Policy & Law
08.12.2025

View from Brussels #46-2025

News, Publications and Consultations from the Past Week

News from CW 48 (24.11.2025–30.11.2025)

AI: The European Commission has set up a tool for the secure and confidential reporting of potential violations of the AI Act. However, whistleblower protection will not take effect until August 2026.

Patent law: The European Parliament has voted to sue the European Commission for scrapping its legislative proposal on standard essential patents.

Social media: The European Parliament has voted in favour of a minimum age of 16.

Chat control: Member States have agreed on a common position: scanning should remain a voluntary measure and encryption must not be undermined.

European Shield for Democracy: Politico reports on significant criticism from the European Parliament of the European Commission’s plan.

Frontex: Member States are considering realigning Frontex and equipping it with drone pilots, cyber surveillance units and AI-assisted surveillance teams.

Financial fraud: Parliament and Council have agreed that social media platforms should be liable in future if they fail to remove reported online fraud.

Selected Publications from the EP Think Tanks

Ongoing Relevant European Commission Consultations

 

Selections of the Current Week, CW 49 (01.12.2025 – 07.12.2025)

Council:

The current outlook for the Council’s work in the coming days until 14/12/2025 can be found here.

Summits and Ministerial Meetings:

  • EU-Kazakhstan Cooperation Council,12.2025
  • EU-Armenia Partnership Council,12.2025
  • Council (Transport, Telecommunications and Energy),12.2025, agenda

Preparatory bodies:

 

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

Commission:

The agenda for the current Commission meeting was not available at the time of going to press. You may be able to find it at short notice on the Commission’s website.

Parliament:

Plenary Sittings

There are no plenary sessions of the European Parliament this week.

You can find a list of the upcoming dates of the European Parliament here. The session calendar for 2025 is available here and the session calendar for 2026 here.

Committees

LIBE Committee (Civil Liberties)

The agenda for the joint committee meeting of the LIBE Committee and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs on 02.12.2025 can be found here. The following agenda items are relevant from the perspective of the Internet industry:

  • Amendment of Directives 2014/65/EU and (EU) 2022/2557 with regard to the extension of certain remedies available to small and medium-sized enterprises to small mid-cap companies and with regard to further simplification measures

The agenda for the LIBE Committee meeting on 03.12.2025 – 04.12.2025 can be found here. The following agenda items are relevant from the perspective of the Internet industry:

  • Discussion with Michael McGrath, Member of the Commission responsible for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, on the Framework Agreement, cooperation between the EU and the US on data transfers and related data protection issues, and judicial cooperation between the EU and the US
  • Discussion with Michael McGrath, Member of the Commission responsible for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, on the adequacy of the level of protection in the United Kingdom in the light of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025
  • Application for the electronic transmission of travel data (“EU Digital Travel Application”) and amendment of Regulations (EU) 2016/399 and (EU) 2018/1726 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (EC) No 2252/2004 as regards the use of digital travel documents
  • Discharge 2024: EU general budget – European Data Protection Supervisor
  • 2025 Annual Progress Report on Simplification, Implementation and Enforcement
  • Depictions of child sexual abuse on the Internet: the current legal framework and next steps

The agenda for the joint committee meeting of the LIBE Committee, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety on 04.12.2025 can be found here. The following agenda items are relevant from the perspective of the Internet industry:

  • Amendment of Regulations (EU) 2016/679, (EU) 2016/1036, (EU) 2016/1037, (EU) 2017/1129, (EU) 2023/1542 and (EU) 2024/573 with regard to the extension of certain remedies available to small and medium-sized enterprises to small mid-cap companies and with regard to further simplification measures

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

 

JURI Committee (Legal Affairs)

The agenda for the current meeting of the JURI Committee on 03.12.2025 – 04.12.2025 can be found here. The following agenda items are relevant from the perspective of the Internet industry:

  • Exchange of views with the Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath: presentation of the 2025 annual progress report on simplification, implementation and enforcement
  • Exchange of views with the Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, Implementation and Simplification, Valdis Dombrovskis: presentation of the 2025 overview report on simplification, implementation and enforcement

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

 

ITRE Committee (Industry)

The agenda for the current meeting of the ITRE Committee on 03.12.2025 can be found here. The following agenda items are relevant from the perspective of the Internet industry:

  • Future legal act on the European Research Area (ERA)
  • Structured dialogue with Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, on the Digital Package

The current timetables (as of 25.11.2025) for the ITRE Committee can be found here.

 

IMCO Committee (Internal Market)

The agenda for the current meeting of the IMCO Committee on 03.12.2025 – 04.12.2025 can be found here. The following agenda items are relevant from the perspective of the Internet industry:

  • Working group on the implementation and enforcement of the Regulation on Artificial Intelligence
  • Amendment of Directives 2000/14/EC, 2011/65/EU, 2013/53/EU, 2014/29/EU, 2014/30/EU, 2014/31/EU, 2014/32/EU, 2014/33/EU, 2014/34/EU, 2014/35/EU, 2014/53/EU, 2014/68/EU and 2014/90/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to digitisation and common specifications
  • Amendment of Regulations (EU) No 765/2008, (EU) 2016/424, (EU) 2016/425, (EU) 2016/426, (EU) 2023/1230, (EU) 2023/1542 and (EU) 2024/1781 with regard to digitalisation and common specifications
  • Security, resilience and sustainable space activities in the Union
  • Digital Services Act: Commission report on the application of Article 33 and the interaction of the Digital Services Act with other legal acts
  • Omnibus package for the digital sector
  • Cloud services
  • Impact of social media and the online environment on young people
  • Digital Markets Act: outcome of the public consultation

The current timetables (as of 11.11.2025) of the IMCO Committee can be found here.

 

CULT Committee (Culture and Education)

The agenda for the current meeting of the CULT Committee on 02.12.2025 can be found here. The following agenda items are relevant from the perspective of the Internet industry:

  • Conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law
  • Presentation of the study on EMFA implementation
  • Public hearing on Implementation of the European Media Freedom Act
  • Financial literacy and the rise of finfluencers in the context of the savings and investments union

You can find the current schedules of the CULT Committee here.

Outlook:

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

European Court of Justice

You can find the judicial calendar of the CJEU here.

  • The Court has scheduled the judgment in the case of Russmedia Digital and Inform Media Press (C-492/23) for Tuesday, 02.12.2025. The request for a preliminary ruling from the Curtea de Apel Cluj (Romania) of 03.08.2023 concerns the applicability of Articles 12–14 of the e-Commerce Directive, as well as verification and protection obligations in connection with the GDPR.
  • The Court also expects to hand down judgment in the case of Stichting Right to Consumer Justice and Stichting App Stores Claims (C-34/24) on the same day. The request for a preliminary ruling from the Rechtbank Amsterdam (Netherlands) dated 18.01.2024 – Stichting Right to Consumer Justice, Stichting App Stores Claims v Apple Distribution International Ltd, Apple Inc. – concerns the place of action and place of performance within the meaning of Article 7(2) of the Brussels Ia Regulation for online platforms/app stores targeting the entire Member State.
The View from Brussels
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