The European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety has opened a consultation on proposed updates to Chapter 1 of the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidelines. The revision aligns with the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) Q9(R1) guideline on Quality Risk Management, introducing strengthened requirements for knowledge management and risk assessment across product lifecycles. Key changes include new provisions for shortage prevention, clarified product quality review requirements, and guidance on product grouping strategies. The amendments aim to modernise regulatory frameworks while ensuring consistent product quality and availability. Public health stakeholders involved in GMP activities can submit responses via EU Survey tool. Consultation closes 3 December 2025.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on revising EU rules addressing unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships within the agricultural and food supply chain. The initiative aims to reflect evolving market dynamics and emerging practices to ensure fairer relations within the chain, responding to farmers' demands for a fairer food system. The revision is informed by an evaluation of existing EU rules on business-to-business unfair trading practices and the Vision for Agriculture and Food framework. The Commission plans to adopt a proposal for a directive in the fourth quarter of 2026 as part of its Work Programme and REFIT initiative. The consultation period runs from 5 December 2025 to 27 February 2026.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation to inform the upcoming revision of the Governance Regulation on the Energy Union and Climate Action, which underpins EU strategic planning, reporting and monitoring towards climate and energy objectives. The initiative seeks views on how to modernise and streamline governance, align the framework with priorities such as affordability, competitiveness, decarbonisation, energy security and strategic autonomy, and support delivery of post-2030 targets including the proposed 2040 goal of a 90% net greenhouse gas reduction. The consultation closes on 12 March 2026.

The European Commission has launched a consultation on draft guidance and a reporting template for serious incidents involving high-risk AI systems under Article 73 of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act). The consultation is intended to help providers prepare for new reporting obligations that will apply from August 2026. The draft guidance clarifies key definitions, outlines the scope of incidents that must be reported, and explains how the new rules interact with existing legal frameworks. The reporting template aims to standardise submissions to national authorities. Stakeholders—including providers, deployers, industry bodies, academics, civil society and public authorities—are invited to submit feedback and practical examples. The Commission will use the responses to refine the guidance and template, and a summary of the consultation results will be published. Responses are sought by 7 November 2025.

The European Commission has launched a consultation on updated EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) benchmark values applicable for the 2026–30 allocation period, as required under Directive 2003/87/EC (EU ETS Directive). The proposed update determines the level of free allocation to industry, with benchmarks calculated on the basis of 2021–22 greenhouse gas efficiency data submitted under Article 11 of the ETS Directive, using the average value of the 10% most efficient installations under each benchmark. On average, industry is expected to continue receiving free allocation covering around 75% of its emissions. The Commission has made full use of available legal flexibilities, including maintaining coverage of indirect electricity emissions across 14 product benchmarks, resulting in higher benchmark values with an estimated financial impact of approximately €4 billion for 2026–30. The benchmark update is intended to complement the proposed amendment to the ETS Market Stability Reserve presented on 1 April 2026. Following scrutiny by Member States in the Climate Change Committee, the benchmarks will be adopted by way of an implementing act by the end of June 2026, enabling the allocation of free allowances for the 2026–30 period.

The European Commission is carrying out an evaluation on Regulation (EU) 2018/302 (Geo-blocking Regulation) and has launched a public consultation on this evaluation. The aim of the Geo-blocking Regulation is to prevent unjustified geo-blocking, ie practices where traders operating in one Member State block or limit access to their online interfaces, such as websites and apps, or apply different general conditions of access to their goods and services with respect to customers from other Member States wishing to engage in cross-border transactions, and other forms of discrimination. The consultation is intended to evaluate how the Regulation has been implemented, applied and enforced since its entry into force. The evaluation will examine issues including territorial supply restrictions and access to copyright-protected content across borders. The feedback will contribute to the European Commission’s assessment and inform potential future policy decisions. The consultation is open until 29 December 2026.

The European Commission has launched consultations on three draft implementing regulations that would update the technical standards and specifications underpinning the European Digital Identity Wallet framework. The first draft implementing regulation proposes amendments to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/848, which sets out the rules for the registration of wallet-relying parties. It would introduce new requirements for the acceptance of WebAuthn as an authentication mechanism for pseudonyms. The second draft implementing regulation would amend Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1569 by updating rules on revocation mechanisms, attribute verification procedures and the associated technical annexes. The third draft implementing regulation would amend Implementing Regulations (EU) 2024/2977, 2024/2979, 2024/2980 and 2024/2982. It would update specifications relating to wallet instance attestations, cryptographic mechanisms, protocols and interfaces, and would introduce the EU Digital Identity Wallet Trust Mark. All three consultations are open until 5 March 2026.

The European Commission has launched two public consultations on the review and possible revision ofRegulation (EU) 2019/631 governing CO2 emission standards for cars and vans and Directive 1999/94/EC (the Car Labelling Directive).

The European Commission has launched a Data Act legal helpdesk to provide stakeholders, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, with swift answers to questions on Regulation (EU) 2023/2854, the EU Data Act. The helpdesk complements existing support materials and aims to assist businesses and other organisations in navigating legal questions arising from the new data access and use rules that apply under the EU Data Act.

The European Commission has launched the Digital Product Passport (DPP) registry alongside a testing environment, under Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation). An accompanying Implementing Regulation sets out rules for access management and user verification, data registration requirements and the registry's technical architecture. Registration is available through a secure user interface or an API, and operators can request proof of registration as a secure electronic document for use in business-to-business transactions. The registry's product scope includes textiles, steel, aluminium, tyres, furniture, ICT products, large batteries, construction products, toys and detergents. It includes a free semantic repository providing machine-readable data models and a verification and logging framework to strengthen security and accountability. Six of eight harmonised standards developed with CEN-CENELEC have been published. Technical documentation, webinars and a dedicated helpdesk are available via the new DPP website to support businesses ahead of the first implementation deadline of 18 February 2027 for certain large batteries.

The European Commission has started evaluating the EU legislation on plant variety rights, which protect breeders' intellectual property rights for the protection of plant varieties and incentivise the development of improved plant varieties. The evaluation will determine if legislative amendments are necessary. Stakeholders are invited to provide feedback until 14 March 2025.

The European Commission has initiated an expiry review of anti-dumping duties on polyvinyl alcohol imports from China, following a June 2025 request from Kuraray Europe. The review will examine whether removing the current duties of up to 72.9% would risk continued dumping and harm to EU industry. The investigation process begins on 25 September 2025, with verification visits scheduled between 12 January and 27 March 2026. The Commission expects to reach a final decision on maintaining or terminating the measures by 24 September 2026. Interested parties can submit comments on final disclosure until 19 June 2026.