The European Commission has published its 2025 State of the Energy Union and Climate Progress Reports, showing the EU remains on track to meet 2030 climate targets with greenhouse gas emissions falling 2.5% in 2024. The reports highlight ongoing negotiations on amending the European Climate Law to set a 90% emissions reduction target by 2040 and upcoming revision of the Governance Regulation on Energy Union and Climate Action for the post-2030 framework.

On 19 November 2025, the European Commission adopted the 2025-2030 Consumer Agenda which is a new strategic framework for EU consumer policy that sets out concrete priorities and actions for the next five years. The Agenda covers a broad range of actions that respond directly to key challenges and reflect the cross-cutting nature of consumer policy. It aims to enhance consumer protection and foster competitiveness, social fairness and sustainable growth, notably by strengthening the consistent and effective implementation, application and enforcement of EU rules and by tackling important challenges such as digital fairness and online consumer protection.

The European Commission has adopted the 2025-2030 working plan for Regulation (EU) 2024/178 (Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation) and Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 (Energy Labelling Regulation) on 16 April 2025. The plan identifies steel, aluminium, textiles, furniture, tyres and mattresses as priority products for new ecodesign requirements. Requirements will cover product performance metrics like durability and energy efficiency, plus information requirements delivered through a Digital Product Passport. The plan aims to foster sustainable, repairable and circular products across the EU single market while strengthening industry competitiveness.

The European Commission has published its 2026 Rule of Law Report, assessing the state of the rule of law across all 27 EU Member States and four candidate countries: Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The report finds continued progress in reforms relating to justice systems, anti-corruption frameworks, media freedom and pluralism, and institutional checks and balances, while noting that progress remains uneven and challenges persist in some countries. It also states that the report and its recommendations will help inform the Commission's proposed National and Regional Partnership Plans under the next Multiannual Financial Framework.

The European Commission has launched the AI Continent Action Plan to establish Europe as a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI). This initiative aims to transform Europe's traditional industries and talent pool into engines of AI innovation and is part of a broader strategy to boost Europe's competitiveness, security, and technological sovereignty in the AI domain.

The Commission has unveiled the Clean Industrial Deal, a comprehensive strategy to enhance the competitiveness and resilience of European industry while accelerating decarbonisation. The Deal focuses on energy-intensive industries and clean tech, aiming to lower energy costs, boost demand for clean products, and secure access to critical raw materials. As part of this Industrial Deal, the Commission has also published its Affordable Energy Action Plan which sets out short-term measures to lower energy costs, complete the Energy Union, attract investments and better prepare the EU for potential energy crises.

The Data Union Strategy is a central component of the EU’s Digital Package, aimed at unlocking high-quality data for artificial intelligence and innovation across Europe. It focuses on three priority areas: scaling up access to data, streamlining data rules and strengthening the EU’s global position on international data flows. Key initiatives include the development of data labs, expansion of Common European Data Spaces and investment in synthetic data production to address data scarcity and support AI ecosystems.

The European Commission has proposed a new Digital Package aimed at simplifying EU technology and data rules and boosting business efficiency across Member States. The Digital Package includes a Digital Omnibus to streamline legislation on artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity and data. The proposal for a Digital Omnibus includes:

The European Commission has published its 2025 Employment and Social Developments in Europe (ESDE) report, which explores how better integration of underrepresented groups—including women, older people, migrants and persons with disabilities—could help address labour and skills shortages across the EU. The report notes that demographic changes may reduce the EU workforce by up to 18 million by 2050 and highlights the role of inclusive employment policies in meeting the EU’s 78% employment rate target for 2030.

The European Commission has published an Action Plan on Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support the safe and responsible use of AI while strengthening Europe's cybersecurity and resilience. The Action Plan sets out a coordinated approach for Member States, businesses and public authorities to address the risks and opportunities associated with advanced AI models. It focuses on three objectives: promoting the safe and responsible use of advanced AI, reinforcing the EU's cybersecurity and resilience and scaling up Europe's AI capabilities for cybersecurity.

The European Commission has published guidance on verification and accreditation requirements under the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (EU CBAM), alongside a procedure for EU CBAM verifiers to obtain access to the CBAM Registry from 1 September 2026.  The guidance explains the requirements under the EU CBAM Regulation for verifiers of emissions reports from operators of installations outside the EU producing CBAM goods imported from 1 January 2026, as well as the requirements for National Accreditation Bodies (NABs) performing accreditation and surveillance of those verifiers. Accreditation by the relevant NAB is the first step, followed by an application for access to the CBAM Registry. The relevant National Competent Authority would grant access after confirming that the verifier is duly accredited. EU CBAM verifiers must register in the CBAM Registry within two months of receiving CBAM accreditation, but not before 1 September 2026. From January 2027, accredited verifiers will issue verification reports in the CBAM Registry, enabling importers to use actual verified emissions when completing their CBAM declarations.

The European Commission has published a delegated act under the EU Digital Services Act (EU DSA) establishing rules for researcher access to internal data from very large online platforms and search engines. The act outlines vetting procedures by Digital Services Coordinators (DSCs) for qualified researchers and introduces a new EU DSA data access portal. Following a three-month scrutiny period by Parliament and Council, the first researchers can be vetted from October 2025. The measure complements existing EU DSA provisions allowing non-vetted researchers access to public platform data.