Santiago Garrido among the most outstanding recruitments of the year | Expansión

The evolution of the concept of genetically modified organisms in the European Union in light of new genomic techniques (NGTs) is examined, along with the regulatory response that introduces a distinction between two categories of NGT plants, making the regime more flexible for those that can be considered equivalent to conventional plants. It also highlights that the institutional agreement reflected in the Council’s position represents a significant shift from the case law of the Court of Justice. Regarding patents, it highlights the absence of substantial changes, opting instead for a cautious approach based on transparency, monitoring, and possible future intervention.

The Supreme Court judgment of 10 April 2026 characterises the concept of public service under Article 24(1) of Act 39/2015 as an exception to the ‘double silence’ rule, distinguishing it from the concept of service of general economic interest, which applies in liberalized sectors such as that of electricity supply. The Supreme Court thus concludes that in seeking an authorisation to close a combined-cycle power plant, the ‘double silence’ rule applies to the effect of a presumption of approval.

The newsletter covers the main developments in Pharma & Healthcare legislation and case law.

The measures related to grid access and connection respond to investor interest in large-scale decarbonization projects, data centres, electric mobility, and energy storage, and aim to reduce the current hoarding of demand-side access.

Royal Decree-law 7/2026, of 20 March, approving the Comprehensive Plan to Address the Crisis in the Middle East - published in the Official Journal of Spain on 21 March - introduces significant changes to the regulation of the electricity sector. Although it needs to be ratified by Parliament, generally speaking it came into force on the day of its publication.

Reduced connection charges for electro-intensive consumers and the Fund for the Promotion of Industrial Decarbonization will help improve the industrial sector's competitiveness in the current economic climate.

This paper analyses the decision of the Mannheim Local Division of 2 October 2025, where the Unified Patent Court (UPC) justifies its jurisdiction on the basis of shipment of products from a UPC territory by company listed as authorized representative in the EC and UK markets as event giving rise to damage. Furthermore, although the applicable law with regard to the infringement of the European patent validated in States that are not party to the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court is the national law of those States, with regard to the scope of patent protection, the UPC imposes on the defendant—unduly—the burden of proving the specifics of national law.

The Court of Appeal of the Unified Patent Court has ruled that a patent invalidity defence cannot be raised before the Unified Patent Court, with only a counterclaim being possible. This calls into question the way in which the ‘long arm’ is being applied with regard to European patents validated in States that are not party to the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA), whether or not they are members of the European Union, since no counterclaim for revocation or plea of invalidity as a defence can be filed or raised with regard to such patents. This raises significant doubts about the compatibility of how the ‘long arm’ is applied in the Unified Patent Court system, given its own Rules of Procedure.

The newsletter covers the main developments in Pharma & Healthcare legislation and case law.