Child safety online is one of the defining regulatory topics of 2026 – and it reaches far beyond social media. From mobile games and video-sharing platforms to AI chatbots, virtually every digital service that is popular with young audiences is now in the crosshairs of legislators worldwide. In December 2025, Australia became the first country to ban social media for children under 16. Brazil adopted its own statute. In the United States, a wave of state-level legislation and landmark litigation against Meta has shifted the debate from self-regulation to legal liability. In Europe, already more than twenty Member States have contemplated, drafted or notified national laws regulating minors’ access to digital services. The result is a regulatory patchwork that creates legal uncertainty for in-scope service providers.

Child safety regulation is closely linked to broader EU consumer protection policy. From the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD) to the forthcoming Digital Fairness Act, the EU is taking an increasingly paternalistic approach to digital services, with prescriptive rules that leave consumers less room to make their own choices. (for insights into this regulatory trajectory, visit Time to Riot! How to respond to overbearing consumer protection).

Licences, state recourse rights and ongoing information obligations: The ministerial draft bill for a Space Act (WRG) is intended to establish, for the first time, a general legal framework for private space activities in Germany. Unlike, for example, the USA, France or the United Kingdom, Germany does not yet have a general Space Act. The draft serves to implement the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, the Outer Space Liability Convention of 1972 and the Outer Space Registration Convention of 1975. These treaties oblige Germany to authorise and continuously monitor private space activities, as well as to be liable to other states for certain types of damage. The requirement for authorisation stems, for example, from Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty.

On 4 September 2026, the European Commission (Commission) reportedly dropped its long-awaited project for an export duty on aluminium scrap (the scrap measure) and announced that it would instead restrict waste exports to non-OECD countries via a delegated act under the Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR). This reversal is currently under consideration and has split the European Union’s (EU) aluminium value chain. This briefing explains what changed, why, and whether other EU industries can expect a similar treatment.

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) is working on a new Foreign Investment Screening Act (Investitionsprüfungsgesetz – IPG). It is intended to reorganise Germany’s foreign investment screening framework and, at the same time, to introduce a number of substantive changes. While the envisaged reform does not represent a major departure from the existing regime, it does, however, introduce a number of changes that will matter in practice. This includes revised screening thresholds, new and expanded case groups, additional acquisition scenarios capable of triggering a mandatory notification or right to review, and changes to deadlines and procedural rules. As a result, foreign investment screening risks are to become relevant for a broader range of transactions. At the same time, the reform promises targeted simplifications and greater procedural consistency, which are likely to be particularly relevant for deal timing.

Customs law is having a moment. The EU has finalised its most far-reaching customs reform since 1968. With global trade facing heightened uncertainty from different an-gles, the reform arrives at a critical juncture. This briefing is the first in a short series examining the key aspects of the reform in detail. It provides an overview of the re-form’s background and main changes. Subsequent briefings will take a closer look at the individual building blocks of the reform in order to analyse whether the overhaul is sufficient to make the EU customs union fit for a world trade climate that is growing tougher by the day and an e-commerce sector that shows no signs of slowing down.

On 28 July 2026, the WTO panel report in Türkiye – Measures Concerning Electric Vehicles and Other Types of Vehicles from China (DS629, WT/DS629/R) was circulated. The Panel found Türkiye's additional customs duties on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) and certain hybrids, and its import permit licensing scheme (IPLS), inconsistent with its GATT 1994 obligations. Türkiye's environmental defence under Article XX(b) and its natural-resources defence under Article XX(g) both failed. The report is not yet adopted: on 15 September 2026, China and Türkiye jointly requested the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) to extend the appeal window to 27 October 2026 (WT/DS629/5). This gives the parties additional time to consider their positions amid the continued paralysis of the WTO Appellate Body, as a standard appeal could place the dispute in the "appeal into the void" situation. This briefing summarises what the Panel decided, why the green defence did not work out, and what the ruling means for similar initiatives beyond Türkiye.

On 16 September 2026, the European Commission (Commission) informed it issued a Statement of Objections concerning the proposed acquisition of Anglo American’s Brazilian nickel business by the Chinese company MMG Limited (MMG). It set out the Commission’s preliminary view that the deal may threaten European access to ‘low-carbon ferronickel’, a key alloying material used in stainless-steel production.

On 24 September 2024, the European Commission (Commission) issued a press release announcing that, from October 2024, all new anti-dumping (AD) and anti-subsidy (AS) investigations would automatically be accompanied by a registration order under Article 14(5) of the Basic Anti-Dumping Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/1036, BADR) or Article 24(5) of the Basic Anti-Subsidy Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/1037, BASR). This briefing takes a closer look at this new practice after a full two years of application to see what has and has not changed as a result.

With the transposition of Directive (EU) 2024/825 on empowering consumers for the green transition (EmpCo), significantly stricter requirements for corporate sustainability communications will apply across Europe from 27 September 2026. Green claims will come under considerable pressure to be substantiated, while competitors, consumer protection organisations and authorities will gain additional grounds for challenge.

On 9 September 2026, the European Commission adopted its proposal for a new Public Procurement Regulation. The goal: To make public procurement simpler, more flexible, and more effective with a single, directly applicable Regulation. The proposal replaces the current Directive 2014/23/EU on concessions, Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement and Directive 2014/25/EU on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors. This is not just a technical redesign. On the contrary, the European Commission uses its proposal to align public procurement more closely with the European Unions (EU)’s industrial, security and geopolitical agenda. Below we outline the key changes, and explain why this marks a new era for the industry, taking into account that the EU’s public procurement market’s value is around EUR 2.5 trillion annually.