Policy & Law
15.04.2026

The View from Brussels #14-2026

News, Publications and Consultations from the Past Week

News CW 14 (30.03-05.04.2026) and CW 15 (06-12.04.2026)

DSA: The European Commission and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) have signed an agreement to strengthen the enforcement of intellectual property rights under the Digital Services Act.

Digital Dialogue: On 8 April 2026, the EU and the Kingdom of Morocco launched the EU-Morocco Digital Dialogue. It enables cooperation in areas such as AI, support for digital start-ups, secure and trusted digital infrastructure, as well as interoperability of public digital infrastructure solutions such as the digital wallets.

Hate speech: The first results of monitoring exercises under the revised Code of Conduct on Countering Illegal Hate Speech Online+ have been published.

Data protection: Politico reports on widespread criticism of the European Commission’s reform plans.

Chat control: The exemption from the e-Privacy Directive that explicitly permitted voluntary chat control has officially expired. There is now uncertainty over whether such scanning is unlawful. On Tuesday, European Commission spokespersons repeatedly refused to give a clear answer to the question of whether it is illegal to continue scanning for depictions of child sexual abuse material. Some platforms have already announced their intention to continue taking voluntary measures.

Social media: The Greek government plans to ban children under the age of 15 from using social media platforms. The ban is set to be considered by parliament this summer and to enter into force on 1 January 2027. Greek Minister President Kyriakos Mitsotakis also called for an EU-wide ban. In contrast, Estonian Education Minister Kirstina Kallas believes the EU should focus on regulating large social media platforms rather than banning use by minors.

Transatlantic relations: The European Commission has confirmed that a dialogue with the United States is planned to strengthen cooperation on digital technologies and markets. This has been met with considerable criticism. Maroš Šefčovič, Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security; Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency, will visit the United States at the end of April. It is still unclear whether the dialogue will be on the agenda.

Chips: The United States is pressing for the EU to join the Pax Silica initiative, launched in December. The aim is to secure supply chains for artificial intelligence, including critical minerals, semiconductors, energy and hardware. However, the European Commission has not yet been mandated to enter into formal talks with the US State Department regarding accession.

Cybersecurity: Politico reports on cyberattacks targeting EU phones and systems.

Selected Publications from the EP Think Tanks

 

Ongoing Relevant European Commission Consultations

Selections of the Current Week, CW 16 (13-19.04.2026)

Council:

The current preview of the Council’s work for the upcoming days until 26.04.2026 can be found here.

Summit and Ministerial Meetings:

Preparatory Bodies:

 

An overview of the various Council dates can be found here.

Commission:

The agenda for the current Commission meeting on 13.04.2026 can be found here. From the perspective of the Internet industry, the following agenda item is relevant:

  • Commission response to the European Parliament resolution based on Article 225 TFEU [The 28th Regime: a new legal framework for innovative companies] – Oral communication from Mr McGRATH, in agreement with Ms VIRKKUNEN

Parliament:

Plenary Sittings

There are no plenary sittings of the European Parliament taking place this week.

Here you can find a list of the upcoming dates of the European Parliament. The calendar of the plenary sittings for 2026 is available here (PDF).

Committees

LIBE Committee (Civil Liberties)

 

The agenda for the current meeting of the LIBE Committee taking place on 14.04.2026 can be found here. From the perspective of the Internet industry, the following agenda items are relevant:

  • Conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime; Strengthening International Cooperation for Combating Certain Crimes Committed by Means of Information and Communications Technology Systems and for the Sharing of Evidence in Electronic Form of Serious Crimes

The current timetables of the LIBE Committee can be found here.

 

JURI Committee (Legal Affairs)

The agenda for the current meeting of the JURI Committee taking place on 15-16.04.2026 can be found here. From the perspective of the Internet industry, the following agenda items are relevant:

  • Establishment of European Business Wallets
  • Exchange of views in the context of the structured dialogue with Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy
  • Hearing on the Citizen’s initiative ‘Stop destroying videogames’

The current timetables of the JURI Committee can be found here.

 

ITRE Committee (Industry)

The agenda for the joint meeting of the ITRE Committee and the Committee on Security and Defence taking place on 14.04.2026 can be found here.

The agenda for the current meeting of the ITRE Committee taking place on 15-16.04.2026 can be found here. From the perspective of the Internet industry, the following agenda items are relevant:

  • Establishment of European Business Wallets
  • Advanced manufacturing as a strategic sector for the EU
  • Amending Regulation (EU) 2024/1252
  • Presentation of the Annual Report 2025 of the Interinstitutional Cybersecurity Board (IICB)

The agenda for the joint meeting of the ITRE Committee and the Committee on Transport and Tourism taking place on 15.04.2026 can be found here. From the perspective of the Internet industry, the following agenda items are relevant:

  • Establishing the Connecting Europe Facility for the period 2028-2034, amending Regulation (EU) 2024/1679 and repealing Regulation (EU) 2021/1153

The current timetables of the ITRE Committee (as of 07.04.2026) can be found here.

 

IMCO Committee (Internal Market)

The agenda for the current meeting of the IMCO Committee taking place on 15-16.04.2026 can be found here. From the perspective of the Internet industry, the following agenda items are relevant:

  • Amending Regulations (EU) 2024/1689 and (EU) 2018/1139 as regards the simplification of the implementation of harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (Digital Omnibus on AI)
  • Establishment of European Business Wallets
  • Temu faces EU scrutiny for systemic sale of unsafe and illegal products
  • European Citizens’ Initiative “Stop destroying videogames”

The agenda for the joint meeting of the IMCO Committee and the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety taking place on 15.04.2026 can be found here.

The current timetables of the IMCO Committee (as of 26.02.2026) can be found here.

 

CULT Committee (Culture and Education)

The agenda for the current meeting of the CULT Committee taking place on 15-16.04.2026 can be found here.

The current timetables of the CULT Committee (as of 02.03.2026) can be found here.

 

Outlook:

An overview of the following session weeks can be found here. The provisional agenda for the upcoming plenary sittings can be found here.

European Court of Justice

You can find the judicial calendar of the CJEU here.

The judgments in the following cases are scheduled to be delivered on Thursday (16 April 2026):

  • European Lotto and Betting and Deutsche Lotto- und Sportwetten (C-440/23)
  • Stichting de Thuiskopie (C-496/24)

 

 

The View from Brussels 11 June 2018

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