Initiatives See full glossary →
125 EU digital policy initiatives grouped by policy priority See full glossary → .
AI & Data Capabilities and Deployment
European Data Union Strategy
Planned for 19 November 2025.
The strategy will establish a simpler, coherent EU framework for secure, large-scale data sharing between businesses and public administrations to power AI. It will align and streamline existing rules and practices, strengthen cross-border interoperability, and embed robust safeguards for confidentiality, integrity, security and IP. Concretely, it will: promote common technical and semantic standards (e.g. schemas, metadata, APIs); enable trusted data intermediaries and data-pooling mechanisms; expand access via privacy-preserving methods (e.g. anonymisation, synthetic data, secure processing); and clarify fair, transparent licensing for B2B and public-private data use. Closely linked to AI Factories, new Data Labs will federate sectoral datasets and connect to Common European Data Spaces to unlock high-quality training data at scale.
Apply AI Strategy
The Strategy adopts an “AI-first” approach to accelerate adoption across flagship sectors (including health, robotics, manufacturing, defence/space, mobility, telecoms, energy, environment, agri-food, and culture/media) backed by around €1 billion from EU programmes to catalyse deployment. It tackles cross-cutting barriers by turning EDIHs into AI Experience Centres for SMEs, building frontier capabilities via a new Frontier AI initiative, and providing clear, practical support for AI Act compliance through guidance and a Service Desk. Governance is unified through an Apply AI Alliance and an AI Observatory to set KPIs and monitor impact, complemented by the AI in Science and Data Union strategies.
European Strategy for AI in Science
Adopted alongside the Apply AI Strategy, this initiative fast-tracks responsible AI uptake across disciplines and builds the foundations of RAISE (i.e. a virtual European institute that pools talent, compute, data and funding for “science for AI” and “AI in science”). It launches Thematic Networks of Excellence and RAISE Doctoral Networks; secures priority access to EuroHPC AI Factories and future AI Gigafactories; and links Data Labs with EOSC and other data spaces. Ethics-by-design guidance and “living” rules govern use, while ERA-based coordination, indicators and summits align Member States and industry. Horizon Europe anchors early actions and an investment agenda for 2026-27.
AI Gigafactories
Planned for Q4 2025.
AI Gigafactories will give Europe frontier-scale compute to train state-of-the-art models. Each site will exceed 100,000 high-performance processors, be designed for energy and water efficiency and circularity, and be federated with EuroHPC’s AI Factories. Financing will blend public-private partnerships with the InvestAI Facility and an official EuroHPC call in Q4 2025. Facilities will co-locate data, training, safety and evaluation capabilities; provide shared access for startups, researchers and the public sector; and anchor regional skills pipelines. As a pilot for the Competitiveness Coordination Tool, they will crowd-in private capital, spur EU AI-chip design ahead of the 2026 Chips Act review, and secure sovereign AI capacity.
AI Act Service Desk
The Service Desk will be the EU’s single-entry helpdesk and information platform for AI Act compliance. Hosted by the AI Office, it will offer free, tailored guidance for companies and public authorities—especially SMEs—plus interactive self-assessment tools, decision trees, FAQs, templates and practical advice on obligations, risk classification, conformity assessment and documentation. It will also route users to national competent authorities and consolidate standards and best-practice resources so compliance is faster, cheaper and consistent across the Single Market.
AI Factories
To be implemented until 2026 (status quo).
Open, EU-wide hubs built around EuroHPC supercomputers that bundle AI-optimised compute, data storage, programming support and talent to develop frontier models and applications. Startups, SMEs, researchers and public bodies get streamlined one-stop access to computing time, data labs linked to Common European Data Spaces, and services for testing, validation and skills—cutting training from months to weeks and lowering costs. The first 13 Factories across 17 Member States are networked, with AI Factory Antennas extending reach. EuroHPC will provide a single entry point and procure AI-dedicated systems in 2025/26, tripling Europe’s available AI capacity.
AI Factory Antennas
To be implemented until 2026 (status quo).
Antennas will extend Europe’s AI compute to every region by giving Member States without local supercomputers a light-footprint node that offers remote access to the AI-optimised resources of a linked AI Factory in another country. They will plug into EuroHPC’s single entry point and common access policy, enabling streamlined allocation of compute and support services, with tailored fast tracks for startups, SMEs and selected EU projects. Antennas will interconnect with AI Factories, European Digital Innovation Hubs, Testing & Experimentation Facilities, and emerging Data Labs to deliver hands-on training, testing, and data services. All Antennas and Factories will be networked EU-wide for consistent access and support.
Common European Data Spaces
To be implemented until 2026 (status quo).
Will provide trusted, interoperable environments for cross-sector and cross-border data use, turning today’s fragmented datasets into high-value shared resources for businesses and public administrations. Linked tightly to Data Labs, they will offer services such as dataset cleaning and enrichment, standardised formats, synthetic data, shared technical building blocks, and cross-space interoperability to accelerate AI development and deployment. Antitrust-compliant data pooling will be enabled via trusted data intermediaries and governance under the EU data framework, lowering barriers for SMEs while protecting confidentiality and security. A common software layer (e.g. SIMPL) will simplify access and reuse across spaces, strengthening Europe’s AI ecosystem and data economy.
Data Labs
To be implemented until 2026 (status quo).
Embedded in the AI Factories ecosystem, Data Labs will federate datasets and link them to the relevant Common European Data Spaces, giving developers a single, trusted entry point to high-value data. They will provide AI developers with large volumes of high-quality data in health, energy and other domains under clear access conditions and governance. Beyond brokerage, they will offer value-added services: dataset cleaning and enrichment; standardised formats; synthetic data; and shared technical building blocks that strengthen interoperability across sectors and borders, with data-pooling compliant with competition rules via trusted intermediaries under the Data Governance Act. The Commission’s Simpl software will lower integration costs and expand participation.
Experience Centres for AI (EDIHs)
Planned for December 2025.
The network of European Digital Innovation Hubs will be transformed into AI Experience Centres, covering 85 % of European regions and fully integrated with the AI Factories ecosystem. These centres will provide companies and public administrations with hands-on access to computing power, high-quality data, testing and experimentation environments, regulatory sandboxes, and tailored training. By linking AI deployment directly to Europe’s supercomputing and data infrastructure, the Experience Centres will accelerate the uptake of AI across sectors, foster innovation in strategic industries, and ensure that European businesses can test, scale, and adopt AI solutions under trusted conditions
GenAI4EU
Calls to be lunched in Q1 2026.
Will scale Europe’s generative-AI capacity through targeted R&I and deployment across sectors. Around €700 million in Horizon Europe and Digital Europe calls will fund advanced models and solutions (e.g. to optimise manufacturing lines, improve robot autonomy and human-robot collaboration, strengthen cyber-defence, and enhance medical imaging) while up to four public-sector pilots will accelerate adoption by improving decision-making, streamlining processes, and making services more accessible. Building on the AI Innovation Package and the AI Continent Action Plan, the calls in Q1 2026 will prioritise high-impact uses and innovation procurement to crowd-in private investment and translate research outputs into market-ready solutions.
Competitiveness, Innovation & Strategic Investment
Business Angels Initiative
Planned for 2026.
The Commission will expand early-stage finance by strengthening Europe’s business angel community and its cross-border reach. Building on the Startup and Scaleup Strategy, support will target angel networks, syndication, and matchmaking platforms to improve deal flow, diversify funding across regions, and crowd-in private capital alongside EU instruments such as InvestEU and the EIC. Actions will address obstacles that limit cross-border angel investment and long lock-in periods, promote co-investment with venture funds, and encourage inclusive participation of women investors and founders.
Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF)
CISAF sets simplified rules for Member States to back decarbonisation, clean-tech manufacturing and energy, while preserving the Single Market. It clarifies when grants, tax credits and accelerated depreciation are compatible, favours competitive tenders, and permits funding-gap methods. It aligns with the Net-Zero Industry Act to build EU value chains and invites proportionate European-preference criteria consistent with EU law, while crowding in private capital through risk-sharing schemes. The framework complements guidance on CfDs/PPAs and cross-border forward capacity allocation, giving industry and administrations longer planning horizon and legal certainty to invest at speed and scale.
Corporate Restructuring Study
Planned for 2026.
The Commission will run an EU-wide, firm-level study to assess how corporate restructuring rules shape startups’ and scaleups’ ability to adapt, pivot and grow, and to identify where frameworks unintentionally hinder innovation and investment. It will benchmark Member States on time, cost and outcomes of restructuring; analyse interactions across insolvency, labour, tax and corporate law; and surface best practices that preserve viable businesses while lowering failure costs. Using company-level datasets and case studies, the study will propose targeted reforms. Its findings will directly feed the Quality Jobs Roadmap and the Fair Labour Mobility Package, aligning market dynamism with social protections.
EU Listing Act Package
The package makes public markets an attractive exit route for Europe’s growth companies by cutting red tape, reducing listing costs and simplifying supervisory processes. Full, uniform implementation across the Union is prioritised, with delegated and implementing acts kept simple to boost liquidity and the supply of capital. Beyond listing, it foresees measures to support the IPO journey and to build secondary markets for private capital, including multilateral intermittent trading of private company shares, expanding exit options and investor participation. Together, these steps deepen Europe’s equity-financing ecosystem.
European Competitiveness Fund (ECF)
The EU’s investment engine for 2028–2034 will consolidate 14 programmes under a single rulebook and access point to back projects from research to scale-up, deployment and manufacturing. It will operate through four policy windows—clean transition, digital leadership, health/biotech/bioeconomy, and resilience/security/defence/space—and mobilise the full EU financial toolbox, including an ECF InvestEU instrument, alongside project advisory and SME services. The Fund’s indicative envelope is €234.3 billion, with Horizon Europe tightly connected for a seamless journey from idea to market. Overall, the ECF de-risks private capital, cuts fragmentation, and accelerates high-impact investments with EU value added.
