The Council of the European Union has adopted the legislative proposal for a regulation amending Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (the EU Capital Requirements Regulation) as regards requirements for credit risk, credit valuation adjustment risk, operational risk, market risk and the output floor. The new rules update the Capital Requirements Regulation and the Capital Requirements Directive that translate the Basel III standards into EU legislation. This is the last step of the adoption procedure. The amended regulation and directive will now be published in the EU’s Official Journal and enter into force 20 days later. Member states will have 18 months to transpose the directive into national legislation. The regulation will apply from 1 January 2025.

The Council of the EU has formally adopted the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). After signature by the President of the European Parliament and the President of the Council, the CSDDD will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and enter into force 20 days following its publication. Member States will have two years to implement the regulations and administrative procedures to comply with the CSDDD. It will apply depending on the size of the companies: three years from entry into force for companies with more than 5,000 employees and €1.5bn turnover, four years from entry into force for companies with more than 3,000 employees and €900m turnover, and five years from entry into force for companies with more than 1,000 employees and €450m turnover.

The Council of the EU has adopted the Cyber Resilience Act, which sets out safety requirements for products with a digital element. The Act introduces EU-wide rules for the design, development, production and making available on the market of hardware and software products, for example a CE mark being used to indicate compliance with safety standards. The legislation will apply to all products that are directly or indirectly connected to another device or to a network, and aims to make it easier for consumers to identify products with appropriate cybersecurity features.

The Council of the EU has adopted a Right-to-Repair Directive which promotes the repair of broken or defective goods. The Directive will ensure repair services are more accessible, transparent and attractive and establishes tools which include a European online platform where consumers can access repair services and extends the legal guarantee with 12 months if consumers decide to repair instead of replacement. The Directive will be published in the Official Journal of the EU and will come into force 20 days after its publication following signature by the President of the European Parliament and the President of the Council.

The Council of the EU has adopted a regulation amending Regulation (EU) 2023/956 to simplify and reinforce the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (EU CBAM) as part of the wider ‘Omnibus I’ legislative package. The regulation aims to reduce regulatory complexity and compliance costs for EU importers, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), while maintaining the climate objectives of the EU CBAM, which continues to cover approximately 99% of embedded emissions in imported goods. Key changes include replacing the existing exemption for low-value goods with a new ‘de minimis’ mass threshold, exempting imports of up to 50 tons per importer annually from the EU CBAM obligations, primarily benefiting SMEs and individuals importing minimal quantities. Transitional provisions have also been introduced to prevent disruptions in early 2026, allowing imports under specific conditions while the EU CBAM registration is pending.

The Council of the EU has adopted the EU Construction Products Regulation (CPR), which lays down harmonised conditions for the marketing of construction products, facilitates their free movement within the single market, promotes circular economy and repeals Regulation (EU) 305/2011. The EU CPR aims to enhance market surveillance and consumer protection, updates the definition of ‘construction product’, lays out the obligations of importers and manufacturers, facilitates the adoption of new standards and empowers the European Commission to adopt common specifications under certain conditions when the usual standardisation route is blocked. The legislation has been adopted on 5 November 2024 following the Council’s approval. The EU CPR will come into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.

The Council of the EU has adopted a Regulation amending the Electricity Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2019/943, and the ACER Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2019/942, with the aim of lowering energy prices, reducing the use of fossil fuels and working towards a carbon-free system. The new rules promote power purchase agreements and two-way contracts for difference to provide stability for customers and investors and encourage new investments in electricity generation, and ensure less volatility of electricity prices of fossil fuel-based markets. The revisions also give the Council the power to declare a crisis if there is an increase in electricity prices in the market, and Member States are required to ban disconnections to protect vulnerable customers. The revising Regulation must now be signed and will then be published in the Official Journal.

The Council of the EU has adopted the Euro 7 Regulation (type-approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles), which sets out rules on emission limits for road vehicles and battery durability. The adopted text covers cars, vans and heavy-duty vehicles in one single legal act and will reduce air pollutant emissions from exhaust fumes and brakes. The Euro 7 Regulation also introduces stricter requirements for solid particles, stricter limits for particle emissions produced when braking, with specific limits for electric vehicles and stricter lifetime requirements for all vehicles. The regulation will be published in the Official Journal of the EU, following signature by the President of the European Parliament and the President of the Council and will come into force 20 days after its publication. The regulation will then begin to apply 30 months after its entry into force for new types of cars and vans, 42 months for new cars and vans, 48 months for new types of buses, trucks and trailers, and 60 months for new buses, lorries and trailers. It will also apply 30 months following its entry into force for new systems, components or separate technical units to be fitted in cars and vans and 48 months for those to be fitted in buses, lorries and trailers.

The Council of the EU has adopted a new Regulation aiming to safeguard media freedom, media pluralism and editorial independence in the EU. The European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) will establish a common framework for media services in the EU and introduce measures to protect journalists and media providers from political interference and to improve the ease at which they can operate across the EU’s internal borders. The EMFA introduces an independent European board for media services to replace the regulators group established under the audiovisual media services Directive (AVMSD). This will be composed of national media authorities and will advise and support the European Commission and promote the consistent application of key provisions of the new EMFA and the AVMSD in all Member States. The Regulation will now be signed, published in the EU’s Official Journal and enter into force 20 days later.

The Council of the EU has adopted the Green Claims Directive which aims to address greenwashing by setting minimum standards for the substantiation, communication and verification of explicit environmental claims. These include using clearer criteria and scientific evidence to substantiate their labels and claims, requiring third-party experts to verify green claims, introducing a simplified procedure to exempt certain claims from this verification and new requirements to prove climate-related claims. The Council also distinguished between contribution claims and offset claims (in which companies must prove a net-zero target and show decarbonisation progress). The Council's approach will form the basis for negotiations with the European Parliament, which will begin in the new legislative cycle.

The Council of the EU has adopted the directive amending the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) and the Single Resolution Mechanism Regulation (SRMR) to include targeted proportionality requirements for the consolidated treatment of internal MREL (minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities) in bank resolution groups. The directive also sets out the concept and scope of liquidation entities. This is the last step of the adoption procedure. The text will now be published in the Official Journal and enter into force 20 days later.

The Council of the EU has adopted the revised Directive on security of network and information systems (NIS2 Directive) in a bid to ‘address the deficiencies’ of the previous Directive (EU) 2016/1148 (the Network and Information Systems Directive), which guided Member States’ regulatory approach to cybersecurity. The NIS2 Directive will set the baseline for cybersecurity risk management measures and reporting obligations, harmonise cybersecurity requirements and implementation of cybersecurity measures across EU Member States, put in place mechanisms for effective co-operation among relevant authorities in each Member State, and formally establish the European Cyber Crises Liaison Organisation Network, which will support the management of large-scale cybersecurity incidents and crises.