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In February 2025, the European Court of Justice clarified the application of the essential facilities doctrine in the context of digital platforms in its “Android Auto” judgment (ECJ, judgment of Feb-ruary 25, 2025, C-233/23). The Court found that the refusal of a dominant undertaking to ensure the interoperability of its platform with a third-party app may be abusive. In this context, the plat-form does not have to be essential for the commercial use of the app by the third party; it is suffi-cient that it makes the app more attractive to users.

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The CDU/CSU and SPD agreed on a new Coalition Agreement on 9 April 2025. A multitude of political projects are on its agenda. Our experts from the various sector groups have summarised the most important points from a legal perspective.

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Oppenhoff has advised the partners of SCHELL GmbH & Co. KG on the sale of the company to Paragon Partners.

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Oppenhoff has successfully advised the managing shareholders of AutoProtect GmbH, a leading specialised insurance broker in the automotive trade, on the sale of their company. AutoProtect GmbH will become part of Leading Brokers United.

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Oppenhoff has advised the French Sicame Group, a leading global provider of products and services in the fields of electrical power distribution, renewable energies, electromobility, safety equipment and industrial applications, on the takeover of Kronenberg Freileitungsarmaturen GmbH.

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Labour law continues to evolve and the ongoing coalition negotiations between the CDU/CSU and SPD promise further exciting developments. The first key points for labour law are already identifiable: The flexibilisation of working hours, a possible increase in the minimum wage and measures to strengthen collective bargaining coverage are central points of discussion. However, it remains to be seen what will ultimately end up in the coalition agreement - and more importantly, what will actually be implemented.

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In the current publication of the Practical Law Guide on the topic “Lending & Taking Security in Germany”, our experts provide a well-founded and practical overview.

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Bad news from Erfurt for companies with employee stock option programmes. The Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) has abandoned its previous case law that the principles for examining general terms and conditions developed for special payments cannot be applied without restriction to stock options due to their speculative nature. According to this latest decision by the BAG, expiry clauses that allow already vested (i. e. exercisable) virtual options to expire immediately or disproportionately quickly after an employee’s resignation are unreasonably disadvantageous for the employee and therefore invalid. Numerous so-called bad leaver and good leaver clauses in employee stock option programmes are going to require an overhaul at the very least.

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On Tuesday, 18 March 2025, the Bundestag voted in favour of easing the so-called “debt brake” and creating a new special fund. The Bundesrat approved these plans on 21 March.

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With an overall ranking of five stars, Oppenhoff is one of the top 10 law firms in this year's azu100 ranking for young professionals. Associates are particularly impressed by the firm’s comprehensive training programme, the excellent development opportunities and its international orientation.

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On March 8, 2025, German political parties CDU/CSU and SPD presented the results of their preliminary coalition talks en route to a new government in Germany and recommended that the party leaders enter into coalition negotiations. They have published their preliminary results in a discussion paper publicly available. The preliminary results only lay the groundwork for the coalition negotiations between the conservative CDU/CSU and the center-left SPD and do not yet contain any binding commitments. Nevertheless, the paper already allows initial conclusions to be drawn regarding potential changes in tax law for both corporations and private households that are likely to come during the tenure of the next government.

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In June 2024, the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) ruled that a former chairman of the board of an association can demand 20 years after his departure from said association that his personal data - such as his name, date of birth and place of residence - are only restrictedly accessible in the register of associations (BGH, decision of 4 June 2024 - II ZB 10/23). In theory, this decision strengthens the rights of board members of associations.

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On 24 February 2025, marking the third anniversary of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, the EU adopted its 16th package of sanctions against Russia. This new package aims to intensify economic and political pressure on Russia by targeting key sectors of its economy and entities supporting its military operations and further reduce sanctions circumvention.

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Oppenhoff has advised Hardt Holding GmbH on the sale of Advenius GmbH to the ATTIKON Group.

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Oppenhoff has advised KNDS Deutschland on the conclusion of a joint venture agreement with KNDS France, Rheinmetall Landsysteme and Thales for the formation of the MGCS Project Company GmbH.

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The remuneration systems of key areas of the financial and insurance sectors are extensively reg-ulated. The rules to be applied in a specific case are determined by the supervisory requirements imposed upon the company in question based on its business purpose and, possibly, its size.

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In two articles we analyse the developments and opportunities in the German cannabis market: Franziska Katterbach examines regulatory changes in the medical sector, while Jonathan Sherman highlights how German companies can leverage Canadian capital markets for their expansion.

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In its decision of 28 January 2025 (see press release), the German Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, “BAG”) clarified that an employer is not obliged to provide a trade union with the work e-mail addresses of its employees for the purpose of recruiting members. The BAG thus sets clear limits to the freedom of association guaranteed by Art. 9 (3) of the German Constitution (Grundgesetz, “GG”) and restricts the employer's obligations in this context to mere acts of tolerance.

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Oppenhoff has comprehensively advised the Chinese Lange Medtech Group on the acquisition of a majority stake in ErgoSurg GmbH. The previous managing shareholder of ErgoSurg will invested.

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The world of work is increasingly shaped by Digitisation. In this environment, the simplification of bureaucratic processes is constantly gaining in importance in order to relieve the burden on companies and establish more efficient workflows. This goal is also pursued by the Fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act (Bürokratieentlastungsgesetz IV, “BEG IV”), which came into force on 1 January 2025 and with which the outgoing legislator wishes to promote the reduction of administrative hurdles and digitisation in the economy.

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The European Regulation 2024/1689 of 13 June 2024 laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence ("AI Regulation") came into force last year. It will apply in stages. Chapters I and II of the AI Regulation are already applicable as of 2 February 2025, and thus in particular the prohibi-tion of certain practices in the field of artificial intelligence and the obligation of providers and de-ployers of artificial intelligence systems to provide their users with a sufficient level of so-called "AI literacy". Kathrin Vossen, Dr. Axel Grätz and Annabelle Marceau explain what this means and what measures need to be taken by 2 February 2025.

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KNDS, a leading European manufacturer of military land systems based in Amsterdam, has renamed its parent company and group companies around Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG and Nexter Systems S. A. and introduced a new, standardised brand identity.

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Oppenhoff has advised the special glass manufacturer SCHOTT AG on the acquisition of QSIL GmbH Quarzschmelze Ilmenau. This is the largest acquisition in SCHOTT’s 140-year history.

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Oppenhoff has advised Bayer AG on the acquisition of HiDoc Technologies GmbH. With the strategic acquisition of HiDoc Technologies planned for Q1 2025, Bayer is expanding its portfolio in the field of digital health and further expanding its involvement in the area of self-medication.

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On December 16, 2024 the Council adopted a 15th package of restrictive measures with the objective of further limiting Russia’s ability to wage its war of aggression against Ukraine. The new measures entered into force on December 16, 2024 respectively December 17, 2024.

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