Introduction
The Israeli Competition Authority (ICA) recently published a draft public statement for comment regarding the submission of joint bids by competitors in tenders. The draft proposes an interpretation of the Competition Law that may significantly affect the business activities of entities operating in Israeli tender markets.
The ICA s draft public statement significantly limits the ability to conduct self-assessment for joint bidding. This may, in turn, result in significantly increasing the need to obtain prior approval to joint bidding. The ICA s draft public statement also lists the primary considerations that will guide the competition commissioner when examining requests to exempt joint bidding. These considerations can also be implemented by the parties when performing a self-assessment in cases where the block exemption applies.
Introduction
On 16 September 2020 the eagerly awaited draft Renewable Energy Expansion Act (EAG) was published for evaluation (for further details please see Sparking change: Renewable Energy Expansion Act published for evaluation ). To help achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement 2015, the draft creates new framework conditions for the expansion of renewable energy in Austria. The country intends for 100% of its total electricity consumption to come from renewable energy sources from 2030 onwards. To achieve this target, it plans to increase its annual electricity generation from renewable sources by 27 terawatt hours (TWh) by 2030, 11 TWh being contributed by photovoltaic (PV) plants.
Market premium instead of feed-in tariffs
Introduction
On 26 November 2020 the Central District Court (Judge Hadas Ovadia) dismissed a claim filed by Yossef Levi (the plaintiff) against Pazgas Ltd and its insurer Phoenix Insurance Company Ltd (the defendants) and determined that the plaintiff had failed to prove:
that the claim event had been a gas explosion ; and
Pazgas s alleged negligence.(1)
Facts
At approximately 9:00pm on 7 September 2010, a fire broke out in a pub called Levis located in an industrial building in the city of Ashdod, which was operated by the plaintiff.
In March 2014 the plaintiff filed a statement of claim in the Central District Court regarding property damage that he had allegedly sustained, in the amount of NIS6,635,846, as a result of a gas leak that had led to an explosion and a fire that had broken out in his pub.
In September 2020 the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate jointly promulgated Interpretation III on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of the Law in Handling Intellectual Property Criminal Cases. The judicial interpretation aims to reduce IP rights crimes and create a business-friendly environment by establishing unified standards in the application of the law in this regard.
Introduction
Insurance applications can be challenging. The questions are often ambiguous and remembering every piece of relevant information is difficult. However, being diligent is important, as an insurer may deny coverage of a claim if an insured incorrectly answered a question or failed to disclose material information. On the other hand, insureds should be aware that the courts will scrutinise claims of inadequate disclosure on a reasonableness basis. Typically, insurers cannot rely on answers to ambiguous questions in application materials unless the nature of the risks that those questions sought to elicit is obvious or was brought to the insured s attention.