Posts

Showing posts from February, 2020

Brexit: Consequences for the Court of Justice of the European Union

Image
The Court of Justice takes formal notice of the fact that the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the EU has the effect of bringing to an end the mandates of the British Members of the Institution with effect from 31 January 2020 at midnight.  The number of Judges of the Court of Justice and of the General Court, fixed at one for each Member State for the Court of Justice and two for each Member State for the General Court, is therefore reduced with immediate effect at the time of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.  On the other hand, in accordance with the declaration of the Conference of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States of 29 January 2020 on the consequences of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU for the Advocates General of the Court of Justice, the number of Advocates General of the Court of Justice, fixed at eleven by the Council Decision of 25 June 2013(2013/336/EU: Council Decision of 25 June 2013 increasing t

Rule of law in Poland and Hungary has worsened

Image
The EU’s discussions with Poland and Hungary have not yet led these countries to realign with the EU’s founding values, Parliament warned last January . In a resolution adopted with 446 votes to 178 and 41 abstentions, MEPs note that reports and statements by the Commission, the UN, OSCE and the Council of Europe indicate that “the situation in both Poland and Hungary has deteriorated since the triggering of Article 7(1)”. MEPs point out that the hearings organised by the Council under  Article 7 of the Treaty  are neither regular nor structured. They call on the Council to address concrete recommendations to the countries concerned, including deadlines, to ensure EU law is respected. “The failure by the Council to make effective use of Article 7 continues to undermine the integrity of common European values, mutual trust and the credibility of the European Union as a whole”, claims the EP. The text also urges the Commission to use all tools at its disposal to prevent a se

Registration of a Company of Foreign Interests in Cyprus and employment of third country nationals

Image
Author: Maria Rousia, Associate Lawyer at Dionysiou & Partners LLC (Cyprus) Introduction Although generally a Cyprus company must give priority in employment recruitment to Cypriots and EU nationals before attempting to employ third country nationals, there is an exception enabling companies of foreign interests to give priority to the employment of third country nationals instead of locals and EU nationals, provided that certain requirements are met. The main aim of the above exception was the attraction of foreign investments. The criteria that companies must meet in order to benefit from this decision, the categories of staff and the maximum numbers of third country nationals who can be employed in each category of staff are described below. Eligible Companies The company must be a private company and third country shareholders should own the majority of the company’s shares (percentage equal or more than 50% of the total share capital). It is important to note that

Editorial

Editorial
George Kazoleas, Lawyer