European Corporate Network
Planned for 2026.
The Commission will establish a pan-EU network that brings large companies, corporate venture investors and procurers into the startup ecosystem to accelerate adoption of European innovation. The network will advise on policy, run structured matchmaking with startups, and promote open-innovation partnerships. Members will make a voluntary commitment to prioritise European startups when they invest, partner or procure—especially where public funds are used or when operating critical research or technology infrastructures. By linking corporate demand, capital and distribution to innovators, the network aims to shorten time-to-market, create first-customer pathways, and keep strategic technologies scaling in Europe
European Innovation Investment Pact
Planned for 2026.
The Pact will mobilise long-term institutional capital for Europe’s most innovative companies and funds. In coordination with the EIB Group, the Commission will convene pension funds, insurers and other asset owners to make voluntary allocations to EU funds-of-funds, venture capital vehicles and direct investments in unlisted scaleups. Commitments will be benchmarked, transparent and aligned with strategic technologies, complementing InvestEU, the EIC and the Scale-Up Europe Fund. The Pact will drive pan-European deployment, crowd-in private capital through de-risking structures, and deepen capital markets by expanding late-stage equity supply and patient growth finance.
General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) Review
Planned for Q4 2026.
The Commission will overhaul the GBER to cut red tape and streamline compatibility conditions while preserving a level playing field. The review fixes textual inconsistencies, updates definitions, and reflects new priorities (i.e. social-economy finance, training/employment aid, and SGEI/affordable housing) to ease use by SMEs, start-ups and granting authorities. It will reduce notifications, improve readability, and give Member States more design flexibility, with transparency and monitoring maintained. As the current GBER expires end-2026, the revision will also prolong its application.
InvestAI
The program will mobilise €200 billion to scale Europe’s AI capacity through a layered public-private fund that de-risks private capital with the EU budget and national co-financing. It will finance four AI gigafactories each with around 100,000 latest-generation AI chips, creating the world’s largest PPP for trustworthy AI and giving startups and industry broad access to compute. Initial EU contributions will come from Digital Europe, Horizon Europe and InvestEU, with cohesion funding from Member States. InvestAI complements the €10 billion AI Factories programme and serves as a pilot for strategic-technology financing under the Competitiveness Compass.
InvestEU Amendment (Omnibus II)
Lifts the EU guarantee by EUR 2.5 billion, provisioned from EFSI surpluses and reflows, to mobilise EUR 25 billion. It is paired with extended combinations of legacy instruments and targets EUR 50 billion additional investment in this MFF. It adds an InvestEU financial instrument under the Member State compartment, enabling funded equity and deployment in non-euro currencies, and encourages swift national transfers. Simplifications reduce reporting and adjust SME rules, delivering EUR 350 million in cost savings. The extra capacity will back higher-risk equity, debt and guarantees for Clean Industrial Deal priorities (i.e. clean-tech manufacturing, grids and energy infrastructure, clean mobility, and recycling) including a Clean Tech Guarantee Facility via the EIB Group.
Lab to Unicorn Initiative
Planned for 2026.
The Lab to Unicorn Initiative will turn Europe’s scientific excellence into scaled companies. From 2026, the Commission will back a network of leading university-rooted startup and scale-up hubs to collaborate across borders, opening shared access to services, infrastructures and corporate demand. A common blueprint will standardise licensing, royalty/revenue-sharing and equity models for universities and inventors, while capacity-building strengthens technology-transfer offices and embeds venture-builder roles in research organisations and universities. The Initiative will issue guidance on State-aid and IP rules so public institutions can grant IP and infrastructure access lawfully. Together, these measures compress time-to-market and raise Europe’s scale-up success rate.
New IPCEIs
New IPCEIs will reinforce Europe’s strategic capabilities in AI and computing through two coordinated projects: one advancing beyond-state-of-the-art research and first industrial deployment of federated, distributed AI services; the other building large-scale computing infrastructure and services. These initiatives complement national efforts, use public-private partnerships, and fast-track innovation and deployment across the digital stack. To speed delivery, the Commission will establish a support hub to accelerate design and launch, and work with the EIB to create a one-stop shop for grant preparation and financial structuring. The approach will also back IPCEIs in circular advanced materials for clean technologies and strengthen decarbonisation.
Rescue & Restructuring Guidelines
Planned for 2026.
The Commission will recalibrate state-aid rules so viable startups and scaleups can access temporary support without being misclassified as “undertakings in difficulty.” The review will update static financial tests that penalise high-growth, R&D-intensive firms, clarify eligibility, and enable bridge financing, liquidity support or restructuring aid where appropriate. Safeguards against propping up non-viable firms will remain, with stronger proportionality, time-limits and burden-sharing. Clearer guidance for universities and research organisations complements the effort, reducing uncertainty when IP or infrastructure is involved. The reform removes unintended barriers to growth while preserving a level playing field.
Scaleup Europe Fund
Planned for 2026.
A market-based, privately managed vehicle deployed via the EIC Fund to bridge Europe’s late-stage equity gap for deep-tech scaleups. It will mobilise substantial private capital and make direct equity investments in strategic sectors (i.e. AI, quantum, advanced semiconductors, biotech, clean tech, defence and space) reinforcing technological sovereignty and economic security. Operating without prejudice to the next MFF, the Fund will coordinate closely with InvestEU and complement the European Tech Champions Initiative (including ETCI 2.0), alongside EIB Group instruments. By tackling fragmented capital markets and financing needs with ticket sizes above €100 million, it will help Europe retain and scale its most promising companies.
Securitisation Framework Review
The review aims to update the Securitisation Regulation and CRR (with LCR/Solvency II adjustments) to revive a market that frees bank capital for lending, especially to SMEs. It simplifies due-diligence and transparency, introduces risk-sensitive capital treatment (floors and a revised p-factor), strengthens supervisory convergence, and preserves core safeguards such as risk-retention and the ban on re-securitisation. The package is embedded in the Savings & Investments Union agenda (paired with reforms to trading and post-trading, insolvency and tax barriers, and investor-exit options like intermittent trading of private shares) to integrate EU capital markets and crowd in private finance.
Shareholders Rights Directive
Potential review in Q4 2026.
As part of the Savings and Investments Union, the Commission will assess whether to revise the Shareholders Rights Directive to make it easier and cheaper for investors, intermediaries and issuers to operate across borders. The review would target fragmentation in shareholder identification, voting and corporate-action processes, reduce duplicative requirements, and support a more integrated market for listed equity. By improving participation and lowering administrative costs, the initiative aims to deepen liquidity, broaden access to public markets for growth companies and strengthen EU competitiveness, complementing measures on listings, funds distribution and market infrastructure.
Sovereignty Seals (STEP)
To amplify the Innovation Fund’s impact, the Commission will mobilise additional financing for projects awarded a STEP Sovereignty Seal by creating stronger synergies between EU instruments and Member-State schemes. It will align funding criteria between the Innovation Fund and national support to speed State-aid decisions for STEP-labelled projects and encourage governments to commit co-financing, maximising deployment across EU regions. The STEP seal will function as a streamlined fast lane for bankable industrial decarbonisation and clean-tech investments, improving predictability, reducing transaction costs, and crowding in private capital through de-risking, while safeguarding competition and cohesion across the Single Market.
TechEU Investment Programme
Planned for 2026.
The Commission, together with the EIB Group and private investors, will deploy TechEU to close Europe’s late-stage financing gap for disruptive innovators, using debt, equity and quasi-equity delivered directly and via financial intermediaries. It targets scale-ups in AI, clean tech, critical raw materials, energy storage, quantum, semiconductors, life sciences and neurotechnology, complementing InvestEU and the Clean Industrial Deal. TechEU will also support exit pathways and late-growth rounds, and anchor a deeper pan-European market through ETCI 2.0 to crowd-in institutional capital. The programme aims to build industrial capacity, de-risk strategic projects and mobilise significant private investment at scale.
External Strategy, Economic Security & Democratic Resilience
European Democracy Shield
Planned for Q4 2025.
It will harden democratic resilience by combining early detection of foreign information manipulation, coordinated analysis and rapid response across the Union. A new European Centre for Democratic Resilience will pool national expertise and capacities as the hub for monitoring, attribution and joint action with partners. The Shield will leverage the EU’s FIMI toolbox and the Digital Services Act, expand media- and digital-literacy efforts, and strengthen crisis communication to counter disinformation systematically. It complements a forthcoming Media Resilience Programme supporting independent journalism, and is anchored in upgrades to EU internal-security governance. Work will also address harmful social-media design and youth well-being through expert advice on safeguards and enforcement.
Team Europe Approach
Ongoing initiative.
Aligns the EU, Member States, the EIB/EBRD, agencies and the private sector to act as one, pooling finance, expertise and diplomacy for maximum impact. Born during COVID-19, it is now the default delivery model for international partnerships and Global Gateway. It coordinates over 160 Team Europe Initiatives and mobilised €179 billion in 2021–2023, underpinned by instruments such as the €40 billion EFSD+ guarantee and regular Global Gateway business fora, with governance via a Board, Business Advisory Group, and a Civil Society & Local Authorities platform. By joining up investments, reforms and standards, Team Europe scales high-standard projects worldwide and strengthens EU strategic influence.
Digitalisation of the Return Process
Planned for Q3 2026.
