Publications

Despite geopolitical tensions, fears of recession and strong inflationary pressures across the EU, as well as the fiscal tightening needed to contain them, M&A in the CEE region has remained reasonably buoyant. Findings from the CMS Emer­ging Europe M&A 2023/24 report, published in cooperation with EMIS, demonstrate the resilience of the Emerging Europe deals market as activity holds firm against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions and strong inflationary pressures. Welcome to the 2023/24 edition of the Emerging Europe report.

Stay informed about the latest sustainability claims trends and developments The CMS Green Globe is an interactive platform that allows businesses and clients to stay aware and duly informed about all the main rapidly changing trends and developments in relation to sustainability claims. The CMS Green Globe helps you to avoid greenwashing your consumer. Here you find:Latest news on sustainability claim­sIn­ter­act­ive map – Country-specific trends for 32 jur­is­dic­tions­G­lob­al trendsRelated ESG products by CMSKey contacts/CMS Green Globe TeamSubscribe to CMS Green Globe Newsletter here.

The year 2022 started with various challenges, including rising inflation and energy prices. Then the Russian invasion of Ukraine added yet another one. Nonetheless, the M&A market in emerging European countries proved to be extremely resilient. The region saw M&A activity maintain a steady pace, though deal values were notably lower. Also, variations could be observed across territories and sectors. While 2022 brought a unique set of challenges, dealmaking largely compared favourably to pre-pandemic levels. Welcome to the 2022/23 edition of the Emerging Europe report.

This CMS Guide is designed to shine a light on the wide variety of energy saving laws in selected CEE countries by explaining the most important legal measures and helping you to discover where your opportunities might lie. Political and legal framework Energy transformation requires building up new energy sources and that takes time. Saving energy, however, is the quickest and cheapest way to address the current energy crisis, which is mainly caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Reducing energy consumption cuts households’ and companies’ high energy bills. Building on the “Fit for 55” package of proposals and completing the actions on energy security of supply and storage, the European Commission’s REPowerEU plan put forward a set of five actions, the first of which is energy saving. Union law sets forth mandatory saving goals for Member States but leaves them plenty of leeway to choose between a variety of measures. Applicant countries and many others have passed energy savings laws and targets too – offering additional flexibility. As a framework, the Fit for 55 package and the European Climate Law (REG 2021/1119) sets out a binding, irreversible reduction of anthropogenic emissions. By 2030, 55% of the net GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions compared to 1990 must be saved. By 2050, the mandatory net zero emission goal must be achieved. Regulation 2022/1032 requires that member states fill their gas storage facilities to at least 80-90% or that they store at least 35% of their average annual consumption in European storage facilities. Reducing consumption over the years reduces the filling obligation. Since August 2022, obligatory reductions in gas consumption apply to EU member states (Regulation 2022/1032). The core innovation of this regime is the Union alarm that can be triggered by the European Council if there is a material risk of grave gas supply shortages, extraordinary gas demand or a national alarm pursuant to Directive 2017/1938 in at least five Member States. Once a Union alarm has been triggered and for as long as it remains in force, member states must reduce their gas consumption by 15%. There is a partial exception if this would otherwise cause an electricity crisis in the respective member state. However, the steering measures to be taken and whether certain groups of gas consumers are granted more favourable conditions remain at the member state’s dis­cre­tion. Re­gard­ing electricity, Regulation 2022/1854 on an emergency intervention to address high energy prices aims to reduce electricity consumption by 10% and ease the pressure on electricity prices through revenue caps. Again, Member States are free to choose the appropriate measures to reduce gross electricity consumption and meet the 10% target. Additional rules apply to the fuel consumption of trucks or the energy consumption of district heating/cooling. The CMS Guide The result of these regulations concerning energy saving has been the in­tro­duc­tion of a wide variety of energy saving laws in individual states; and many more measures are still to come. This CMS Guide is designed to shine a light on these regulations by explaining the most important legal measures and helping you to discover where your opportunities might lie. For each jurisdiction, the guide is structured into: (1) a country overview,  (2) national relief measures for high energy prices,  (3) na­tion­al/re­gion­al/com­mun­al energy savings measures, and  (4) energy storage status and incentives. The following measures have been chosen by the states represented in this  guide:  sub­sidies to end-consumers (Austria in general for energy prices; Croatia for gas con­sump­tion), price caps: electricity (Croatia for households, undertakings and certainpublic consumers; Ukraine for house­holds),re­duced VAT rate (Croatia, North Macedonia), tax incentives to privately store gas (Ukraine); exemption from steering measures for privately storing gas (Aus­tria),sub­sidies to compensate for high energy prices (Bulgaria and Slovakia, in Slovenia for enterprises, in Türkiye for agriculture) and energy saving measures: (Croatia for SMEs); the reallocation of EU funds to support energy consumers (Slov­akia); sub­sidies for energy storage solutions (Austria, Bulgaria and Ukraine) or for heat producers (Ukraine),energy efficiency measures incl. digitalisation (Bul­garia),re­duced hours of electricity or heating supply (North Macedonia) or of gas supply (Slov­akia),re­duc­tion of energy consumption by the public administration (Austria, North Macedonia, Slovenia), andobligations on gas storage operators to feed gas into the grid (Austria, Slovakia) or to supply heat producers at preferential prices (Ukraine). rewards for voluntary reduction of gas and/or electric en­ergy con­sump­tion (Slovenia)educed permitting requirements for PV and wind plants (Türkiye).

