With the development of different technological solutions and the ever-growing need for faster and more efficient transaction processes and less paperwork, companies are increasingly searching for ways to simplify and digitalize their contracts signing and documentation handling. Relying on general terms and conditions (“GTCs”) gains relevance in this respect. In Serbia, however, in view of the prevailingly rigid courts, one of the main challenges of this digitalization process lies in finding an efficient, but at the same time a legally certain way, to validly contract one’s GTCs.

On 26 July 2023, the Serbian Parliament adopted amendments to the Law on Foreigners and the Law on Employment of Foreigners (“Immigration Laws”), aimed at further facilitating employment of foreigners in Serbia, simplifying and shortening immigration procedures. Amended Immigration Laws enter into force on 4 August 2023, with certain changes in the immigration procedures being applicable as of 1 February 2024.

The Serbian Commission for Protection of Competition ("CPC") has recently published a report on its sector inquiry in the cement and concrete markets in Serbia, conducted from 2018 to 2021 ("Sector Inquiry"). The CPC aimed to determine the relationships between competitors on both markets, assess their market shares and relative strength, analyse their commercial policies and contractual relations...

In the last four months of 2022, the Serbian Commission for Protection of Competition ("CPC") initiated five investigations for suspected competition infringements. The beginning of 2023 shows that the CPC's intensive work on detecting competition infringements is not of a passing nature, but is here to stay – the CPC started the year off with yet another investigation for suspected resale price maintenance (RPM) against a heating products company Vaillant.

Starting from the end of September up to the first week of November alone, the Serbian Commission for Protection of Competition (“CPC”) initiated five investigations for suspected competition infringements. Not only is this level of enforcement activity rather high compared to previous years, but it also shows the CPC’s clear interest in two areas – the e-commerce sector and unnotified acquisitions (gun-jumping).

Digital markets have seen rapid expansion during the past two decades. A few large undertakings have established their positions as dominant players in digital markets globally, creating serious challenges for competition law enforcement in ensuring efficient and effective market regulation. Existing enforcement measures proved to be outdated or too slow when attempting to regulate the conduct of the Big Tech.