The Commission will table a dedicated initiative to digitalise Member States’ return case management, as part of a new common approach on returns. COM(2025) 101 sets a common return system and, in Art. 42(1)(d), makes national digital systems for return/readmission/reintegration a core component; a separate act will specify interoperability, once-only data flows and statistics. The Commission’s Political Guidelines commit to digitalising case management; von der Leyen’s 17 March letter signalled presentation by end-2025. A 2026 consultation under the Work Programme will prepare governance and implementation, aligning with SIS/Eurodac and digital-by-default delivery while ensuring uniform practice across the Union.
EU Foreign Policy Digital Priorities
Ongoing initiatives of the Commission.
The EU’s foreign-digital agenda links secure connectivity, frontier tech and democracy protection. It will back new Arctic/Black Sea/Central Asia routes and global IRIS² services to harden links with partners. It will launch joint work on emerging technologies (i.e. AI, quantum and semiconductors) to speed innovation with trusted countries. Cyber cooperation will deepen on resilience, UN norms and sanctions, while attribution expands to disinformation (FIMI). Trusted Digital Public Infrastructure will grow via EU-style eID wallets, e-signatures and interoperability. The EU will project its platform rulebook internationally under the DSA. A European Quantum International Cooperation Framework will align diplomacy and R&I around EuroQCI and quantum internet pilots.
EU Foreign Policy Instruments
Ongoing initiatives of the Commission.
The EU will continue to deploy its five-pillar toolbox: (1) Regional and bilateral digital cooperation such as Trade and Technology Councils, Digital Partnerships, and Digital Dialogues to embed digital governance in its strategic partnerships. (2) Enlargement and neighbourhood such as DCFTAs, SAAs and Growth Plans to integrate partners into the Digital Single Market and EU programmes. (3) FTAs and digital trade agreements to expand trusted digital trade. (4) International partnerships via the Global Gateway approach as well as Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships to mobilise investments and align standards. (5) Like-minded initiatives for joint quantum, HPC, semiconductor skills and AI Factory links in order to deepen cooperation globally.
European Armament Technological Roadmap
Planned for 2025.
The roadmap will steer dual-use innovation toward priority capabilities, aligning EU, national and private investment and setting milestones from research to deployment. In its first phase, it will concentrate on AI and quantum (together with cyber and electronic warfare) where advances can transform deterrence and interoperability. The Roadmap will couple tech scouting and testing with common standards and joint procurement pathways, linking to EDIP and the Defence Omnibus to cut fragmentation and speed uptake. It will mobilise EU innovation instruments, including the European Innovation Council and the forthcoming TechEU scale-up vehicle, to crowd in private capital and scale champions.
European Centre for Democratic Resilience
Planned for 2026.
The Centre will be the operational backbone of the European Democracy Shield, uniting national capabilities to detect, analyse and attribute foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI). It will pool open-source intelligence, media forensics and platform signals, provide rapid alerts and incident-response templates, and coordinate joint attribution with partners. The Centre will convene Member States and neighbouring countries, standardise methodologies, and channel support to independent media and media-literacy initiatives. By closing gaps between monitoring, policy action and sanctions, it will strengthen deterrence, help protect elections and debate, and build a European capacity against hybrid threats.
Foreign Investment Screening (FIS) Revision
The FIS revision will harden Europe’s economic security while keeping the EU open to investment. It requires every Member State to run a pre-closing screening regime and aligns scope, timelines and information via a single EU cooperation channel. Coverage extends to intra-EU deals made through EU subsidiaries controlled by non-EU parents, closing circumvention gaps. Notifications will focus on targets in Annex II high-risk areas and on projects/programmes of Union interest (Annex I). The system streamlines multi-country cases, preserves national decision-making, and ensures coherence with the EU Merger Regulation (Art. 21(4)), the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, NIS2 and the CER Directive. A 15-month transition, annual reporting and secure IT tools underpin implementation.
Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) Guidelines
Planned for January 2026.
The Commission will adopt the guidelines to clarify core concepts (e.g. how distortive effects will be assessed, how any benefits are balanced, and when the Commission may call in below-threshold mergers that threaten a level playing field). Enforcement will be more proactive, with ex officio investigations targeted at strategic sectors to deter subsidy-fuelled distortions before they scale. In parallel, the EU’s defensive toolbox will be tightened: the Commission stands ready to adjust tariffs within WTO-bound ceilings (including for environmental protection), use trade-defence instruments faster (shorter timelines, greater ex officio use), and explore further reforms of the TDI rulebook, ensuring open markets are matched by firm action against unfair subsidisation.
Global Gateway Strategy
Ongoing initiative.
The strategy will continued to be used to scale trusted digital, energy and transport links as the EU’s flagship investment offer, mobilising up to €300 billion by 2027 via Team Europe to de-risk private capital and deliver high standards. It prioritises secure connectivity (e.g. 5G, data centres and submarine routes in the Arctic, Black Sea and to partner regions) alongside space links like IRIS². Flagships include BELLA, MEDUSA and Blue-Raman cables, and Digital Economy Packages in Africa, with tailored investment packages for LAC and Central Asia. Governance couples business and civil society input to accelerate projects, skills and regulatory cooperation while reinforcing Europe’s strategic autonomy and partners’ economic resilience.
Media Resilience Programme
Planned for 2026.
The Commission will launch a Media Resilience Programme to shore up independent journalism and fight “news deserts.” It will finance local and investigative outlets, cross-border collaborations, safety of journalists, and media literacy, with a budget uplift in the next MFF. The programme will also mobilise private capital (using EU guarantees and blended-finance tools) to sustain viable business models for media and digital transition. It will work with the European Democracy Shield and the European Centre for Democratic Resilience to detect and counter disinformation and foreign interference, while strengthening pluralism, transparency, and citizens’ access to trustworthy information across EU languages.
New Pact for the Mediterranean
Announced for November 2025.
The EU will forge a new pact with Southern Neighbourhood partners, building on the 2021 Agenda, with a strong digital pillar to deepen political engagement and cooperation. Priorities include secure connectivity under Global Gateway (most visibly the MEDUSA submarine cable linking the northern and southern shores and boosting regional capacity) alongside resilient cable and satellite links. Cooperation will use Trade & Technology-style dialogues, Cyber Dialogues, and association to Horizon Europe and Digital Europe, embedded in tailor-made Comprehensive and Strategic Partnerships (e.g. Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan). Work will advance trusted 5G/cable security, skills and innovation, and gradual policy harmonisation supporting integration with EU digital rules where relevant.
Strategic EU-India Agenda
Europe have tabled a Strategic EU–India Agenda that elevates the partnership across five pillars: prosperity, technology, security, connectivity and enablers. It prioritises concluding an FTA and an Investment Protection Agreement, alongside Global Gateway investments and supply-chain de-risking via the EU–India TTC (chips, solar, APIs). It deepens digital cooperation (e.g. trusted data flows, secure 5G/6G and interoperable digital public infrastructures) and expands joint R&I in AI, HPC/quantum and space. A Security and Defence Partnership with a Security of Information Agreement will underpin maritime, cyber and hybrid resilience. Delivery will be steered by an annual summit, upgraded TTC, and an EU–India Business Forum.
Tech Business Offer
Announced on 5 June 2025.
The EU launched a Tech Business Offer to engage partners with modular packages that combine secure connectivity, digital public infrastructure, AI and other technologies. The Offer couples deployment with capacity-building, skills initiatives and promotion of energy- and resource-efficient solutions. Governed in a ‘Tech Team Europe’ setup, it will mobilise Member States, EU companies, development finance institutions and export credit agencies, with the D4D Hub and EU4Digital acting as facilitators and Informal Digital Hubs anchoring delivery in partner countries. Integrated with Digital Partnerships, trade tools and Global Gateway financing, it will tailor projects to mutual interests and strengthen value chains.
Human Capital, Skills & Talent Mobility
Affordable Housing Plan
Planned for Q1 2026.
The plan will deliver EU-level support to help national, regional and local authorities provide affordable, sustainable homes, while respecting subsidiarity. It addresses supply–demand imbalances, high building costs, permitting bottlenecks and skills shortages that drive up prices. Measures will mobilise investment (including an EIB platform), allow more cohesion funding for housing, adapt State-aid rules, and link renovations to the Social Climate Fund. The plan will accelerate permitting and procurement, improve rental-market functioning, and provide technical assistance so projects can scale quickly and fairly across regions and cities.
Quality Jobs Roadmap
Planned for Q4 2026.
Developed with EU social partners in 2025, the Quality Jobs Roadmap will set a coherent EU strategy to raise job quality alongside competitiveness. It will back fair wages, high health-and-safety standards, decent working conditions, work-life balance, gender equality and wider collective bargaining; strengthen enforcement of work-related rights; and support access to training and fair job-to-job transitions, drawing on the European Pillar of Social Rights. It will align with the Competitiveness Compass, Union of Skills and the Clean Industrial Deal so decarbonisation creates attractive jobs and regional cohesion, and may announce targeted legislative and non-legislative actions with robust monitoring and evaluation.
Quantum Europe Strategy (Skills-Related Policy Initiatives)
Planned between 2025 and 2030.
The Strategy will launch a European Quantum Skills Academy - initially virtual, then networked - linked to Quantum Competence Clusters and Semiconductors Competence Centres. It will host a Quantum Talent Portal, fellowship schemes and “teach-the-teacher” modules to broaden participation and close the gender gap. Complementary actions include a Digital Europe–funded Quantum Apprenticeship pilot and returnships; Advanced Digital Skills Competitions from 2026; an EIC Researchers-in-Residence scheme placing scientists in quantum startups; and a European Quantum Talent Mobility Programme with fellowships for non-EU PhDs and professionals. Skills intelligence will track needs via the European Skills Intelligence Observatory, ensuring training aligns with fast-evolving industrial demand.
2030 Roadmap on the Future of Digital Education and Skills and its AI in Education
Planned for Q4 2025.
