Hyper-text mark-up language meaning

In this issue: COP30 Key developments Air emissions and climate change Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental assessment Environmental information Environmental permits and consents ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Water, flooding and drainage LexTalk®Environment: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content COP30 COP30’s Global ‘Collective Effort’—Fragments of progress By the Saturday morning when COP30 in Brazil should have concluded, negotiators secured an accord: ‘Global Mutirão: Uniting humanity in a global mobilisation against climate change’. Drawn from the Tupi-Guarani language, ‘Global Mutirão’ echoed a summit presented as one of action and delivery. The resulting text deliberately preserved the multilateral process and offered glimmers of progress, yet avoided any explicit mention of fossil fuels or of forests—despite the meeting taking place in the Amazon. This piece highlights the principal outcomes from COP30. Written by Estelle Dehon...

State aid — Court of Justice rules on Romanian references regarding the retrospective application of a corrected EU Regulation in a State aid dispute The Court of Justice has delivered its ruling in Joined Cases C- 416/24 On Air Media Professionals and C- 417/24 Different Media, national references from Romania asking whether, among other matters, the retrospective application of a corrected Romanian-language version of an EU regulation allows national authorities to recover State aid granted under the original Romanian text, having regard to the principles of legal certainty and the protection of legitimate expectations. Background On 27 August 2020, under the Temporary Framework to support the economy in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Commission approved a Romanian scheme to assist SMEs and certain larger enterprises. The scheme was subsequently put into effect in Romania by order. Article 4(1) of that order authorised the granting of aid up to €2,000 per beneficiary for specified categories of SME...

Advocate General Szpunar has presented his views in Joined Cases C- 416/24 On Air Media Professionals and C- 417/24 Different Media, arising from a Romanian national reference. The request seeks guidance, inter alia, on whether applying retroactively a revised Romanian-language version of an EU regulation enables national authorities to reclaim State aid granted on the basis of the initial Romanian text, taking into account the principles of legal certainty and safeguarding legitimate expectations. The reference asks, amongst other matters, whether the retroactive effect of a corrected Romanian-language version of an EU regulation can lawfully justify recovery of aid previously conferred under the uncorrected Romanian wording in Romania. Background On 27 August 2020, the Commission approved, under the Temporary Framework supporting the economy during the COVID-19 outbreak, a Romanian measure for SMEs and certain larger undertakings. That scheme was then implemented domestically by order. Article 4(1) of the order authorised the award of aid of up to €2,000 per recipient for specified SME categories...

Using metatags and keyword advertising is lawful, yet it has prompted disputes where site operators select competitors’ trade marks as keywords to channel traffic to their own pages. The competitor’s trade mark is usually not visible in the advert or on the advertiser’s site, but the advert or the web link appears when an internet user enters the competitor’s mark as a search term. The central issue is whether employing third-party trade marks in metatags or keyword advertising amounts to infringement. Terminology ‘Metatags’ are keywords and descriptions inserted in the invisible hypertext mark-up language (html) of websites. They indicate a site’s content. When an internet user types a keyword or description into a search engine, it searches the metatags as well as the visible text on websites to present a list of the most relevant sites (the ‘natural’ results). Website owners use metatags to improve the chances of search engines listing and ranking their site higher, leading to more users visiting the site...