The European Commission has, in the 13th ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) (MC13), renewed the ‘e-commerce moratorium’ until MC14 to maintain duty free trade in online services such as apps, games and services, and agreed on new rules which improve global services trade by introducing clearer, predictable and effective authorisation procedures for businesses in more than 71 markets. WTO Members also finalised the new Agreement on Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) which aims to harness the economic potential of foreign direct investment to boost development in poorer countries. EU negotiators further secured agreements on environmental cooperation and sustainability issues.

MLex: The European Commission has set a provisional date of 10 December 2025 for the publication a digital package, including a so-called omnibus that will propose amendments to legislation, potentially addressing landmark laws such as the EU AI Act and Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (EU General Data Protection Regulation), according to an internal document seen by MLex. The package also includes the review of the Cybersecurity Act, and legislative developments in the Digital Networks Act and European Business Wallet, while the proposal for a Cloud and AI Development Act is scheduled for release on 16 December 2025.

European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 (ECHR): an internationally binding treaty, based on the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and which set out minimum standards of protection for human rights across the EU. The most relevant rights conferred by the ECHR in relation to media law are those contained in articles 8 and 10, respectively the right to freedom or expression and the right to respect for private and family life — these are 'qualified' rather than 'absolute' rights (such as the article 2 right to life) and can be infringed by the state in certain circumstances which promote a specific legitimate aim which is necessary in a democratic society.

An international scientific non-profit association providing a forum for debate and dialogue between academics, legislators and practitioners, focusing on major governance'>corporate governance issues and thereby promoting best practice.

The European Council met on 27 June 2024 to discuss its strategic agenda for the 2024 to 2029 period, and to confirm key appointments for the next institutional cycle. António Costa (former Prime Minister of Portugal) has been elected as President of the European Council for the period from 1 December 2024 until 31 May 2027, to replace the outgoing President Charles Michel. In addition, the European Council confirmed its nomination of Ursula von der Leyen as candidate for the presidency of the European Commission for a further term and its nomination of Kaja Kallas (current Prime Minister of Estonia) as candidate for High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The appointment of the Commission President remains subject to a vote in the European Parliament, and the appointment of the High Representative remains subject to the agreement of the President-elect of the Commission.

The European Council has agreed a negotiating mandate on the amending directive to expand the use of digital tools and processes in company law. The Council supports the main objectives of the proposed directive but provides improvements to simplify procedures and reduce the administrative burden for companies and national authorities. For example, the Business Registers Interconnection System (BRIS) will improve availability of company information, ensuring data in business registers is accurate. This proposal contributes to the ‘2030 Digital Compass and Digitalisation of Justice in the European Union’ objectives. The mandate now gives the Council presidency a framework for negotiations with the European Parliament.

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) has released a special report calling for a 'reality check' on EU's renewable hydrogen-powered targets, as a result of the 2030 goals for renewable hydrogen production and demand being 'overly ambitious'. The report called on the European Commission to update its hydrogen strategy, after assessing three important areas—how to calibrate market incentives for renewable hydrogen production and use; how to prioritise scarce EU funding and which parts of the value chain to focus on; and which industries the EU wants to keep and at what price, given the geopolitical implications of EU production compared to imports from non-EU countries.

The European Court of Auditors has announced that an affordability crisis was created by the rapid phasing-out of imports of Russian gas. This led to the subsidisation of gas and electricity prices by EU countries in an effort to reduce the impact on households and businesses. A target of a 15% reduction in gas demand was reached during the crisis, however the auditors were not able to ascertain whether this resulted from the measures alone or from external factors as well. The auditors have concluded that there is a need for the EU to consolidate its gas affordability framework. It was also pointed out that the progress on carbon capture use and storage is insufficient and may also challenge security of supply in the long-term.

The Strasbourg Court has published its 2025 annual report. It contains information and statistics on its organisation and activities for the previous year. Pending applications were again down from the previous year, this time by 11%, to just over 53,000. This was despite applications being up by 10% compared with 2024, to almost 32,000. The President of the Court explains in his foreword that this is because of a 5% increase in the number of cases decided in 2025 compared with 2024.

Immigration analysis: A new challenge against the UK’s Right to Rent legislation has been taken to the European Court of Human Rights. The legislation has been a key plank of the government’s ‘Hostile Environment’, which has been found to cause racial discrimination by two court rulings. Leigh Day considers the case.

Immigration analysis: Matthew Moriarty, barrister at Luqmani Thompson & Partners, discusses the significance of Ndidi and the practical implications of the judgment regarding the courts striking a balance between an applicant’s Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) rights to respect for his family and private life and the wider public interest in deportation.

The Strasbourg Court has published its 2024 annual report. It contains information on its organisation and activities for the previous year, including on procedural rule changes relating to recusal of judges and requests for interim measures, and statistics. Pending application were down from the previous year. Most pending applications concern Turkey, Russia (about which Russia has refused to engage since it left the ECtHR system in 2022), Ukraine, Romania and Greece.