The roadmap will steer Europe’s digital education transformation, building on the review of the Digital Education Action Plan. It will promote equal access, build a digital education ecosystem, and forge partnerships with EU-based EdTech. An accompanying AI in Education initiative will set an AI literacy framework, support safe, ethical AI uptake in classrooms, and address online safety, wellbeing and misinformation. The Roadmap complements the Union of Skills and the STEM Plan, enlarging Europe’s AI-capable talent pool. The Digital Competence Framework will be updated by end-2025 to reflect emerging technologies. It will strengthen teacher capacity through targeted support and guidance.
Basic Skills Action Plan
The plan will lift literacy, numeracy, science, digital and citizenship skills, tackling underachievement. A Basic Skills Support Scheme will pilot interventions with EU funding, from early identification and tutoring to school-level improvement plans. A European Innovative School Award will recognise innovation and partnerships with businesses and local authorities. The Commission will pilot university–business partnerships via Erasmus+, Digital Europe and EIT to train for shortage sectors and co-develop micro-credentials. The plan will expand the European Alliance for Apprenticeships to 700 pledges and streamline the Pact for Skills (linking EU Skills Academies, CoVEs and European Universities) to double 25-million upskilling commitments.
Blue Carpet Initiative
Planned for 2026.
The initiative is a comprehensive package to attract and retain highly skilled talent, combining entrepreneurship education via the EIT and an academic career framework rewarding commercialisation; harmonised stock-option treatment; a recommendation to remove tax obstacles for remote cross-border employees; and a Fair Labour Mobility Package with social-security clarity and a Skills Portability Initiative. It adds an EU Visa Strategy leveraging the Students & Researchers and Blue Card Directives, fast-track permits for founders, Blue Card promotion, pilot Multipurpose Legal Gateway Offices, and “train-to-hire” Talent Partnerships. Complementary measures will review integration and family-reunification support and enhance EURAXESS services.
Choose Europe Package
Choose Europe will co-fund recruitment programmes that link MSCA grants to long-term positions, tackling precarity and drawing top researchers to Europe, including in AI. It sits within a wider talent-magnet approach: a new Visa Strategy to better use the Students & Researchers and Blue Card Directive, pilots of Multipurpose Legal Gateway Offices, and an EU Talent Pool plus a 2030 target to host at least 350,000 non-EU tertiary graduates annually. Complementary quantum actions include a European Quantum Talent Mobility Programme and a Pilot for Researchers-in-Residence in quantum startups. Together, this integrates R&I careers, mobility and immigration tools into one offer.
EU Talent Pool IT Platform
It will be an EU-wide, voluntary platform matching employers with third-country jobseekers for EU-wide shortage occupations, complementing Talent Partnerships. It reuses EURES components, provides immigration and qualification-recognition guidance, and offers National Contact Point support to improve transparency and matching. A Secretariat, Steering Group and common technical standards ensure governance, interoperability and monitoring. Once adopted by co-legislators, the platform will be set up and rolled out across participating Member States, with a harmonised shortage list and safeguards against unfair recruitment. The initiative is part of the Union of Skills agenda to boost legal pathways and address labour shortages while protecting fair work.
European Competence Framework for Academic Staff
Planned for 2026.
The Commission will introduce a common EU framework that elevates teaching excellence in higher education and aligns academic roles with Europe’s skills agenda. Complementing ResearchComp, it will define core competences for innovative pedagogy, student-centred and AI-enabled learning, curriculum co-creation with employers, and the design of lifelong learning pathways using micro-credentials. The framework will support recognition and career progression for educators, encourage provision through European Universities alliances, and strengthen links to labour-market needs. It will give institutions a reference to recruit, develop and reward academic staff who drive inclusion, quality and impact.
European Fair Transition Observatory
Planned for Q1 2026.
The Commission will set up an EU-wide Observatory to hard-wire fairness into the clean transition. It will develop standardised indicators, collect best practices and enable data sharing to track impacts on employment, quality jobs, job-to-job transitions, reskilling, investment needs, social protection and access to essential services. It will anchor transparent dialogue with social partners, regions, cities and civil society, and feed reforms to improve delivery of the Just Transition Fund and inform future instruments under the next MFF. Complementary action includes a European Affordable Housing Plan to ease workforce mobility in metropolitan areas.
European Skills High Level Board
Announced for 2025.
The Board will be the steering hub of the Union of Skills, chaired by the Commission and uniting business leaders, education and training providers, and social partners. It delivers cross-sector insight and guidance on skills issues, drawing on evidence from the European Skills Intelligence Observatory and aligning action with the competitiveness steering mechanism. It will support a new EU-27 Recommendation on human capital and inform country-specific recommendations, while taking into account the Digital Decade Board’s advice on digital basic skills. With a dynamic, agile set-up, the Board can convene stakeholders quickly and accelerate implementation across sectors.
European Strategy for Vocational Education and Training (VET)
Planned for 2026.
The Strategy upgrades VET into a first-choice pathway for competitiveness, cohesion and generational renewal. It tackles skills shortages by modernising curricula with employers, expanding work-based learning, and boosting mobility and internationalisation (via Erasmus+ and a pilot European VET diploma/label in 2025–26). It raises excellence and inclusiveness, combats gender stereotypes, and sets a 2030 STEM target: at least 45% of initial medium-level VET enrolment, with one in four women. Centres of Vocational Excellence will scale transnational partnerships and drive national reforms, while recognition frameworks ease cross-border learning and careers, making VET as valued as higher education across the Union.
European Universities & School Alliances
Planned for 2026 / 2027.
The programme will knit Europe’s education and innovation fabric into a single, high-performing network. Universities alliances will launch joint programmes (especially in AI, quantum, semiconductors, data and cybersecurity) under a European degree/label, backed by an EU legal status and an investment pathway that secures long-term cooperation, shared infrastructures, and partnerships with business and research. In schools, a 2026 pilot will create European School Alliances to boost pupil and teacher mobility, enable cross-border cooperation between schools and authorities, and serve as testbeds for pedagogy, curricula and competence frameworks. Alliances will help schools become learning organisations focused on mastering basic skills.
Fair Labour Mobility Package
Planned for 2026.
The Package will remove frictions to cross-border work while safeguarding rights, making Europe’s labour market more efficient. It will propose a European Social Security Pass for digital verification of entitlements, streamline posting procedures, and clarify social-security coordination for cross-border remote work. The package will strengthen the European Labour Authority’s mandate and data capabilities to improve enforcement and joint inspections. A Skills Portability Initiative will simplify recognition of qualifications and interoperable digital credentials, including for third-country nationals. Together, these measures cut administrative burden for employers and workers, enable service provision, and support talent circulation across the Single Market.
Initiative to Increasing Accessibility of Higher Education
Planned for 2026.
The initiative will open universities to more learners and ages, matching rising labour-market demand while strengthening student wellbeing and targeted support services. It will help institutions implement the 2024 Bologna principles on wider access and the social dimension, with practical guidance for staff and governance reform to make inclusiveness a core mission. Complementary measures will boost entrepreneurship education through dedicated, including cross-border, modules; and connect with EU work on automatic recognition, interoperable credentials, and a European degree/label to ease mobility and credit portability.
Intergenerational Fairness Strategy
Planned for Q1 2026.
The Commission will present the first EU-wide strategy to embed long-term, intergenerational perspectives across policymaking. It will: (1) strengthen intergenerational democratic participation and scrutiny; (2) tackle cross-cutting challenges (i.e. climate, housing, fiscal sustainability, skills and lifelong learning) through an intergenerational lens; and (3) empower all ages, combating ageism and protecting children’s rights. The strategy is being co-created via a 2025 four-phase process and may include a monitoring tool for intergenerational fairness. It will align with the Union of Skills agenda and related education actions, ensuring no generation is left behind. It will propose metrics and mainstream youth participation.
Recommendation on Human Capital
Announced for this term.
The Commission will introduce a recommendation on education and skills within the European Semester to anchor the Union of Skills in the competitiveness steering mechanism. It will be underpinned by the European Skills Intelligence Observatory and advised by a European Skills High-Level Board, ensuring timely, granular evidence and guidance. The recommendation will target structural reforms across the skills pipeline (i.e. basic education, VET, higher education and lifelong learning) linking them to labour-market needs. It will inform Council debates, the Joint Employment Report and country reports/CSRs, and promote whole-of-government coordination across education, employment and economic portfolios, nationally.
Skills Academies
The EU will deploy a targeted network of Skills Academies anchored by a flagship AI Skills Academy and complemented by a Quantum Skills Academy, a Cybersecurity Skills Academy (with an Industry–Academia network and cyber-campuses), and Net-Zero Industry Academies. Academies will offer one-stop training, apprenticeships and fellowships, returnships for women, and competitions. Building on Large-Scale Partnerships, a rollout will serve strategic sectors: defence, automotive, grids, wind, food, AI, quantum, virtual worlds and semiconductors. Coordinated under the Union of Skills and linked to the Clean Industrial Deal, the EIT will equip 1 million learners by 2028, with gender and mobility targets across Europe.
Skills Portability Initiative
Planned for Q3 2026.
The initiative will remove barriers to cross-border work by making skills and qualifications usable across the Single Market. It will consider a legislative proposal to ease mobility and promote common EU formats for interoperable digital credentials, building on EQF, Europass and ESCO. Recognition in regulated professions will be expanded and modernised using digital tools, while simpler common rules will be explored to recognise third-country nationals’ skills. In parallel, the EU will develop a framework for automatic recognition of qualifications and learning periods in school, VET and higher education, and examine accession to the Lisbon Recognition Convention.
