The Council of the EU and the European Parliament have reached an agreement on CO2 emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs). The new rules will set new CO2 emissions reduction targets for 2030, 2035 and 2040 and also contribute to fulfilling the EU’s 2030 climate ambitions and reaching climate neutrality by 2050. The agreement sets CO2 emissions reduction targets for HDVs of 45% for 2030-2034, 65% for 2035-2039 and 90% as of 2040. The Council and Parliament agreed to expand the scope of the regulation to make almost all new HDVs with certified CO2 emissions including smaller trucks, urban buses, coaches and trailers subject to emission reduction targets. To accelerate the transition to zero-emission public transport across Europe, new urban buses must reduce emissions by 90% as of 2030 and all new urban buses will have to be zero-emissions by 2035. The agreement provides for a review of the effectiveness and impact of the regulation by 2027. The Parliament and Council now need to formally approve the agreement. Once this process is completed, the new legislation will be published in the Official Journal of the Union and enter into force.

The Council of the EU and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on a regulation prolonging an interim measure to combat online child sexual abuse. This interim measure will be extended until 3 April 2026. Council and European Parliament negotiators also decided that, in order to obtain comprehensive reporting and comparable statistics, providers should make the information about the reports of detected online child sexual abuse that they submit to the authorities and the Commission available in a structured format. The agreement is currently pending confirmation by EU Member States’ representatives which will be followed by formal adoption in both institutions.

The Council of the EU and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement to update the Measuring Instruments Directive (MID), expanding its scope to include technologies vital to the green and digital transitions, such as electric vehicle chargers, compressed gas dispensers, and thermal energy meters. The revision harmonises rules to ensure accurate measurement and fair charging, clarifies display requirements to support smart and cloud-based metering, and introduces stricter conformity criteria for energy conversion devices with a maximum permissible error of 0.05%. Member States will have 24 months to transpose the directive and 30 months before its application, while electric vehicle chargers and compressed gas dispensers benefit from a 48-month transitional period to allow industry preparation. National certificates issued under previous rules will remain valid for up to 12 years. The updated framework, endorsed by Danish Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, Morten Bødskov, modernises measurement standards to ensure technology-neutral, digital-ready regulation aligned with the EU’s sustainability and decarbonisation objectives

The Council of the European Union and European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on a regulation aimed at combating cross-border unfair trading practices in the agricultural and food supply chain. The regulation introduces a mutual assistance mechanism enabling national enforcement authorities to exchange information and collaborate on investigations, establishes coordinated action procedures for large-scale cases involving at least three EU countries and includes cooperation rules for cases involving non-EU buyers. The agreement builds on the 2019 directive on unfair trading practices and requires formal endorsement before adoption.

The Council of the EU has approved the EU AI Act. The legislative act will be published in the Official Journal of the EU, following the signature by presidents of the Council and the European Parliament and will come into force twenty days after its publication. The EU AI Act will apply two years following its entry into force, with exceptions for particular provisions.

The European Commission (EC) has announced that the Council of EU has approved the EU’s signature of the United Nations Convention on transparency in Investor-State Dispute Settlement, also known as the ‘Mauritius Convention’. The EU will now formally sign the Convention and, after the approval of the European Parliament, the Convention will be ratified.

The Council of the EU has approved an updated nationally determined contribution (NDC) of the EU and its Member States, which will be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil. Covering the period up to 2035, the updated NDC builds on the EU’s 2020 submission and its 2023 update. The NDC reiterates the EU’s existing target of achieving a net reduction of 55% in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. It also acknowledges the Council’s agreement on a 2040 target of a 90% net reduction and introduces an indicative contribution of 66.25% to 72.5% for 2035, intended to support the EU’s trajectory toward climate neutrality by 2050.

The Council of the EU has formally endorsed the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending the EU Accounting Directive 2013/34/EU, the Directive on time limits for the adoption of sustainability reporting standards for certain sectors and third country undertakings, which amends the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive to give the companies concerned more time to apply European Sustainability Reporting Standards. The Act has now been adopted and will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication.

The Council of the EU has formally adopted a Regulation to extend Regulation (EU) 2021/1232 (the Interim Regulation) to combat online child sexual abuse until 3 April 2026. The Interim Regulation sustains a derogation from data protection rules in the electronic communications sector which enables providers of messaging services to use specific technologies to process personal and other data to identify online child sexual abuse on their services, report and remove it. The Regulation will now be published in the Official Journal of the EU and will come into force the day after. It is directly applicable in all Member States.

The Council of the EU has published the final version of the EU Directive amending the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive 2014/59/EU (EU BRRD) and the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) Regulation (EU) 806/2014 as regards certain aspects of the minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL). The text has been adopted by the Council and the European Parliament and will enter into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal of the EU.

The Council of the EU has published the final compromise text of the proposed Directive amending Solvency II as regards proportionality, quality of supervision, reporting, long-term guarantee measures, macro-prudential tools, sustainability risks, group and cross-border supervision.

The Council of the EU has approved its conclusions, outlining its priorities for the audiovisual media sector. The Council highlighted the need for EU-wide rules to adapt to the rapidly evolving landscape, including the rise of influencers, disinformation, and AI; and stressed the importance of a robust and adaptable legal framework to protect citizens from harmful content to promote a diverse, fair, and competitive market. Key points include expanding the EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive's (AVMSD) scope to cover all relevant media content, ensuring child protection, regulating video-sharing platforms, combating disinformation, and safeguarding access to culturally important events. The Council's position will guide the Commission's 2026 review of the EU AVMSD.