Die Europäische Kommission hat am 30. Juli 2026 eine gezielte Konsultation eingeleitet. Ziel ist es, von den Interessenträgern Informationen und Einschätzungen dazu einzuholen, welche Warengruppen in den Anwendungsbereich der neuen EU-Verordnung über Stahlüberkapazitäten (Verordnung (EU) 2026/1384) aufgenommen werden sollten. Es handelt sich um die erste von mehreren in der Verordnung vorgesehenen Überprüfungen des Produktumfangs. Die Konsultation läuft acht Wochen, vom 30. Juli bis zum 30. September 2026.
The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2025/40 – PPWR) becomes applicable on 12 August 2026. On 1 August 2026, the European Commission published the second edition of its PPWR Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), containing 33 new or revised entries.
Articles 20 to 24 of the Regulation (EU) 2023/956 (CBAM Regulation) establishes rules for the sale, price, surrender, repurchase and cancellation of CBAM certificates. The draft delegated regulation (draft DR), which was published on 9 July 2026, provides detailed rules on management of the sale and repurchase of CBAM certificates. Invited interested parties are invited to make comments until 6 August 2026. Below, we provide a summary on key elements of the draft delegated regulation and takeaways for stakeholders.
On 30 June 2026, the European Commission published Implementing Regulation (EU)2026/1457, allocating the country-by-country tariff rate quotas opened under the new Steel Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2026/1384), which replaces the steel safeguard that was in place since 2019 but expired on 30 June 2026. The scale of the shift is significant: the new framework opens tariff quotas totalling 18,345,922 tonnes across 26 product categories, with any import above quota now subject to a 50% ad valorem duty. The Implementing Regulation applies from 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2026, and the Commission must assess by year-end whether the product scope needs to be expanded to include additional products.
On 13 July 2026 the European Commission published, by way of a delegated act, the new Annex I to the EUDR, as well as the implementing act adapting the new functionalities of the information system (TRACES). At the same time, the information system was made available online again. Below, we summarise the changes most relevant in practice and put the further timeline into context.
On May 19, 2026, the European Parliament adopted the draft of the new FDI Screening Regulation. With this draft, the EU is reforming its system for screening foreign direct investments (FDI). On February 10, 2026, the Council of the European Union had confirmed the draft of the new Regulation (2024/0017 (COD)) and officially forwarded it to the Parliament. The Regulation is intended to fully replace the previous Regulation (EU) 2019/452.
On 4 May 2026, the European Commission published its long-awaited simplification review of the EU Deforestation Regulation (hereinafter, "EUDR"), as mandated under Article 34(1a) of the December 2025 amendment (Regulation (EU) 2025/2650). In addition, the Commission published a package of non-legislative measures consisting of updated Frequently Asked Questions (hereinafter “FAQ”), updated Guidelines and a new draft Annex I, which is currently openfor feedback. The Commission confirmed that there will be no further changes to the main text of the Regulation, and that there will be no further delay of the EUDR.
Following publication in the Federal Law Gazette onMarch 16, 2026, the umbrellaact for critical infrastructure protection (“KRITIS Umbrella Act”,“KRITISDachG”) entered into force the following day. Germany has therebyimplemented the Critical Entities Resilience (“CER”) Directive (EU) 2022/2557with a delay of just under a year and a half. An earlier attempt atimplementation failed due to the collapse of the traffic-light coalition andthe resulting new elections, which caused the draft bill to fall victim toparliamentary discontinuity.
The KRITISDachG supplements the cybersecurityprovisions in the NIS2 Implementation and Cybersecurity Strengthening Act(“NIS2UmsuCG”) with regulations on the physical protection of criticalinfrastructure, thereby establishing uniform federal minimum requirements forthe first time. Following the attack on Berlin’s power infrastructure, thedraft law became politically contentious. However, no significant changes weremade compared to the previous government’s draft. The Federal Ministry of theInterior (“BMI”) estimates that approximately 1,700 critical facilities mustmeet all resilience requirements.
After protracted negotiations and nearly two months of political stalemate, the Council of the European Union ("EU") adopted the 20th sanctions package against Russia on 23 April 2026. The package, which the Commission had already presented on 6 February 2026, was originally intended to enter into force on 24 February 2026, the fourth anniversary of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Adoption initially failed due to the unanimity requirement in the Council, as a result of repeated vetoes by Hungary and Slovakia in connection with the dispute over the repair and recommissioning of the Druzhba oil pipeline through Ukraine. Only after completion of the repairs and the clearance of oil transit was the path cleared both for the EUR 90 billion EU loan to Ukraine and for the new sanctions package. With this package, the Union aims to further restrict Russiaís economic and financial wiggle room and to close loopholes enabling circumvention. In particular, the package targets Russiaís energy revenues, shadow fleet structures, financial and crypto services, and third-country actors involved in sanctions circumvention, thereby increasing pressure on Russia to engage in serious negotiations.
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