STEM Education Strategic Plan
The EU will reverse declining STEM performance and close talent gaps by 2030 through enrolment targets (45% of initial VET in STEM, 32% tertiary, and 5% ICT PhDs) with gender goals (≥25% women in VET, 40% tertiary, 33% ICT PhDs). It will modernise curricula via a STEM competence framework, pilot STEM education centres, and launch Advanced Digital Skills Competitions. Universities and Centres of Vocational Excellence will offer joint programmes and micro-credentials aligned with industry, moving toward a European degree for engineers. A Teachers & Trainers Agenda and actions under the Union of Skills will boost capacity and attractiveness.
Implementation, Simplification & Better Regulation
Digital Omnibus
Planned for 19 November 2025.
The Commission will table a simplification package to cut compliance costs in the digital acquis while preserving protections. It will rationalise data rules (i.e. DGA, Free Flow of Non-Personal Data, Open Data), modernise cookie/tracking provisions to curb consent fatigue, and streamline overlapping cybersecurity incident reporting, with targeted adjustments to ensure predictable application of the AI Act. It will also clarify obligations under the European Digital Identity framework and align with the forthcoming Business Wallet, applying ‘one-in, one-out’. A Digital Fitness Check will assess cumulative effects and cross-border fragmentation.
Omnibus IV Package
The Commission will fast-track simplification by empowering common technical specifications when harmonised standards lag, and by digitalising compliance so firms can demonstrate conformity faster and paper-free. The package also extends existing SME mitigating measures to small mid-caps and removes redundant paper requirements in product laws, easing conformity assessment and cutting reporting overlaps. Together with the Single Market Strategy, it targets quicker time-to-market, legal certainty and lower costs while maintaining high safety and consumer protection. Delivery will be tied to measurable burden-reduction targets and periodic scorecards so businesses see real, near-term gains in every Member State.
Better Regulation Communication
Planned for Q2 2026.
Just like the EU’s rules, its better regulation framework must be simplified to enable a simpler and faster Europe. The Commission will therefore apply a more rigorous and structured application of the proportionality principle in better regulation and put forward a communication to that effect in the first half of 2026.
Commissioner for Implementation and Simplification
Announced on 11 February 2025.
The Commissioner will lead a whole-of-Commission drive to make EU rules simpler, faster and better enforced. The agenda prioritises early implementation strategies with Member States, hands-on “reality checks” with practitioners, and twice-yearly implementation dialogues in every portfolio feeding annual progress reports and resolute enforcement against fragmentation and gold-plating. New quantified targets will cut recurring administrative costs by at least 25% (35% for SMEs), underpinned by omnibus simplification packages, streamlined permitting, and digital-by-default delivery. A rolling stress-test of the entire acquis will consolidate and clarify rules; reinforced SME/competitiveness checks, proportionate use of delegated/implementing acts, and digital tools (such as a European Business Wallet and once-only interoperability) will lower costs and speed compliance.
Defence Readiness Omnibus
The Commission will table a defence-sector omnibus to cut red tape and speed delivery across the European defence industrial base. Measures include cross-certification and mutual recognition of testing, fast-tracked construction and environmental permits, secure handling of confidential data, and easier access to finance, including ESG-sensitive capital. It will streamline EU defence programmes, simplify co-funding, and prepare revisions of defence procurement and intra-EU transfer rules, followed by a faster EDF process. The package also supports security-of-supply and readiness, and leverages Ukraine’s innovative defence ecosystem within Team Europe instruments. Together, it builds a scalable EU-wide market for defence equipment.
EU Treaty Change
Announced on 18 July 2024.
To equip a larger, more contested Union, the Commission will pursue institutional reforms, up to targeted Treaty changes where they clearly improve capacity to act and democratic accountability. It couples faster, simpler law-making with rigorous implementation: stress-testing the acquis, reducing administrative burdens, and renewing an interinstitutional pact on better lawmaking. Each Commissioner will hold biannual implementation dialogues and publish annual progress reports, while enforcement against Single Market fragmentation is stepped up. The objective is a Union that legislates less and delivers more so Europe can decide and act at the speed today’s challenges demand.
Fitness Check on the Legislative Acquis in the Digital Policy Area
Planned for Q4 2025.
The Commission will stress-test the EU’s digital rulebook to cut costs, remove overlaps and improve coherence, with results due in Q4 2025. It will assess cumulative burdens on businesses across data legislation, cookies and tracking, cybersecurity incident reporting, AI Act implementation, and the European Digital Identity framework, feeding simplification proposals. The exercise will complement the Digital Omnibus and examine cross-border fragmentation and costs, without lowering protections. Each Commissioner will review laws in remit under the steer of the Commissioner for Implementation and Simplification, drawing on “reality checks” with practitioners to ground changes in practice.
Infringement Procedures
Announced on 11 February 2025.
The Commission will act decisively when cooperation fails to secure compliance. It will prioritise breaches with the greatest impact on citizens, businesses and Single Market integrity, combat unlawful gold-plating, and use pre-infringement dialogue to deliver swift fixes (75% success in 2024). Where necessary, it will open formal cases—currently about 1,500 —and refer them to the Court of Justice faster, seeking financial sanctions under Articles 260(2) and 260(3) TFEU. In 2023–24, 134 cases were referred, with sanctions requested in 55. Annual progress reports will track enforcement, while sectoral monitoring tools identify and remedy fragmentation early and communicate reasons for action clearly.
Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Lawmaking
Planned for this term.
The Commission will seek a renewed agreement with Parliament and Council to embed simplification and implementation across the full legislative cycle. It will align subsidiarity/proportionality checks, apply a shared methodology to estimate the costs of significant amendments, and integrate SME/competitiveness tests up front. Co-legislators will commit to fast-tracking simplification packages, limiting gold-plating and streamlining empowerments for delegated/implementing acts. Annual progress reporting will create accountability on enforcement and burden-reduction targets, while “digital-by-default/once-only” delivery and interoperability requirements are designed in from the start. Together, the institutions will stress-test the acquis to cut administrative costs without lowering standards.
Legislative Implementation Strategies
Announced on 11 February 2025.
For every major EU law, the Commission will prepare a structured implementation strategy that maps legal, administrative and practical challenges, sets timelines, and defines targeted support. These strategies will use explanatory templates and national transposition roadmaps, track progress, and flag “gold plating” that fragments the Single Market. Delivery will be backed by expert-group peer support and EU agencies, plus investments in administrative capacity, digital tools and data (e.g. TSI, ComPAct, IMI, Single Digital Gateway). The Commission will hold twice-yearly implementation dialogues with stakeholders and publish annual progress reports to surface hurdles and simplification opportunities. Hands-on “reality checks” with practitioners will verify costs and fix bottlenecks early; where dialogue fails, swift infringement action will follow.
Medical Omnibus
Planned for 2026.
The Commission will be ready to propose a targeted legislative package to simplify EU rules for medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics while safeguarding patient safety and public health, including in health emergencies. This follows a targeted evaluation of the MDR/IVDR to address identified bottlenecks and facilitate firms’ operations across the Single Market. Complementary enablers, such as the European Business Wallet, will reduce administrative barriers by enabling secure, verified data and credential sharing for compliance processes. The initiative aligns with the Life Sciences Strategy’s drive to streamline regulation and speed market access for innovation, especially for startups and SMEs.
Reality Checks
Announced on 11 February 2025.
Reality Checks are hands-on diagnostics that bring Commission services to practitioners to test whether EU rules work in real life. Through targeted technical exchanges, teams identify hurdles in authorisations, permitting, control and compliance, capture good practices, and map where national transposition or “gold-plating” adds cost or fragmentation. Findings verify the assumptions behind legislation, quantify burdens and expected savings, and assess if planned simplifications are realistic. Results feed directly into evaluations and fitness checks, the gradual stress-test of the acquis, and the design of future simplification packages, ensuring evidence-based fixes and quicker, cheaper compliance without lowering standards.
Reporting Burden Goal
Announced on 11 February 2025.
The Commission will deliver quantified, mandate-wide cuts to red tape: at least 25% for all firms and 35% for SMEs, applied to all administrative costs, not only reporting. Using Eurostat’s €150 billion estimate of recurring administrative costs (2022), this implies €37.5 billion in annual savings by end-mandate. Progress will be tracked in yearly enforcement and implementation reports, with dedicated SME measures and avoidance of national “gold-plating”. The drive complements “one-in, one-out” and will be executed via prioritised simplification packages and Omnibus proposals, while co-legislators preserve savings in negotiations and Member States streamline transposition and application.
Review of National and European Agencies
Planned for Q1 2026.
The Commission will audit mandates, governance and resources of Single Market authorities to eliminate overlap, gaps and conflicting procedures. The review will benchmark performance, map workflows, and propose consolidation, clarified competences, interoperable IT, joint inspections and mutual recognition of decisions. It will align agency tasks with the ‘Terrible Ten’ barrier agenda and forthcoming Omnibus simplifications, reducing compliance friction for SMEs and small mid-caps. Deliverables include a reform blueprint and actions to streamline supervision in priority sectors. Expected outcomes: accountability, faster enforcement, consistent interpretation of EU law, lower costs, and improved consumer protection.
SME & Competitiveness Checks
Announced on 11 February 2025.
Will be mandatory for proposals with business impacts, combining a reinforced SME test with a sector-focused competitiveness lens. The check assesses four dimensions (i.e. cost/price effects, international competitiveness, innovation capacity, and specific SME impacts) and examines cumulative burdens across value chains. Findings will shape mitigation (e.g. lighter regimes, phased timing, digital-by-default delivery) and be transparently presented in impact assessments, with stronger analysis of indirect effects on SMEs. Fitness checks will also report on efficiency for SMEs. Results feed progress reports and a stress-test of the acquis, ensuring no new Single Market barriers and aligning rules with Europe’s overall growth agenda.
