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Monthly Dose of Germany: February 2025
We would like to share some interesting insights into the German Legal market and recent developments as well as interesting events and publications with you. This edition of our "Monthly Dose of Germany" is presented by our Czech Desk, headed by Peter Karmann.
Our colleagues at Deloitte Legal have published numerous interesting articles on current topics in the German legal market. We have collected these for you and hope you enjoy reading them. You will find an overview in the table of contents on the right.
Explore Content
- Deloitte Legal Tech Fair 2025
- New edition of "Compliance Checklisten" with authors from Deloitte Legal
- Modernization of the Global Agreement between the EU and Mexico
- Representative Actions in Germany
- Monthly Dose Employment Law: 01/2025 - Selected current judgements
Deloitte Legal Tech Fair 2025
Developments in the legal market around legal operations, generative AI and the future of legal departments
For the second year, Deloitte Legal hosted the Deloitte Legal Tech Fair in Düsseldorf, providing new and exciting insights into Behavioral Compliance, Legal Front Door, Matter Management and the growing role of generative AI in the legal department.
We are delighted to have welcomed many people interested in legal tech to the Deloitte Legal Tech Fair at our Düsseldorf office on 19 February 2025. In addition to numerous discussions at our exhibition stands, the presentations and discussions by our experts provided exciting new insights.
Read more here: Deloitte Legal Tech Fair 2025
New edition of "Compliance Checklisten" with authors from Deloitte Legal
The demands on the corporate compliance function are constantly changing. Entire areas of the law and the obligations, responsibilities and liabilities they cover are being revised or created by the legislature or clarified by the courts, resulting in a wide range of challenges in terms of content and organisational structures. In view of these developments, Germany's leading legal publisher C.H.BECK, in cooperation with lawyers and partners from Deloitte Legal, has just published the new sixth edition of the renowned handbook "Compliance Checklists - Recognising and Avoiding Legal Risks in Business".
In 18 chapters, the book covers the most important legal areas for businesses and the relevant implementation issues. Deloitte Legal is involved in the sixth edition of the "Compliance Checklists" with essential core areas of our consulting practice. Our authors are
- Stock exchange and capital markets law: Dr Volker Schulenburg (Corporate, Hamburg), author since the first edition
- Corporate Law: Dr Volker Schulenburg and, Dr Christian M. Beuck (Corporate, Hamburg), new
- Mergers & Acquisitions: Eike Fietz (Legal M&A, Munich), author since the first edition.
Modernization of the Global Agreement between the EU and Mexico
On January 17, 2025, representatives of the European Union and Mexico concluded negotiations on a modernized Global Agreement.
The new Global Agreement establishes a modern framework for mutual economic and political cooperation aimed at strengthening the partnership framework enshrined in the original agreement that came into force in 2000. This new Global Agreement between the EU and its second-biggest trading partner in Latin America is set to directly benefit more than 550 million consumers by facilitating (and promoting) mutual economic growth, investment and trade opportunities, as well as strategic cooperation on key geopolitical issues – such as supply chain resilience and stability and the sustainable supply of critical raw materials.
Our article takes a look at:
- New Global Agreement
- Overview of trade relations
- Key benefits of the new Global Agreement and
- Next steps
Representative Actions in Germany
A Sword of Damocles for the Energy Sector?
Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of 25 November 2020 on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers obliged Germany to introduce a procedural mechanism that enables consumers to assert alleged claims through collective redress. Domestic implementation in Germany took place in October 2023, including through the introduction of the new Consumer Rights Enforcement Act (VDuG). As practice to date has shown, energy suppliers in particular have found themselves in the “crosshairs” of VDuG plaintiffs. Why is this the case? And what can affected energy suppliers do?
The national implementation in Germany took place in October 2023, notably through the introduction of the new Consumer Rights Enforcement Act (VDuG). As previous practices have shown, energy providers, in particular, are increasingly becoming the "target" of plaintiffs under the VDuG.
Monthly Dose Employment Law: 01/2025 - Selected current judgements
The first edition of our Monthly Dose Employment Law in 2025 on current case law explains the judgments of
(1) the Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) dated 1 August 2024 (6 AZR 38/24) on the relevance of the regular place of employment for holiday allowances,
(2) the Regional Labor Court (Landesarbeitsgericht, LAG) of Baden-Württemberg dated 6 August 2024 (21 TaBV 7/24) regarding co-determination of the works council in the introduction of desk sharing and a clean desk policy,
(3) the LAG Duesseldorf dated 14 August 2024 (14 Sla 303/24) on the inflation compensation during parental leave under collective bargaining agreement, and
(4) the LAG of Baden-Württemberg dated 11 September 2024 (4 Sa 10/24) on remuneration entitlements of employees in dismissal lawsuits in case of malicious omission to other earnings (already confirmed by BAG in its decision dated 15 January 2025 (5 AZR 273/24),
(5) the European Court of Justice (ECJ) dated 29 July 2024 (C-184/22 and C-185/22) and BAG dated 5 December 2024 (8 AZR 370/20 and 372/20) on overtime pay entitlements of part-time employees.
