In our earlier GT Alert, we highlighted that on 1 June 2023 the European Commission adopted the revised Research and Development Block Exemption Regulation (R&D BER) and Specialization Block Exemption Regulation (SBER), together referred to as the Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations (HBER), and accompanying Horizontal Guidelines (Guidelines). The HBER entered into force on 1 July 2023 and is valid for 12 years. It allows for a two-year transitional period for existing agreements to align with the new legislation. After publication in the Official Journal of the EU on 21 July 2023, the Guidelines entered into force.