Infrastructure & Strategic Resources
European Grid Package
Planned for 25 November 2025.
The European Grid Package will fast-track expansion and modernisation of transmission and distribution networks, deepening market integration and lowering bills. It streamlines TEN-E, accelerates permitting — including environmental assessments — and mandates integrated, cross-border planning with effective cost-sharing, focusing on interconnectors and distribution grids. It prioritises digitalisation, flexibility and efficient use of existing assets, while increasing visibility of manufacturing supply needs. An EIB “grids manufacturing package” (≈€1.5 bn) will underpin EU component capacity, and an “Energy Highways” effort will tackle critical bottlenecks. Together, the measures unlock renewables and storage, strengthen security of supply, and support electrification at least cost.
Quantum Europe Strategy (Infrastructure-Related Policy Initiatives)
Planned between 2025 and 2030.
The strategy’s infrastructure track will strengthen secure networks, prove platforms, and link civil–defence use. EuroQCI expands 2025–2035 with cross-border terrestrial links, satellite ground stations and EU certification, converging with IRIS² for end-to-end QKD services. In 2026, a pilot European Quantum Internet will test quantum-safe components and early use cases alongside the EU’s post-quantum cryptography roadmap. Europe will deploy ground/airborne gravimeters and prepare a space-gravimetry pathfinder after 2030. A centralised network of open-access quantum testbeds will serve developers, startups and SMEs. An EU-wide Quantum Technology Risk Assessment concludes in 2026. Spin-in initiatives from 2026 accelerate defence uptake.
Charter of Access for Industrial Users to Research and Technology Infrastructures
Planned for 2025.
This initiative will standardise and simplify industrial access to Europe’s research and technology infrastructures so innovators can prototype, test and scale faster. It will set common, transparent access and contractual terms (e.g. IP use, pricing, liability, data handling) across borders and introduce a streamlined entry point for companies, including startups and scaleups. Linked to the AI Factories ecosystem, the Charter will be backed by dedicated EU support to make AI computing facilities affordable for SMEs. Complementary guidance will clarify how universities and public research organisations can grant access under State aid rules. Together, these measures cut fragmentation, lower transaction costs and speed time-to-market.
Chips Act Review
Planned for Q2 2026.
The review will sharpen Europe’s semiconductor strategy for the AI era, addressing gaps in leading-edge capacity and ecosystem resilience. It will prioritise energy-efficient, secure AI chips; streamline State-aid pathways; improve monitoring of supply-chain vulnerabilities and technology-leakage risks; and better coordinate EU-national programmes. Leveraging the Chips Joint Undertaking and EuroHPC, it will back new fabs and advanced packaging lines and tie support to strategic projects. The review aligns with the AI Continent agenda (i.e. powering AI Factories and forthcoming Gigafactories and setting requirements for European AI semiconductors) within a renewed, more coherent EU funding framework.
Cloud and AI Development Act
Planned for Q1 2026.
This law will close Europe’s compute gap by tripling data-centre capacity within 5–7 years and meeting economy-wide needs by 2035, underpinning AI development and sovereign cloud services. It will harmonise cloud policy, set minimum criteria (including for a narrow set of highly critical use cases run on highly secure EU-based cloud), and streamline permitting, site designation and access to energy/water, ensuring geographically balanced rollout. The Act will spur R&I in resource-efficient data centres, enable targeted support consistent with State-aid rules, and complement AI Factories/Gigafactories and the Chips Act ecosystem.
Digital Networks Act (DNA)
Planned for Q4 2025.
This law will build a true Single Market for connectivity by harmonising authorisations and spectrum policy, enabling cross-border services and a coordinated path to 6G. It modernises the telecom rulebook to spur investment in fibre, 5G and cloud/edge networks, integrates satellite services, and tackles market fragmentation that keeps Europe split into various national markets. It will streamline permits, clarify open-internet rules for innovative services, support copper switch-off and cloud-based network transformation, and target up to a 50% reduction in reporting burdens. A stronger EU governance model will replace patchwork oversight, boosting resilience, security and scale for operators and users.
Electrification Action Plan
Planned for Q1 2026.
This plan will accelerate cost-effective, system-friendly electrification to lower energy costs, boost competitiveness and cut emissions. It tackles supply and demand across industry, transport and buildings, and will run in parallel with a Heating & Cooling Strategy. Delivery focuses on reliability and flexibility, expanding and digitalising grids, scaling storage and demand response, deepening cross-border integration, and encouraging new demand near clean generation. Policy levers will improve the electricity-to-fossil price ratio (i.e. energy taxation, network tariffs, removing non-energy charges) while mobilising financing, manufacturing capacity and skills along the value chain. Progress will be tracked using KPIs, including raising electricity’s share of final energy toward 32–33% by 2030.
Energy Union
Planned for Q3 2026.
The EU will deepen its Energy Union to deliver affordable, clean energy through stronger governance and integration. Therefore, the Commission will launch an Energy Union Task Force, publish a White Paper on electricity-market integration, revise the Governance Regulation, and present a Clean Energy Investment Strategy, a Nuclear Illustrative Programme (PINC), and a Fusion Strategy. It will table an Electrification Action Plan, a Roadmap for Digitalisation and AI in the Energy Sector, and a Heating & Cooling Strategy to accelerate electrification, flexibility and efficiency. A revised energy-security framework will enhance stability and resilience, informed by lessons from the energy crisis.
EU Critical Communication System (EUCCS)
Planned for Q3 2026.
The Commission will propose legislation to interconnect Member States’ next-generation critical communications used by police, civil protection, emergency medical, border and security authorities. EUCCS will set harmonised requirements for operational mobility, strong resilience and strategic autonomy, enabling secure cross-border voice/data, priority services and roaming, including satellite back-up via IRIS². It will modernise national systems, ensure interoperability and encrypted communications, and support crisis coordination from terrorism to large-scale disasters. Governance will link with the Preparedness Union’s all-hazards approach and ERCC, with EU-funded pilots building capabilities using European providers.
Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act
Planned for 25 November 2025.
This Act will accelerate industrial decarbonisation by clearing permitting bottlenecks, strengthening clean-product demand and de-risking investment. It streamlines access to energy and infrastructure (i.e. building on NZIA, TEN-E and the emergency permitting toolbox) through acceleration areas, one-stop shops and, where allowed, tacit approvals, while maintaining environmental safeguards. It introduces resilience and sustainability criteria (clean, circular, cybersecure) across EU/national programmes and procurement, and pilots a simple carbon-intensity label—starting with steel in 2025, followed by cement—to unlock targeted incentives and enable international alignment. Coupled with the Clean Industrial Deal and related affordability measures, it aims to lower costs, shorten lead times and scale EU clean manufacturing, with a legislative proposal.
Platform for the Joint Purchase of Critical Raw Materials
Planned for Q4 2026.
The EU will establish the Platform to aggregate industrial demand, coordinate tenders, and secure diversified supplies for strategic value chains. Building on AggregateEU and complementing the Critical Raw Materials Act, the platform will align procurement across sectors, lower transaction costs for SMEs, and leverage EU and national de-risking tools. A dedicated EU Critical Raw Materials Centre will provide the purchasing backbone, organising joint buying for interested firms with Member States, coordinating strategic stockpiles, monitoring supply chains, and designing financial products for upstream projects in the EU and partner countries.
Quantum Amendments to existing JU Regulations
The EU will extend the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking’s mandate across all quantum domains and align investments with Horizon Europe, Digital Europe, Space and Defence programmes. This includes creating a dedicated Quantum Technologies Pillar, defining national quantum competence centres, and establishing a Quantum Strategy Advisory Group to steer R&I, industrialisation, skills and standards—while enabling hybrid HPC–quantum deployments and security use cases. In parallel, the Chips Joint Undertaking will launch a quantum design facility, providing shared design libraries and tools linked to quantum pilot lines and industry cloud platforms, accelerating a European quantum-chip ecosystem and shortening time-to-fabrication.
Trans-Regional Circularity Hubs
Planned for Q4 2026.
The hubs will scale EU recycling into an integrated network. Built around smart specialisation, hubs will pool cross-border waste and by-product streams, aggregate demand for secondary raw materials, and coordinate permitting, logistics and standards. They will identify strategic projects with Member States and industry, drawing on CRMA Strategic Projects, IPCEI-like instruments and blended finance (InvestEU/EIB) to reach bankable scale. Harmonised end-of-waste and by-product criteria, benchmarks for recyclates, and Digital Product Passports will improve traceability and uptake. The Hubs will support industrial symbiosis, infrastructure corridors, and streamline shipments, accelerating the shift from linear chains to a Single Market for circular feedstocks.
Research, Technology & Industrial Capacity
Quantum Europe Strategy (Research-Related Policy Initiatives)
Planned for between 2025 and 2026.
It contains coordinated roadmaps to speed research-to-industry. The Commission will publish an EU Quantum Computing and Simulation Roadmap, a Quantum Chips Industrialisation Roadmap, and a European Quantum Standards Roadmap, while expanding Quantum Competence Clusters to link labs, pilot lines and design facilities. It adds a coordinated European Quantum Sensing, Measurement and Testing Roadmap. To catalyse uptake, the EU will pilot two Grand Challenges (fault-tolerant computing; quantum PNT) and launch a Pilot Programme for Researchers-in-Residence in quantum startups. For dual-use and space, it will deliver a Quantum Technology Roadmap in space with ESA and a Quantum Sensing Space & Defence Technology Roadmap aligning civil-security priorities.