This interview with Agnieszka Skorupinska first appeared in the Future of Emerging Europe: Sustainability Report 2022.  A copy of the full report is also available to access here. The ESG challenge is a drive to­wards in­nov­a­tion Due to a variety of his­tor­ic­al factors, sustainability issues have con­sti­tuted a significant challenge for the emerging Europe region. After the fall of the Berlin wall, the situation with respect to fore­most en­vir­on­ment­al and social issues was difficult. The foregoing was especially apparent with respect to environmental matters as the pre­ser­va­tion of the environment and its possible impact on human health was not a priority for the relevant authorities and business during the communist period. While there were many industrial plants in CEE at that time, their equipment was outdated and they were never seriously required to cut down their en­vir­on­ment­al impact. 

This article first appeared in the Future of Emerging Europe: Sustainability Report 2022.  A copy of the full report is also available to access here. Developments in ESG issues in emerging Europe’s en­ergy sector continue apace. Energy gen­er­a­tion com­pan­ies, governments, local authorities and consumers are all affected by the drive towards a future that is less reliant on fossil fuels.

This article first appeared in the Future of Emerging Europe: Sustainability Report 2022. A copy of the full report is also available to access here. ESG issues are having a growing impact on how we all work. But what developments are com­pan­ies im­ple­ment­ing in reaction to this dynamic environment, and what changes might employees have to face in the future?

The focus on ESG (environmental, social and governance) in emerging Europe has increased notably following the EU taxonomy coming into force at the beginning of 2022. EU-driven initiatives, including policies coming out of the European Green Deal (EGD) to fight climate change have started affecting the industry, and with tightening regulation as well as reporting and compliance obligations, there is certainly more to come. 

CEE Legal Matters spoke with CMS Partners Agnieszka Skorupinska, Kostadin Sirleshtov, and Varinia Radu about the impact of ESG on the energy sector in CEE. Growing Pains “The energy sector is very much...

What’s next? In a world of ever-ac­cel­er­at­ing change, staying ahead of the curve and knowing what’s next for your business or sector is essential. At CMS, we see ourselves not only as your legal advisers but also as your business partners. We work together with you to not only resolve current issues but to anticipate future challenges and innovate to meet them. With our latest publication, CMS Next, our experts will regularly offer you insights into and fresh perspectives on a range of issues that businesses have to deal with – from ESG agendas to restructuring after the pandemic or facing the digital transformation. We will also share with you more about the work that we are doing for our clients, helping them innovate, grow and mitigate risk. To be able to provide you with the best support, we immerse ourselves in your world to understand your legal needs and challenges. However, it is equally important that you know who we are and how we can work with you. So, we invite you to meet our experts and catch a glimpse of what is happening inside CMS. Enjoy reading this publication, which we will update regularly with new content. CMS Executive Team

CEE Legal Matters spoke with CMS Partners Alexander Rakosi, Horea Popescu, Philipp Mark, and Tetyana Dovgan about the impact the rise of ESG is having on the M&A landscape.“ESG is getting at the top...

ESG considerations are increasingly recognised as interrelated business issues, critical to long-term shareholder value and business resilience, which require to be put at the head of the safety of an organisation and monitored at board level. ESG Exchange CEE is a series of short videocasts with CMS experts and guests addressing challenges and trends relevant to CEE businesses, as the region’s focus on ESG reporting increases following EU taxonomy coming into effect in January 2022.