The European regulation of financial collateral arrangements has been amended by Directive 2009/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 (“Directive”). The deadline for its transposition expired on 31 December 2010.

On 1 January 2011 the new Tax Procedure Code took effect which will regulate tax proceedings in the Czech Republic. As tax proceedings concern almost everybody, as almost everybody pays tax, let us look at what the new Tax Procedure Code will bring.

Comparing the Czech and Slovak regulation of the time limit for tax assessment: the Czech 3+0 rule versus the Slovak 5+1 rule. Will a dispute concerning the 5+1 and the 5+0 rules also arise in Slovakia (similarly to the Czech 3+0 versus 3+1 rules)? Is the regulation of the time limit for tax assessment in Slovakia, which is applicable to international tax treaties, discriminatory?

The Operational Program Research and Development for Innovations (OPRDI) was implemented for public institutions in the industrial research and development sector. The aim of the program is to develop cooperation between universities and industrial enterprises, to support research and development at universities and research institutions, and to highlight supply and demand in the research and development sector.

In the Czech Republic, the heavily debated and controversial act on significant market power in the sale of agricultural and food products, and its abuse, came into force at the beginning of the last year. The aim of the act is to regulate retailers’ purchasing power over suppliers of food and agricultural products. An action has been filed in Brussels in which businesses request proceedings be brought against the Czech Republic, arguing that the act is incompatible with EU competition law.

The Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council 2006/123/EC of 12 December 2006, on services in the internal market (“Directive” or “Directive on services”) substantially develops the freedom of establishment and freedom of cross-border provision of services under Articles 43 and 49 of the EC treaty. The Directive applies to all types of services except those which are expressly excluded.

Free movement of persons, services and capital in the European Union means that businesses more frequently enter into contractual relationships with business partners from other EU member states. However, businessmen often do not realize that they may be sued by their business partners abroad. Consequently, the question arises as to which court will decide on a dispute arising from this contractual relationship.

A merger of Slovak limited liability companies and an up-stream merger (of a mother and a daughter companies) of Slovak joint stock companies can be much easier than one might first think, and the benefits can significantly outweigh the costs. Mergers are perceived as an instrument that is most commonly used during economic growth. But in specific situations it can also be a useful instrument during an economic downturn.

In the Czech Republic, a country with a continental legal system, court decisions do not set precedents as they do in common law jurisdictions. Nevertheless, court decisions in tax proceedings may not be ignored, as to a considerable extent they modify the interpretation of legislation. Without knowledge of court decisions one may not succeed in tax proceedings. Recently, two substantial decisions of the Czech Constitutional Court concerning tax reviews have been published.

Recently some changes to Ukrainian law have been introduced which have repealed the need to notarize land lease agreements and bring greater transparency in land certification and land allotment procedures. This article briefly describes these changes.

Czech tax legislation has been amended with consequences for foreign businessmen. Act No.2/2009 Coll., mainly amending Act on Income Taxes, Act on Reserves for Ascertaining the Income Tax Base and Act on Social Security and Employment Policy Contributions, was published in the Collection of Laws of the Czech Republic and took effect on 1 January 2009. Simultaneously, Act No.1/2000 Coll., which amends Act No. 33/1992 Coll., on Real Estate Tax, took effect.

The European Union regulation on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations (Rome II regulation) will take effect on 11 January 2009. From this date courts in EU member states, except Denmark, will decide on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations in civil and commercial matters based on the same rules. In addition to unifying decision rules the possibility to select the law applicable to non-contractual obligations is introduced.