EU Space Act
The law will establish a single, harmonised regulatory framework for the safety, resilience, and environmental sustainability of space activities across the Union. It aims to overcome the fragmentation caused by 13 divergent national space laws across Europe, ensuring a predictable internal market for space services and space-based data. The Act introduces uniform authorisation and registration rules, tailored cybersecurity and debris-mitigation obligations, and a common environmental footprint methodology. By providing legal certainty and reducing regulatory complexity, it will strengthen the competitiveness of EU space operators, foster innovation in the New Space sector, and position Europe as a global standard-setter in space governance.
Advanced Materials Act
Planned for Q4 2026.
Europe’s competitiveness in the green and digital transitions will depend on its ability to develop, produce and deploy next-generation materials at scale. To achieve this, the Commission will propose an Advanced Materials Act establishing clear framework conditions for the entire value chain; from fundamental research and prototyping to manufacturing and market uptake. The Act will focus on accelerating industrialisation, de-risking private investment and securing resilient supply chains for materials critical to clean technologies, energy, defence and space. By providing a coherent strategic framework, it aims to reduce dependencies, boost technological sovereignty and position Europe as a global leader in advanced materials innovation.
European Biotech Act
Planned for Q3 2026.
As a cornerstone of the EU’s Life Sciences Strategy, the law will make Europe the most attractive place for biotech by 2030 by speeding approvals and risk assessments without compromising safety, unlocking risk-tolerant finance and biomanufacturing scale, building EU-wide clusters/infrastructure, closing skills gaps, and enabling trusted AI/data use (incl. supercomputing and EHDS links). It tackles single-market fragmentation across health, agri-food, industrial and marine biotech, strengthening competitiveness and economic security. Expected impacts of the law includes faster time-to-market, deeper investment pipelines, resilient supply chains and environmental benefits, supported by strong EU governance.
European Innovation Act
Planned for Q1 2026.
It will create horizontal, Single-Market-wide conditions to accelerate deployment and diffusion of innovation. The law will (i) simplify and make rules more innovation-friendly (incl. regulatory sandboxes), (ii) unlock IP-backed finance and improve access to EU/national funding, (iii) open research & technology infrastructures to companies, (iv) make public/private procurement more supportive of novel solutions, (v) improve commercialisation of publicly funded R&I (i.e. IP, standardisation, certification), (vi) enable talent attraction/retention (e.g. employee ownership schemes), and (vii) establish EU–Member State coordination of innovation policy, helping to close the EU’s innovation gap.
European Innovation Council Reform
To be initiated with the Work Programme 2026, planned to be adopted in November 2025.
The council will be reformed to operate more strategically and ambitiously, inspired by the US ARPA model. It will shift towards challenge-driven, staged funding for breakthrough, high-risk technologies, focusing on strategic EU priorities and research excellence. The reform will simplify procedures, strengthen the Trusted Investor Network, and build closer ties with Europe’s unicorns to improve policy feedback loops. By combining public and private capital, the EIC will accelerate the scale-up of deep-tech companies in critical sectors and better align innovation funding with Europe’s competitiveness, technological sovereignty, and security objectives.
European Life Sciences R&I Data Assembly
Planned for 2026.
The assembly will be a key governance instrument under the EU’s new Life Sciences Strategy. It will bring together Member State authorities responsible for data, AI, and R&I with relevant EU bodies to tackle fragmentation, support consistent interpretation of legal data frameworks, and improve cross-regulatory coordination. By aligning approaches across domains such as the EHDS, Data Governance Act, and AI Act, the Assembly will create a more coherent data environment for life science research and innovation, enabling breakthroughs in genomics, personalised medicine, One Health, and biodiversity through shared, interoperable datasets and harmonised rules.
European Research Area Act
Planned for Q3 2026.
The Act Act will realise a “fifth freedom” by enabling the free movement of researchers, knowledge and technology across a single EU R&I market, anchored in TFEU Articles 179 and 182(5). It will (1) secure national commitments and new mechanisms to reach the 3% of GDP R&D target; (2) align EU–national investments and priorities around strategic technologies; and (3) upgrade framework conditions—attractive careers and mobility, open science and data access, a stronger legal basis for research infrastructures, and better knowledge valorisation. The Act will safeguard fundamental values, bolster research security, and clarify cooperation with third countries.
Framework for IP Valuation
Planned for Q2 2027.
The Commission will establish a common EU framework for intellectual property valuation to unlock the potential of intangible assets for financing innovation. Developed with the EU Intellectual Property Office, the framework will set shared standards and methodologies to build trust and transparency in IP-backed lending and investment. It will expand the evidence base needed to design tailored IP finance instruments, enabling innovators and scaleups to leverage patents, trademarks, and other IP as collateral more effectively. By facilitating access to finance for knowledge-intensive companies, the initiative strengthens Europe’s innovation ecosystem and supports the scaling of strategic technologies.
Horizon Europe 2026-2027
The next work programme will channel major investments into Europe’s industrial and scientific transformation. A €600 million flagship call under the Clean Industrial Deal will bridge R&I and deployment, fostering synergies with the Innovation Fund and supporting fusion through new PPPs. In life sciences, the Commission will establish a network of ATMP Centres of Excellence (€4 million), pilot stepwise collaborative health research funding, and invest €50 million in multi-modal genAI for biomedical research. €170 million will support a new health–climate agenda, complemented by global research collaboration and foresight on life sciences skills.
Quantum Act
Planned for Q2 2026.
The Act will make the Quantum Europe Strategy operational, fixing fragmentation by aligning EU and national programmes around a shared RTI agenda and targets. It sets EU-level governance and extends the Chips Joint Undertaking’s remit to quantum technologies, coordinating investments across EU programmes. It anchors a three-stage pipeline—Discover; Lab-to-fab via pilot lines, design tools and standards; Apply & use in lead sectors, while scaling pan-European infrastructures in quantum computing, secure communication (EuroQCI) and sensing. The Act backs skills and industrialisation, strengthens supply chains. It also drives standardisation and interoperability and fosters talent attraction.
Virtual Human Twins Incubator
Planned until 2027.
The incubator will accelerate market uptake and clinical use of next-generation “virtual human” models. Backed by €8 million under the Digital Europe Work Programme 2025–2027, it will fund testbeds, validation studies and pilots, helping innovators demonstrate safety, effectiveness and regulatory readiness for use in clinical trials and investigations. The incubator will convene regulators, HTA bodies, hospitals and SMEs to align evidence requirements, foster interoperability and ethics-by-design, and de-risk adoption across Member States. Complementary €25 million investment in European genomic data infrastructure in 2026, aligned with the EHDS, will strengthen the data backbone powering virtual twins.
Single Market Deepening & Harmonisation
European Business Wallet
Planned for Q4 2025.
It will provide a legally recognised digital identity for economic operators, enabling companies to share verified data and credentials across borders and receive notifications in a secure channel. Built on BRIS and the European Unique Identifier, and aligned with the EU Digital Identity Wallet rollout and the Once-Only Technical System, it replaces document-heavy compliance with interoperable, data-based exchanges. The Wallet is a cornerstone of the Single Market simplification agenda and the EU Startup & Scaleup Strategy, lowering costs for SMEs, easing licensing and reporting, and making cross-border operations seamless, turning digital-by-default rules into practice across the EU business lifecycle.
28th Regime
Planned for Q1 2026.
It will create an optional, EU-wide corporate framework—digital by default—to let innovative firms set up, operate, and raise capital seamlessly across borders. The proposal may rely on TFEU Article 352 or a harmonised national form via Articles 50/114, with a progressive, modular design. It targets 48-hour incorporation and “once-only” data sharing via BRIS, EUID, and an EU Company Certificate, leveraging the European Business Wallet. Investment-friendly options under consideration include simpler capital increases, flexible share classes, and standard private-equity terms. Complementing the European Innovation Act, it cuts failure costs, fragmentation, and compliance burdens.
Action Plan against Cyberbullying
Planned for Q1 2026.
The Commission will present a comprehensive EU approach to prevent, detect and respond to cyberbullying, with a primary focus on minors and youth. It will set a common EU definition, promote national strategies and focal points (e.g. trusted flaggers), and prioritise vulnerable groups including girls and women, LGBTIQ youth, migrants and persons with disabilities. Actions span prevention and digital well-being, safer product design, streamlined reporting and takedown (scaling good practices like France’s App 3018), victim support, and proportionate responses to perpetrators. Delivery will leverage and enforce the DSA, BIK+ and victims/VAW directives, with progress monitored through Safer Internet Centres, BIK policy reports and DSA enforcement.
Antitrust Procedural Rules Update
Planned for Q3 2026.
The Commission will revise Regulation (EU) 1/2003 and its implementing act to make antitrust enforcement faster, digital-ready, coherent. Options include stand-alone data-preservation orders; inspection powers covering all business records regardless of storage; the ability to summon individuals; streamlined interim measures and time-bound commitment proceedings; and a modernised access-to-file regime via confidentiality-bound external advisors. The review may harmonise complainant and third-party participation and strengthen coordination where Member States use stricter unilateral-conduct laws, safeguarding single-market consistency. The initiative seeks effective application of Articles 101/102 while reducing administrative burden, incorporating case law, and clarifying rules.
AVMSD Update
Planned for Q3 2026.
The Commission will run the AVMSD ex-post evaluation under Article 33 by 19 December 2026, followed, where appropriate, by proposals to review the Directive. Council conclusions (May 2025) suggested key reform priorities: clarify scope (incl. influencers/professional creators), ensure coherent interplay with DSA/EMFA, strengthen protection of minors and rules for VSPs, safeguard prominence/access to general-interest content and major events, and improve cross-border enforcement through the new European Board for Media Services. The exercise should keep the Single Market as the anchor (country-of-origin), avoid overlapping obligations, and de-risk regulatory fragmentation via clear definitions and digital-by-default, once-only procedures.
