EY Law News, October 2023

New updates and changes in the fields of energy, corporations, anti-money laundering, whistleblower protection and labor and social security registers

In the October issue of EY Law News we prepared an overview of new updates and changes in the fields of energy, corporations, anti-money laundering, whistleblower protection and labor and social security registers, which are still in the proposal phase or will enter into force by the end of this year.

COMPANIES ACT (ZGD-1M) PROPOSAL

On 29 September 2023, the Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport published a new proposal of the Companies Act (hereinafter referred to as the ZGD-1M). The proposal transposes three directives into Slovenian legal order: the Directive on the disclosure of tax information relating to income with a customer of certain companies and subsidiaries, the Directive on sustainability reporting by companies and the Directive on ensuring gender balance among directors of listed companies.

The three key new updates set by the proposal are:

1. Public country-by-country reporting

• The income statement, which will have to contain information on the overall business of the independent or parent company and data on the business of all related companies, will become an integral part of the annual report and will thus be publicly available in the Business Register run by AJPES;
• The income statement will have to be prepared and published by companies required to prepare a consolidated annual report and by other companies if their income or consolidated income based on the data of the last two consecutive financial years, at the balance sheet cut-off date on both occasions exceeds EUR 750,000,000, provided that the company carries on its business activity in more than one country through its subsidiaries and/or branches;
• The requirement to prepare and publish an income statement will, under certain conditions, be applicable to companies incorporated in the Republic of Slovenia by third country companies (shareholders), who constitute a group and under certain conditions, also to branches of third country companies.

2. Sustainability

• Extending the reporting obligations to all large companies and, after a two-year time laps, also to small and medium-sized companies whose securities are traded on the market;
• Expanding the scope and content of sustainability information to be reported.

3. Gender balance

• Defining the scope of entities required to ensure target gender representation of the under-represented gender among persons occupying the highest positions in companies i.e., either at least 40% representation of the under-represented gender among members of the supervisory body, or at least 33% representation of the under-represented gender among members of the management and supervisory bodies and executive directors. firefighting vehicles, special protective and rescue equipment and tools for the performance of firefighting duties, normally intended for use in interventions.

LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ENERGY SECTOR

NEW ACT ON THE SITING OF INSTALLATIONS FOR GENERATION OF ELECTRICITY FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES (ZUNPEOVE)

In the beginning of August 2023, the new ZUNPEOVE, which regulates the specificities of the spatial planning and authorization of installations generating electricity from renewable energy sources, including the technical equipment necessary for their operation, energy storage installations and grid connections, entered into force.

Two key novelties introduced by the law include:

1. The mandatory installation of photovoltaic installations in new buildings and reconstructions with floor area greater than 1000 m2 for:

• new construction of a paved car park,
• newly constructed buildings,
• vertical extensions to buildings,
• horizontal extensions to building, and
• the reconstruction of a building where the load-bearing structure of the roof is also affected.

Exception to this obligation is made for buildings for which on the date of entry into force of this Law:

• a building permit was already obtained,
• a contract for the preparation of the documentation for the construction of the building was already concluded; or
• a public procurement or invitation to tender has already been sent for publication in a public procurement procedure.

2. The installation obligation also applies to existing buildings with a floor area of more than 1700 m2 per:

• the roof of an existing building
• an existing paved car park.

 

EXPIRATION OF THE ONE-YEAR REDUCED CONTRIBUTION PERIOD FOR SUPPORT OF PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICITY FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

On 1 September 2023, the one-year 50 % reduction of the contribution for support of production of electricity from renewable energy sources expired.

According to the Government, the reduction was a complementary measure to the regulation of retail electricity prices for household and small business consumers and for consumption in common areas of apartment buildings and common areas in mixed apartment-business buildings.

ENERGY ACT PROPOSAL

The Energy Act was in the public consultation phase until 19 September 2023. The proposal sets out principles which in most cases maintain the same regime as in the Energy Act (EZ-1), with the exception of, for example, the new empowerment principle.

The provision in EZ-1 allowing the Agency to investigate based on a court order has been broadened. According to the proposal, the Agency would be able to use the evidence gathered from a detailed search of the premises in the supervision procedure, which would be concluded with an administrative decision and the imposition of a supervision measure. However, if the infringement detected also has elements of an offence, the Agency, who is the offence authority as well, would also carry out the offence proceedings and impose a fine on the infringer.

A new legal basis was also introduced giving the Agency the ability to issue an interim injunction where there is likelihood the provisions of the law or regulation have been infringed.

A prohibition of endangering the infrastructure has been introduced, together with a commitment for the infrastructure to plan and build in a reliable and highly energy-efficient manner, satisfying latest technical standards and in economically effective way.

DEADLINE FOR SETTING UP AN INTERNAL CHANNEL FOR REPORTING INFORMATION ABOUT A BREACH UNDER THE WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION ACT (ZZPRI)

As previously pointed out in our newsletter, private sector companies employing up to 249 employees are required to establish a whistleblowing channel no later than 17 December 2023. If you are unsure whether you meet all the necessary requirements under the Whistleblower protection Act, we invite you to complete our questionnaire.

DEADLINE FOR THE PREPARATION OF MONEY LAUNDERING AND TERRORIST FINANCING RISK ASSESSMENT

The deadline for the preparation of a risk assessment for money laundering and terrorist financing, the content of which is set out in the Act on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (ZPPDFT-2) and through which the obliged party assesses the riskiness of a particular customer, expired on 5 October 2023.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LEGISLATIVE NOVELTIES OF THE AMENDMENT OF LABOUR AND SOCIAL SECURITY REGISTERS ACT

The amendments to the Law on Labour and Social Security Registers Act will apply from 20 November 2023. We draw your attention to our April Law News.