The European Parliament has highlighted the challenges posed by Regulation (EU) 2024/168 (EU AI Act), which entered into force in August 2024, in mitigating discrimination in high-risk AI systems while respecting fundamental rights, including data protection. The EU AI Act allows processing special categories of personal data to detect and correct bias, but its interplay with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR)), which is more restrictive, creates legal uncertainty. Legislative reform or further guidance may be needed to clarify these issues.

The European Parliament has agreed to extend exemptions (the Interim Regulation) to provisions of Directive 2002/58/EC (the e-Privacy Directive) in order to allow providers of certain number-independent interpersonal communication services to continue the voluntary detection and reporting of child sexual abuse on their services, as well as to continue removing any child sexual abuse material. The European Commission had made a proposition for this purpose in December 2023 as the Interim Regulation was due to expire on 3 August 2024. With the proposal, it will continue beyond 4 August 2024 up to 3 April 2026 in order to bridge the period between the Interim Regulation expiring and a new, long-term legislation to tackle child sexual abuse online, proposed by the Commission in May 2022, being approved. The provisional agreement on the derogation will now have to be formally adopted by the Council of the EU before it can become law.

The European Parliament has formally adopted the EU Cyber Solidarity Act, which aims to bolster the EU's ability to detect, prepare for, and respond to cybersecurity threats and incidents. This follows the provisional deal agreed with the Council of the EU in March 2024. The proposal's key objectives include strengthening EU-wide detection and situational awareness of cyber threats, enhancing preparedness and response capabilities for significant cybersecurity incidents, and fostering EU technological sovereignty in cybersecurity. These objectives will be primarily achieved through a pan-European network of National Cyber Hubs and by establishing a Cyber Emergency Mechanism and a European Cybersecurity Incident Review Mechanism. MEPs also adopted a separate law on managed security services, introducing EU cybersecurity certification schemes for outsourced services that support an organisation's cybersecurity risk management. That law had also been informally agreed with the Council in March 2024. It comes in response to the increasing importance of managed security services in preventing and mitigating cybersecurity incidents and seeks to prevent market fragmentation due to varying national certification schemes by establishing a unified EU certification framework. The goal is to enhance trust in managed security services to support the overall cybersecurity posture and ensure a high level of cybersecurity across Member States. Both texts now have to be formally endorsed by the Council of the EU to become law.

The European Parliament has formally adopted the deal it reached with the Council of the EU on the Euro 7 Regulation (type-approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles) to reduce emissions, increase battery durability and better inform consumers. For passenger cars and vans, the current Euro 6 test conditions and exhaust emissions limits will be maintained whereas for buses and trucks, stricter limits will apply for exhaust emissions measured in laboratories and in real driving conditions, while maintaining the current Euro 6 testing conditions. Also, EU standards will include brake particles emissions limits (PM10) for cars and vans and minimum performance requirements for battery durability in electric and hybrid cars. Moreover, each vehicle will get an Environmental Vehicle Passport that contains information on its environmental performance at the moment of registration (eg pollutant emission limits, CO2 emissions, fuel and electric energy consumption, electric range, battery durability). Drivers will also have access to up-to-date information about fuel consumption, battery health, pollutant emissions and other relevant information generated by on-board systems and monitors. The Council now needs to formally approve the deal before it can enter into force.

The European Parliament has approved new EU rules establishing a single methodology for calculating greenhouse gas emissions from transport services under the CountEmissionsEU Regulation, following confirmation by EU governments in February 2026, to improve the comparability of environmental performance across transport modes and reduce the risk of misleading claims. The methodology will apply on a voluntary basis, but transport operators that choose or are required to report emissions must use the common EU standard, which covers emissions from vehicle operation and energy use and prioritises primary data to enhance accuracy while encouraging direct measurement. To reduce administrative and financial burdens, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, the European Commission is required to develop a free, publicly available calculation tool and guidance within four years. The methodology does not currently include full life-cycle emissions; however, the Commission must assess within four years whether it can be expanded to cover additional stages such as manufacturing, maintenance and end-of-life, subject to data availability and international progress, to inform future revisions. The rules will enter into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal of the EU and will apply, with certain exceptions, four and a half years thereafter.