Circular Economy Act
Planned for Q3 2026.
The Act will create a true Single Market for waste and secondary raw materials, boosting supply and demand for quality recyclates at competitive prices. It will harmonise end-of-waste criteria, simplify and expand extended producer responsibility (including a one-stop producer registry), and revise e-waste rules to recover critical materials, while aligning with the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products framework. Public procurement criteria, incentives for scrap use, and digitalised demolition permits will accelerate circular design and recycling. Strong enforcement—including for e-commerce channels—will ensure compliance.
Definition of Startups
Planned for Q1 2026.
The Commission will propose a harmonised EU definition of startups, scaleups and innovative companies, building on existing SME and new small-mid cap (SMC) categories to ensure coherence across policies and datasets. This closes today’s patchwork of national and programme-specific definitions that hinders measurement and targeted support. The common taxonomy will underpin a European Startup & Scaleup Scoreboard and KPIs, enable tailored financing and simplification measures, and align eligibility across EU instruments and Member State schemes. It complements the Single Market Strategy’s formal SMC definition so high-growth companies can benefit from rules as they scale across borders.
Digital Fairness Act
Planned for Q4 2026.
Based on a fitness check of EU consumer law in 2024, the Commission plans to propose a Digital Fairness Act that curbs manipulative design (“dark patterns”), addictive features and subscription traps; clarifies rules for influencer and AI-driven marketing; strengthens protections for minors; and streamlines information duties so consumers face less overload and can cancel easily. Options include amending the Unfair Commercial Practices and Consumer Rights directives or proposing a new regulation, ensuring coherence with the DSA, DMA and the AI Act. It will drive harmonised, high-impact enforcement with clear duties for platforms and advertisers, easy redress for consumers, and deterrent penalties.
Dual-Use Update
Planned for Q4 2026.
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eInvoicing Directive
Introduced in Q4 2026.
The reform will make the EU eInvoicing standard and eDelivery specifications interoperable and ubiquitous across the Single Market. The Commission will recommend embedding an eInvoicing module in all accounting software and auditing national certification schemes, while piloting reuse of invoice data for sustainability reporting and linking it with customs data via the EU Customs Data Hub to increase transparency. The acquis on e-Invoicing in public procurement will be recast as a directly applicable Regulation, making the EU standard mandatory. Together with the Single Digital Gateway, Once-Only and the Digital Product Passport, this builds a coherent, data-driven reporting ecosystem.
EU Market Surveillance Authority
Planned for Q2 2025.
To protect consumers and fair competition, the Commission will explore an EU authority that coordinates national enforcers, pools capacity, and targets highest-risk flows. Today, e-commerce accounts for 97% of customs declarations, overwhelming border controls; EU-level governance is needed to act swiftly and uniformly against unsafe, counterfeit, or non-compliant products. Working with the planned Customs Authority and EU Customs Data Hub, it would run joint, risk-based operations and close gaps where national action is insufficient. In tandem, the review of the New Legislative Framework and deployment of Digital Product Passports would provide machine-readable conformity data to boost traceability, speed recalls, and strengthen cross-border enforcement.
Horizontal Merger Control Guidelines
Planned for Q4 2027.
The Commission will modernise the Horizontal and Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines to reflect dynamic, innovation-driven competition and Europe’s strategic needs. The review will better weigh innovation, resilience, investment intensity in strategic sectors; recognise supply-chain security and scale economies where relevant; and clarify treatment of ecosystem and data-driven effects. The update will codify recent case law and practice, streamline evidence standards, and provide faster procedures, including clearer safe harbours and remedies guidance. While preserving a level playing field, the revised approach will align merger control with the competitiveness agenda, closing the innovation gap, enabling efficient European scale, and supporting decarbonisation.
Public Procurement Reform
Planned for Q2 2026.
The Commission will overhaul the EU procurement framework to make public spending a strategic lever for competitiveness, security and innovation. The revision will enable sustainability, resilience and European-preference criteria in strategic sectors, while staying consistent with EU and international commitments. It will simplify and digitise procedures, embed once-only data reuse, curb overspecification, and promote innovation-friendly tools (e.g. outcome-based/R&D purchases, clearer IP clauses). Rules will be consolidated across legislation to ease use by all administrations and open tenders to startups and SMEs. Defence and security procurement will be modernised and cross-border aggregation strengthened to create lead markets and scale.
New Legislative Framework Review
Planned for Q3 2026.
The Commission will modernise EU product rules to enable faster, coordinated action when risks emerge, set clear, time-bound requirements for notified conformity assessment bodies, and clarify the responsibilities of economic operators in circularity to extend product lifecycles. It will fully digitise compliance via the Digital Product Passport and harmonised digital labelling (QR-code based), replacing paper dossiers and easing SME burden. Enforcement will be strengthened in light of surging e-commerce imports and a fragmented market-surveillance landscape. A progressive rollout of the DPP (potentially included through the NLF review in Q2 2026) will anchor instant, trusted access to essential product information across the Single Market and support consistent application of EU product law.
Standardisation Regulation Revision
Planned for Q3 2026.
The Commission will overhaul the Standardisation Regulation to make harmonised standards faster, more flexible and inclusive (bringing SMEs, startups, civil society and academia fully into the process) while improving access to standards and hard-wiring closer links with research and innovation. It will mandate structured, machine-readable formats and provide training to cut compliance costs and make standards easier to use, reinforcing the EU’s role as a global standard-setter and supporting the effective functioning of EU product legislation at the heart of the Single Market. Implementation will prioritise AI, semiconductors, clean tech and advanced materials, with clearer governance and faster mandates so EU standards swiftly become interoperable market rules.
Single Digital Booking and Ticketing for Rail
Planned for Q4 2025.
The Commission will propose an EU framework enabling passengers to buy a single ticket for cross-border rail journeys across multiple operators, with passengers’ rights applying across the whole trip. It will mandate interoperable data and open, non-discriminatory APIs for schedules, fares and reservation systems; ensure through-ticketing, real-time disruption information and seamless refunds/re-routing; and set governance for liability, revenue settlement and dispute resolution. The initiative complements paperless mobility actions and aims to make rail a convenient, default choice for long-distance travel while boosting tourism and Single Market integration.
Single Market Barriers Prevention Act
Planned for Q3 2027.
The EU will move from reacting to fragmentation to preventing it at source. Building on the Single Market Strategy, the Act would systematise ex-ante screening of draft national measures, reinforce notification/transparency obligations, and require Member States to self-assess EU-law compliance before adoption, curbing “gold-plating.” It would hard-wire a competitiveness/SME check for significant amendments, introduce rapid-reaction deadlines to fix non-compliant rules, and align agencies and regulators to ensure uniform application. Annual progress reporting and more decisive infringement where needed will anchor accountability, complemented by a shift to digital-by-default administration and a “1-in, 27-out” simplification ethos to keep new barriers from emerging.
Single Market Roadmap to 2028
Planned for Q1 2026.
The Commission will set milestones to finish the Single Market where it matters most (i.e. capital, services, energy and telecoms) while advancing a 28th regime and a ‘fifth freedom’ for knowledge and innovation. The roadmap will tackle the “Terrible Ten” barriers, codify digital-by-default procedures, and use the Competitiveness Coordination Tool to align national reforms and EU investment. A delivery scoreboard will track progress, backed by faster infringement action and “once-only” data sharing for firms. Measures include deepening the Capital Markets/Savings & Investment Union, grid and interconnector build-out, the Digital Networks Act, and service-sector opening, turning commitments into measurable outcomes.
Single Market Sherpa
Planned for Q4 2025.
To hard-wire enforcement and barrier prevention, Member States will appoint a high-level “Single Market Sherpa” in the prime minister’s/president’s office with authority across government. Sherpas will proactively police gold-plating, coordinate proportionality checks at the inception of national rules, and fix regulatory or administrative obstacles before they fragment the market. They will cooperate in a permanent network convened by the Commission’s Executive Vice-President, meeting regularly to accelerate barrier removal and to give political steer to the Single Market Enforcement Taskforce (SMET), including via an annual high-level session with responsible ministers.
SME ID Tool
Introduced in May 2025.
The Commission will roll out a simple, multilingual self-declaration SME ID so companies can instantly prove SME status across the EU, cutting red tape when dealing with authorities, banks and support schemes. Rules will be encouraged to reference this ID as default evidence, with extra paperwork requested only in duly justified cases. The tool sits within a broader SME package: a formal EU definition of small mid-caps (250–749 employees) and Omnibus measures to extend SME-style simplifications to them, plus systematic “SME-friendly” clauses in new laws and a reinforced SME check in impact assessments, all to ease cross-border operations and scaling in the Single Market.
Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER)
The Commission is revising the TTBER and accompanying Guidelines to modernise EU rules for IP licensing and speed the diffusion of innovation. The draft updates clarify market-share safe harbours (including a longer grace period), address data licensing, strengthen soft safe-harbours for technology pools, and introduce guidance for licensing negotiation groups, alongside updated case-law on settlements and no-challenge clauses. The aim is greater legal certainty for pro-competitive collaboration (especially in data- and AI-intensive sectors) while safeguarding competition.
Territorial Supply Constraints
Planned for Q4 2026.
The Commission will propose a horizontal tool to tackle unjustified territorial supply constraints that fall outside antitrust, notably unilateral practices by manufacturers that ration cross-border supply, impose dual pricing, or tailor products by market to block parallel trade. The instrument will introduce transparency and non-discrimination obligations on wholesale terms, a fast-track complaint and remedy system for SMEs and retailers, powers to request information and impose dissuasive fines, and cooperation with national authorities. It will interface with geo-blocking, consumer and product rules, creating a right to comparable access to goods across the Union, lowering price gaps and expanding choice.