the agriculture and food supply chain, against stronger buyers. Background Over the last three decades, the business-to business (B2B) food and non-food supply chain was impacted by an increased concentration of bargaining power and vertical integration across the EU,

Environment analysis: The ongoing case between the EU and the UKpertains to a disagreement between the two parties under the post-Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). The issue arose after the UK ordered a full ban on the commercial fishing of sandeels from UK waters in the North Sea, in March 2024. This ban is aimed at increasing the protection of sandeels, a vital food source for endangered sea birds in the North Sea, and strengthening the conservation of marine ecosystems in light of climate change. However, the EU has challenged the ban, claiming that it would go against the UK’s obligations under the TCA. This is largely due to the view that the prohibition will have a disproportionate and discriminatory effect on fishing communities in the EU. The trial at the Peace Palace in the Hague, at the Arbitration Tribunal, marks the first time the two parties have been to court since the Brexit deal in 2020. While the outcome of the hearing is yet to be released, the written submissions of each party provide valuable insights into the core issues at hand in this case. Written by Noa Brawermann.

On 15 December 2020, the European Commission presented proposals for two regulations to modernise the legal framework for digital services: the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). While the DSA focuses on regulating different types of online intermediaries, ranging from basic hosting services to very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs), the DMA targets only those online platforms that provide ‘core platform services’ (CPS) in a gatekeeper position. These companies have a bottleneck function between businesses and consumers, enabling them to act as private rule-makers and to entrench their market power. The DMA introduces ex ante obligations for so-called gatekeepers designed to ensure fair and contestable digital markets. The DMA entered into force on 1 November 2022 and has applied since 2 May 2023. In September 2023, the Commission designated the first six gatekeepers: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft. Since then, the designation landscape has evolved. Apple was additionally designated in respect of iPadOS in April 2024, and Booking.com

FORTHCOMING CHANGE: This Practice Note reflects the current legislative position, however, note that certain elements will be impacted by the Digital Omnibus proposals published on 19 November 2025, pursuant to the EU Commission’s ‘simplification’ agenda. For more information, see Practice Note: EU Digital Omnibus—tracker. This Practice Note is an introduction to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679, which is more widely referred to as the GDPR and referred to in this Practice Note as the ‘EU GDPR’ to distinguish it from the UK GDPR. The Practice Note provides an overview of the concepts, regulatory oversight and obligations for organisations which are implemented by the EU GDPR. The Practice Note concludes with suggestions on how organisations can plan EU GDPR compliance activities. Introduction Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (the General Data Protection Regulation)

Background to the Single Rulebook The European Council introduced the term Single Rulebook in 2009, with the vision of adopting a prudential regulatory framework that would be uniform throughout the EU financial sector, creating greater consistency, transparency and efficiency. The intention was to close regulatory loopholes and contribute to a more effective functioning of the Single Market. Single Rulebook—core provisions The core provisions of the Single Rulebook are the following, together with their associated delegated and implementing acts, regulatory technical standards (RTS), implementing technical standards (ITS), guidelines and recommendations, and related Q&As: • the Capital Requirements Regulation (EU) 575/2013 (EU CRR) and the Capital Requirements

Background to the Single Supervisory Mechanism Following the 2008 financial crisis, there was increasing anxiety within the EU as to potential risks to the integrity of the single currency and the internal banking services market. To address these concerns and to ensure greater financial stability and promote economic recovery, the EU is in the process of developing a European Banking Union, which is underpinned by a single regulatory rulebook for financial services. This is intended to promote the integration of banking supervision within the EU. Central to the Banking Union is the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) (established by Council Regulation (EU) 1024/2013 (SSM Regulation)), which was supplemented by the SSM Framework Regulation (Regulation (EU) 468/2014). The SSM is designed to ensure that supervision of credit institutions is coherent, effective and consistent with the functioning of the internal market for financial services and the free movement of capital. Application and scope The SSM Regulation applies to credit institutions established within a eurozone Member State. Additionally, a Member State which is not in the eurozone can apply to

Pensions analysis: The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023 and forms part of a legislative package to prevent the abuse of UK corporate structures and tackle economic crime. Riccardo Bruno and Clare Pollard, Associates at Arc Pensions Law, look at the key provisions of relevance to pension schemes, the implications for corporate trustee companies, and the actions that they should be taking.

This tracker sets out the consultation papers, primary and secondary legislation and guidance documents relating to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA 2023), which received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. Legislation tracker This table sets out all relevant primary legislation and statutory instruments in connection with ECCTA 2023, including the ECCTA Bill as it progressed through parliament. Date issued/made/published In force date Legislation Description 23 January 2026 26 January 2026 Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (Commencement No 7) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/57 These regulations are made to bring into force provisions of ECCTA 2023 which remove the option for companies to keep member information on the central register, including a transitional provision for companies which keep information on the central register. 28 October 2025 1 February 2026 Registrar of Companies (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2025, SI 2025/1137 This regulation is made to amend the fees charged by Companies House (which exercises the functions of the registrar of companies) to recover the cost of increased activities of Companies

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA 2023) received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. It seeks to deliver a wide range of reforms and enhancements relating to corporate transparency and the integrity of information held at Companies House. Certain provisions of ECCTA 2023 are still to come into force—see: Progress on implementation of ECCTA 2023 below. Companies House has published a number of factsheets giving details of the different measures contained in ECCTA 2023. For more information on the legislative implementation timings being introduced by ECCTA 2023 generally, see the: Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023—legislation and consultation tracker. For information on the identity verification requirements and their practical implications, see also: Key Identity Verification Requirements Introduced by Companies House. This Practice Note considers some of the key changes being introduced by ECCTA 2023 that Banking & Finance lawyers should be aware of. Companies House reform ECCTA 2023, Pt 1 aims to enhance the role of Companies House and increase

As far as we are aware, there do not appear to be any coronavirus (COVID-19) exemptions relating to regulation 5(5)(v)