Eu Law

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has answered questions posed by the Irish High Court as the interpretation of Article 4(4)–(6) of Directive 2011/92 and the obligations arising where information received from third parties during the planning process raises doubt as to the potential environ

More than 150 decisions have been issued so far by the Dublin-based Appeals Centre Europe (ACE), a new independent body for resolving disputes on social media platforms. ACE, certified by Coimisiún na Meán as an out-of-court dispute settlement (ODS) body under Article 21 of the EU Digi

Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) is taking part in Europe-wide enforcement actions focused on the "right to be forgotten". The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) last week announced its co-ordinated enforcement framework (CEF) action for 2025, involving 32 data protection authorities ac

Eight public bodies have designated as competent authorities responsible for implementing and enforcing the new EU AI Act within their respective sectors. The initial list was confirmed yesterday as the government approved plans to adopt a "distributed model of implementation" of the landmark EU leg

Around four in 10 organisations in Ireland still lack a dedicated sustainability function, while only one in five have adopted climate transition plan, according to research by A&L Goodbody. A new report from the law firm suggests that many Irish companies remain unprepared for the legal re

Major businesses including Nokia and Ericsson will welcome the European Commission's decision to withdraw proposals for the regulation of standard essential patents (SEPs), William Fry has said. The proposed SEP Regulation was among 35 initiatives the European Commission said last week it will withd

A voluntary code of practice on disinformation is to be integrated into the framework of the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) and used as a benchmark for determining platforms' compliance. The code, first published in 2018 and significantly strengthened in 2022, is to become a voluntary code of conduct

The Northern Ireland Assembly has again voted in favour of a "progressive smoking ban" despite continued uncertainty over its compatibility with post-Brexit rules. MLAs yesterday passed a legislative consent motion backing Northern Ireland's inclusion in the UK government's Tobacco and Vapes Bill, w

The High Court has made orders against Virgin Media Ireland Limited in a novel application by ComReg concerning its "save" activities and its imposition of a 30-day notice period on customers cancelling outside of their minimum contract term. Delivering judgment for the High Court, Mr Justice Denis

The EU has launched a consultation on revision to state aid rules in order to bring them in line with the requirements of the Aarhus Convention. The European Commission has prepared draft amendments to the state aid Implementing Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 and to the state aid Best Practices Code (B

Ireland is facing infringement proceedings over its alleged failure to transpose two EU directives. The European Commission has sent a letter of formal notice to six member states, including Ireland, for allegedly having notified only the partial transposition of the Gender Balance on Corporate Boar

A senior Irish legal academic has secured victory over the EU in a battle over the disclosure of documents relating to the Polish rule of law crisis. Professor Laurent Pech, the dean of UCD Sutherland School of Law, launched legal proceedings in September 2024 after the European Commission "persiste

European consumer watchdogs have accused Meta of continuing to breach EU law with its "pay-or-consent" policy. Meta first introduced a pay-or-consent model in November 2023, offering EU users of Facebook and Instagram the option of either paying a monthly fee to use ad-free versions of the social ne

Donald Trump's return to the White House has put the legality of EU-US data transfers in doubt once again, privacy campaigners have warned. Three of the four sitting members of the US Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) have reportedly been sacked by the new president, leaving the wa

New EU rules aimed at strengthening the IT security of financial entities such as banks, insurance companies and investment firms are finally here, write William Fry lawyers John O'Connor, Claire O'Connor and Conor Forde. While it may seem that we have been talking about the Digital Operational Resi