Brexit

Short Reads - Following the June 2016 referendum on European Union ("EU") membership in the United Kingdom ("UK"), the UK notified the European Council of the UK's intention to withdraw from the EU under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. In November 2018, the EU and UK Government agreed on the conditions for the UK's withdrawal. However, to date the UK parliament has not approved this agreement. Therefore, the other 27 Member States and the UK agreed to postpone the withdrawal date until 31 October 2019.

Short Reads - In two recent decisions, the Dutch Supreme Court has clarified the evidentiary power of signed documents. If the signatory unambiguously denies that the signature on the document is his or hers or claims that another party has tampered with the signature (for instance, through forgery or copying a signature from one document and pasting it in another), it is up to the party invoking the signed document to prove the signature's authenticity (ECLI:NL:HR:2019:572).

Short Reads - A Brexit without a deal, or with a deal that does not cover all relevant aspects, is still a potential scenario. We have highlighted a number of unexpected legal consequences of Brexit in such a no deal or incomplete deal scenario.

Short Reads - As it stands, the UK will exit the European Union at midnight on 29 March 2019. Therefore, businesses within the UK, or with trade relations with the UK, would be best advised to assume that a no-deal Brexit is inevitable. The exchange of personal data  within the EU is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In a no-deal Brexit, the GDPR will cease to be applicable in the UK upon its EU exit.

Masterclass - Stibbe will host a masterclass entitled 'Alcohol and drug testing in the workplace' on 6 June in Amsterdam. During this masterclass, employment law expert Johan Zwemmer and privacy experts Frederiek Fernhout and Judica Krikke will discuss the Dutch Data Protection Authority's general prohibition of these tests and discuss whether and how employers should implement.

Short Reads - The first year of the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") is over. Although early noises predicted an entirely new data protection regime, the European legal framework did not change substantially, the major changes being an expansion of the territorial scope to non-EU countries and stronger powers of enforcement. In spite of fears and rumours of immediate enforcement and huge fines, most regulators focused on helping companies achieve compliance, or they enforced without directly imposing fines.

Articles - The UK is set to leave the EU. Yet, Brexit will only have a small impact on public procurement, since even a ‘hard Brexit’ would entail no substantial differences with the current regime.

Short Reads - On 4 February 2019, the Dutch State Secretary of Finance sent a letter to the Dutch Parliament announcing transitional rules for Dutch taxes (other than customs legislation) if there will not be a Brexit withdrawal agreement (i.e. a no deal Brexit). The letter includes an outline of the transitional rules.