Article by Dr. Lars Hinrichs., Elisa Ultsch, Katharina Gohlke and Stefan Weste
Read full article here.
Transaction News
We at Deloitte Legal Germany are constantly advising on numerous complex transactions and challenging projects.
We would be delighted to explain our services portfolio to you and discuss with you how we at Deloitte Legal Germany can assist you with your projects, whether in the field of Corporate Reorganizations, M&A transactions, including carve-outs, general commercial, employment law, IT/IP or LMC/LMS. Just reach out to us!
In order for you to better understand how we have helped other clients, we would like to hereinafter showcase information on a project that our teams have recently advised on.
Deloitte Legal advises on the sale of a majority stake in the Weiser GmbH Brandschutz & Technik to GOLDBECK
A Düsseldorf-based Deloitte Legal team led by Corporate/M&A partners Michael von Rüden and Thilo Hoffmann has advised the shareholders of Weiser GmbH Brandschutz & Technik on the sale of the majority of shares to GOLDBECK Services GmbH, a company of GOLDBECK Group.
People News
We are delighted to welcome a new partner in our Franfurt Office, who joined Deloitte Legal in February 2025:
Blockchain and crypto expert Alireza Siadat joins Deloitte Legal as partner in Frankfurt
Deloitte Legal is strengthening its cross-office team in Banking & Finance and FSI Legal at its key banking location of Frankfurt am Main with the hire of renowned blockchain and crypto expert Alireza Siadat. At Deloitte Legal, Alireza Siadat will primarily focus on advising providers of DLT, blockchain and crypto-assets-related services, working closely with our other Deloitte divisions, in particular Consulting, Risk Advisory and Financial Advisory. His future tasks will also include further expanding the firm’s cross-border cooperation, especially in the DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and Liechtenstein regions, the United Arab Emirates, as well as Luxembourg, the UK and the US.
Deloitte Legal Webcast Series
In our German language Deloitte Legal Update webcast series, we address current legal issues and developments that are important for corporate practice.
In our upcoming "Legal Update" webcast we will discuss:
Deloitte Legal Webcast "Legal Update #03/2025 - Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR)
Wednesday, 05 March 2025 | 11:00 - 11:45 a.m.
Register here (Webcast in German language)
The key provisions of the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation – Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCAR) are to be applied throughout Europe from December 30, 2024. The regulation creates a uniform legal framework for crypto-assets across Europe, with rules for both the primary and secondary markets. Trading in crypto securities (secondary market), which has so far been subject to inconsistent regulation, will be subject to a Europe-wide licensing requirement. In our webcast, we provide an overview of the main regulatory content of the Regulation and the associated organizational and operational requirements for licenses. At the same time, we show how the new uniform legal framework can be used to open up markets through uniform licensing procedures, EU passporting and legally compliant implementation and scaling of business models across Europe.
Our experts Alireza Siadat and Jens Hermann Paulsen (Deloitte Blockchain Institute) will guide you through the webcast and discuss how can banks, FinTechs, financial institutions and payment service providers benefit from MiCAR?
You can download the presentations of our recent webcasts here:
- Legal Update #02/2025 - Case Study Outsourcing of pension liabilities 2025: The strategic direction in dealing with pension obligations is currently on the agenda at many companies. In particular, in the case of company pension schemes in the implementation paths of direct commitment (Direktzusage) and provident fund (Unterstützungskasse), there continues to be a trend towards outsourcing of such pension commitments. The reasons for this are varied: In addition to the control of interest rate and inflation risks through appropriate investment and optimizing administrative processes, the impact on transactions often plays a significant role. In the webcast, Dr Lars Hinrichs, Elisa Ultsch, Jan Niebuhr und Stefan Jesgarz used a case study to discuss the typical decision-making considerations, challenges and options for implementing outsourcing in the current economic and legal environment.
In our Webcast Archive, you can find a list of previous webcasts and also download the corresponding presentations.
Should you be interested in topics discussed during one of our German language webcasts, do not hesitate to contact the respective presenters – they will be delighted to provide you with additional information in the English language.
EMEA Dbriefs Legal Webcast
The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive – What does it mean for you?
Thursday 6 March, 2025 (moved from 14 January)
12.00 GMT/13.00 CET
Supply chains represent a key area of risk for many businesses and are also an area receiving increased legislative scrutiny, particularly in the context of environmental, social, and governance issues. The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) is the latest legal development, mandating in-scope companies to address specific adverse human rights and environmental impacts within their operations and supply chains. What does this mean for your organisation and what can you do to prepare? We’ll discuss:
- The Directive's requirements
- The type of companies that may be affected, both from an EU and non-EU perspective
- Compliance deadlines
- Practical tips to help you prepare
Find out more about how the CSDDD may impact your business and stay ahead of the evolving legal landscape.
