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In the recent past, decisions of the EU Commission as well as the European Court of Justice (ECJ) pertaining to so-called gun-jumpings (pre-merger coordination) within M&A transactions drew attention, in particular at European level.

By resolution of 29 March 2017 the Federal Constitutional Court [Bundesverfassungsgericht – BVerfG] decided that the proportionate forfeiture of tax losses pursuant to section 8c para. 1 sentence 1 German Corporation Tax Act [Körperschaftsteuergesetz – KStG] old version is unconstitutional and called on the legislator to pass new regulations by 31 December 2018 which should eliminate the infringement of the constitution retroactively as of 1 January 2008. The legislator implemented this by removing without replacement the regulations on proportionate forfeiture of tax losses retroactively as of 1 January 2008 by passing the “Law for the Avoidance of Sales Tax Losses when Trading Goods on the Internet and for the Amendment of Further Law Regulations” ([Gesetz zur Vermeidung von Umsatzsteuerausfällen beim Handel mit Waren im Internet und zur Änderung weiterer steuerlicher Vorschriften – UStAVermG], also known under its original name “Annual Tax Act 2018”).

In its judgment of 19 February 2019 (file no. 9 AZR 541/15) the Federal Labor Court [Bundesarbeitsgericht – BAG] ruled that an employee’s entitlement to paid annual leave shall as a rule only expire at the end of a calender year if the employer did not previously instruct the employer about the concrete leave entitlement and time limits and if the employee did not take the leave voluntarily nonetheless. With this judgment, the BAG implemented the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice which means that the expiration regulation under section 7 para. 3 Federal Holiday Benefits Act in its current form no longer applies.