The European Parliament has adopted new rules on the revision of the Industrial Emission Directive (IED) and the new Regulation on the Industrial Emissions Portal relating to industrial installations, livestock farms and public participation, penalties and compensation. The new rules will make the the setting the strictest achievable emissions levels mandatory for the sectors covered and the revised IED will additionally cover extractive industry installations (mines) and large installations manufacturing batteries. IED measures have also been extended to pig farms with more than 350 livestock units (LSU), farms with laying hens with more than 300 LSU, farms with broilers with more than 280 LSU and for farms rearing both pigs and poultry, the limit will be 380 LSU. The European Commission will review in 2026 whether cattle farms should be included. Further, the public will have better access to EU permits and local polluting activities through a new EU Industrial Emissions Portal. Companies that fail to comply may face at least 3% of the operator’s annual EU turnover for the most serious infringements. The law must now be adopted by the Council of the EU.

The European Parliament has given final approval to a regulation on circularity requirements for vehicle design and end-of-life vehicle (ELV) management. The regulation will require new vehicles to be designed so that parts and components can be removed more easily. Plastics used in each new vehicle type will need to contain a minimum of 15% recycled plastic within six years and 25% within ten years, with at least 20% of that content derived from materials recovered from ELVs or used parts. Businesses selling used vehicles will be required to provide either an assessment confirming that the vehicle is not an ELV or a valid roadworthiness certificate. Extended producer responsibility obligations for manufacturers will apply three years after the regulation enters into force, requiring them to cover the costs of collecting and treating ELVs across the EU. The regulation will also ban the export of vehicles declared non-roadworthy, with the prohibition taking effect five years after entry into force. The regulation must still be formally approved by the Council of the EU before it enters into force, with application commencing 24 months later.

The European Parliament has adopted amendments to the EU Climate Law, providing final endorsement to a binding 2040 interim climate target. The amendments require the EU to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040 compared with 1990 levels, in support of the legally binding objective of climate neutrality by 2050. Parliament approved a political agreement with the Council establishing this intermediate target and introducing greater flexibility in how it may be achieved. From 2036, up to 5% points of emissions reductions may be met through high-quality international carbon credits, subject to safeguards. The law also allows domestic permanent carbon removals to offset hard-to-abate emissions and provides greater flexibility across sectors and instruments to support cost-effective delivery and competitiveness. The amendments postpone the start of the second EU emissions trading system for buildings and road transport to 2028.

The European Parliament has adopted targeted changes to the EU Deforestation Regulation to postpone compliance deadlines and simplify due diligence obligations. All businesses will have one additional year to apply the regulation aimed at preventing products linked to deforestation from entering the EU market, with large operators required to comply from 30 December 2026 and small operators from 30 June 2027. The changes also introduce simplified traceability and due diligence requirements for micro and small primary operators, limit due diligence obligations to businesses first placing relevant products on the EU market, and remove printed products from the scope. The Commission must report on the law’s impact and administrative burden for small operators by 30 April 2026.

The European Parliament adopted legislation with 500 votes to 120 to phase out Russian gas imports, banning spot-market liquefied natural gas from early 2026 and pipeline gas by 30 September 2027. The regulation establishes harmonised penalties for infringements and requires operators to provide stricter evidence of gas origin to customs authorities. MEPs secured a commitment from the European Commission to propose oil import ban legislation by early 2026, with an effective ban to enter force by late 2027.

The European Parliament has approved a provisional agreement on updated sustainability reporting and due diligence rules as part of the 'Omnibus I' simplification package. Under the new rules, only companies with more than 1,000 employees and a net annual turnover over €450m will be required to carry out sustainability reporting, with significantly streamlined obligations and voluntary sector-specific disclosures. Due diligence obligations will only apply to large corporations (those with over 5,000 employees and over €1.5bn turnover). The due diligence directive will only apply from 26 July 2029 for all businesses within scope. Transition plans for ensuring a company’s business model is compatible with the shift to a sustainable economy will no longer be required. Businesses will be liable at the national level for failing to correctly apply the rules and could be fined up to 3% of their net worldwide turnover.

The European Parliament has voted to fast-track a decision on postponing new sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements. The proposal, set for a vote on 3 April 2025, aims to postpone social and environmental reporting by two years for certain companies and due diligence measures by one year for the largest companies. The Council of the EU has already endorsed this proposal without amendments. This is part of the European Commission's 'Omnibus I' simplification package. Concurrently, the Platform on Sustainable Finance, an advisory body to the European Commission, has published a report on advancing sustainable finance.