On 3rd March over 130 participants attended an ECSP workshop to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on lease agreements in the retail sector, bringing together senior legal experts from across Europe.
The pandemic has had a major impact on the retail sector, leading to the forced closure of hundreds of thousands of shops, bars, restaurants, and leisure facilities across the EU. It is an unprecedented crisis that has also had a disproportionate impact on landlords in the retail property sector.
Hosted by ECSP’s legal working group, speakers discussed a variety of topics impacting the landlord tenant relationship as governments introduced various national and regional lockdown measures. These included the validity and continuity of existing leases; requests to renegotiate contractual terms; the application of rent releases; as well as the various relief measures and subsidies granted to tenants. The panellists also looked into the different approaches adopted by several countries across Europe, comparing France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, UK and Ukraine.
For more information on ECSP working group activities and for details on future events, please contact Joost Koomen at joost.koomen@ecsp.eu.