The Council of the European Union has adopted the codified EU design regulation as part of the ordinary legislative procedure (2025/0190/COD) following the European Parliament’s first‑reading decision on 10 February 2026. The Regulation now awaits signature.

The Council of the EU has adopted conclusions on the action plan to combat desertification, land degradation, and drought (DLDD) and achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) by 2030. The conclusions highlight the necessity of coherent financing strategies, which will explore alternative private and mixed funding resources to operationalise DLDD actions through nature-based solutions. The Council also urges the transformation of agriculture and food systems to make them sustainable, drought-resilient, and climate-smart to achieve LDN by 2030. Additionally, the need for improved collaboration among the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification is emphasised to reach these goals.

The Council of the EU has adopted conclusions on its negotiating position for the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), set to take place from 11 to 22 November 2024 in Baku. The conclusions include agreement on a new collective quantified goal, following a multi-layered approach and private investment to achieve the green transition; action from all countries to maintain the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal; and nationally determined contributions, including reduction targets for all greenhouse gases. The Council also outlines the importance of integrating policies regarding climate change adaptation and resilience into existing frameworks, and urges countries to transition away from fossil fuels in their energy systems.

The Council of the European Union has adopted conclusions entitled 'The Future of the European Health Union: a Europe that cares, prepares and protects' in which it set out key areas of focus for EU health policy and encouraged the incoming European Commission to keep health as a priority. This includes as next step to consider the establishment of a voluntary, Member-State driven mechanism for evaluating and prioritising such needs and the EU-level coordination of public support to address the most pressing health-related unmet needs. The Council also calls on Member States and the Commission to strengthen action in priority areas by improving the EU’s implementation tools, including EU4Health, and developing new ones such as an EU health investment hub. Moreover, the Council adopted a recommendation setting out new measures on vaccine-preventable cancers, as part of Europe's Beating Cancer Plan. The recommendation aims to encourage the uptake and monitoring of vaccinations against human papillomaviruses (HPV) and Hepatitis B virus (HBV), both of which can cause cancer. It proposes measures to help Member States increase vaccination against non-preventable diseases. Finally, the Council held a policy debate on the incentives system in the pharmaceutical package, a Regulation and Directive proposed by the Commission in April 2023. Ministers discussed ways forward on the modulation of regulatory data protection periods, the market access incentive, and the unmet medical needs incentive. The Belgian presidency also updated ministers on the broader state of play of the package. The discussion included ministers expressing support for an unmet medical need (UMN) incentive, but feeling that the definition and criteria of this incentive should be further discussed, specifically regarding achieving legal certainty and objectivity in its application.

The Council of the EU has issued a notice on its conclusions about the EU Customs Action Plan to combat intellectual property right (IPR) infringements for the years 2018–2022. The new Action Plan contains some core elements of previous Action Plans that remain valid and the Customs 2020 Programme shall continue like previous programmes to support the implementation of the present Action Plan. The strategic objectives of this Action Plan include ensuring effective customs enforcement of IPR throughout the EU, tackling major trends in trade of IPR infringing goods, tackling trade of IPR infringing goods throughout the international supply chain, and strengthening co-operation with the European Observatory on infringements of IPRs and law enforcement authorities.

The Council of the EU has adopted conclusions on the special report of the Court of Auditors on the EU’s industrial policy on renewable hydrogen. In its conclusions, the Council welcomes the report, calls for swift implementation of the EU's regulatory framework, encourages development of an interconnected transportation network, and calls on the European Commission to take measures that support the competitiveness of the EU industry and security of investment. The conclusions note the importance of Member States' national energy and climate plans when considering EU-level targets for hydrogen production and import. They also urge the Commission to consider the recommendations of the Court of Auditors' report and follow up with coherent actions.

The Council of the European Union has adopted a decision and a regulation clarifying the obligations of central securities depositories (CSD) holding assets and reserves of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) that are immobilised as a consequence of EU restrictive measures. The Council of the EU decided that CSDs holding more than €1m of CBR’s assets must account extraordinary cash balances accumulating due to EU restrictive measures separately, and must also keep corresponding revenues separate. In addition, CSDs shall be prohibited from disposing of the ensuing net profits.

The Council of the EU has adopted a decision to formally conclude the Interim Agreement on Trade (ITA) between the European Union (EU) and Mexico, following the agreement’s signature on 22 May 2026 and the European Parliament’s consent on 8 July 2026. The decision completes the EU’s internal procedures for the ITA, which updates the trade pillar of the EU-Mexico Global Agreement (MGA). According to the Council of the EU, the agreement provides a framework for trade and investment, including the elimination of most remaining customs duties, expanded opportunities for services, investment and public procurement, reduced barriers to trade, and provisions relating to geographical indications, digital trade, intellectual property, customs and trade facilitation, competition and critical raw materials. As the ITA falls within the EU’s exclusive competence, it does not require ratification by individual EU member states and will enter into force on the first day of the second month after the EU and Mexico notify each other that they have completed their respective internal procedures. The agreement will operate as a stand-alone agreement until the full EU-Mexico Modernised Global Agreement enters into force.

The Council of the EU has adopted a Regulation for the digital labelling of EU fertilising products. The Regulation promotes the use of digital labels on EU fertilising products while keeping physical labels where necessary, and digital labels will last at least 10 years since a product is placed on the market. It improves the readability of labels and simplifies the labelling obligations of suppliers. The existing Regulation has been updated about fertilisers’ labels, to promote the use of digital labelling to lower the costs, bureaucracy, and environmental footprint for producers. The Regulation also ensures the physical availability of information to protect vulnerable consumers or people with limited digital competences. Digital labels will also be proposed for products sold in bulk, given that the correct information is also displayed in physical format in a visible place at the point of sale. The Regulation will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force three days later.

The Council of the EU has adopted a directive covering EU-wide minimum rules for the prosecution of violation or circumvention of EU sanctions in Member States. The directive will enter into force on the 20th day following publication in the Official Journal of the EU. Member states will have 12 months to incorporate the provisions of the directive into their national legislation.

The Council of the European Union has adopted a directive to empower consumers for the green transition. The new rules will revise the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD) and the Consumer Rights Directive (CRD) to improve consumers’ rights and will modify them for the green transition and the circular economy. The directive will also tackle misleading ‘green’ claims, which includes unfair claims about carbon offsetting, define the traders’ liability regarding information (or lack of information) on early obsolescence, unnecessary software updates or the unjustified obligation to buy spare parts from the original producer and will provide enhanced information to consumers to support them with their circular and ecological choices.

The Council of the EU has adopted a directive updating the EU’s civil liability law to reflect technological advancements and circular economy practices. Under the new rules, the definition of 'product' will be extended to digital manufacturing files and software, online platforms could be held liable for a defective product sold on their platform if they act as an economic operator, the right to compensation will be simplified, and any company importing a product or the EU-based representative of the foreign manufacturer can be held liable for damages to ensure consumers can be compensated for damage caused by products manufactured outside of the EU. In addition, when a product is repaired and upgraded outside the original manufacturer's control, the company or person that modified the product will be held liable, and where an injured consumer is faced with excessive difficulties to prove the defectiveness of the product or the causal link between its defectiveness and the damage, a court may decide that the claimant is only required to prove the likelihood that the product was defective or that its defectiveness is a likely cause of the damage.