Eu Law

The governments of Ireland and 16 other EU countries have called on the European Commission to take action against Hungary if it refuses to scrap anti-LGBT+ laws including a ban on Pride marches. The Irish government previously condemned Hungarian legislation passed in March which makes it a cr

The Supreme Court has found that Irish public policy considerations concerning champerty were outweighed by public policy in favour of recognising a judgment of an EU member state. Delivering his judgment for the Supreme Court, Mr Justice Hogan stated: “Article 52 of the Brussels 1 recast prec

Chinese fast fashion giant Shein has been accused of breaking EU consumer laws in a coordinated action involving Ireland's consumer watchdog, the EU and other national authorities. Ireland's Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), along with national consumer authorities in Belgium, F

As the GDPR turns seven, William Fry lawyers Rachel Hayes and India Delaney consider new EU proposals to amend the landmark data protection law. On 25 May 2025, we marked the seventh anniversary of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into effect. Over the past seven years, the GDPR

Derville Rowland, deputy governor for consumer and investor protection at the Central Bank of Ireland, has been appointed to the executive board of the EU's newly-established Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA). Ms Rowland, a qualified barrister, will leave the Central Bank in order to take up th

The European Commission has formally approved a new EU-UK competition cooperation agreement struck last year. The new agreement will put in place a clear framework for cooperation on competition matters between the Commission and EU member states' competition authorities and the UK's Competition and

The Irish government has said it will not support "unilateral domestic legislation" aimed at helping consumers understand how easy certain products are to repair, as it believes this should be done at an EU level. The Information on Repairability of Certain Products Bill 2024, proposed by solicitor

The European Commission has invited comments on commitments offered by Microsoft in response to competition concerns relating to Teams and its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 suites. A formal investigation launched by the Commission in July 2023 led to its announcement last summer of its preliminary fi

TikTok has been accused by the European Commission of breaching advertising transparency rules in the Digital Services Act (DSA). Following the launch of an investigation in February 2024, the Commission yesterday informed TikTok of its preliminary view that its advertisement repository falls short

The General Court of the European Union has annulled a decision by the European Commission to refuse a journalist's request for access to text messages exchanged between Ursula von der Leyen and the CEO of Pfizer. The New York Times journalist Matina Stevi submitted an application under th

The Central Bank of Ireland has become the first entity in the State to be named a "trusted flagger" under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA). As a trusted flagger, the Central Bank will be able to notify online platforms about illegal content, which they are then legally obliged to deal with as a ma

Sustainability-focused funds continue to be on the rise in the EU in spite of "growing anti-ESG sentiment", according to a new report from the Maples Group. A review of over 27,000 funds across the two largest fund domiciles in the EU, Ireland and Luxembourg, has revealed how the Sustainable Finance

The European Commission has opened infringement proceedings against Ireland over its alleged failure to correctly dispose the Landfill Directive. The Landfill Directive, first introduced in 1999 and amended in 2011 and 2018, sets standards for landfills to prevent adverse effects on human health, wa

The UK's ban on industrial sandeel fishing will continue after the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruled on a legal challenge brought by the European Union. The EU alleged that the closure of Scottish and English waters to sandeel fishing breached the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement.

Legislative plans for the "most significant reform of Irish asylum laws in the history of the State" have been set out by the minister for justice. Jim O'Callaghan yesterday secured government approval to publish the general scheme of the International Protection Bill 2025, which will ultimately rep