June 3, 2026 | Outline Adoption | Data Governance

On 3 June 2026, the European Commission released the EU Open-Source Strategy, structured around four objectives. The first objective is to leverage open source for technological sovereignty by scaling up the Open Internet Stack, promoting open-source solutions across the EU Digital Identity ecosystem, and developing open-source building blocks in strategic areas, including semiconductors, operating systems, cloud infrastructure, AI models, and cybersecurity tools. The second objective is to strengthen and promote a vibrant open source ecosystem by establishing open source business accelerators, increasing the EU footprint in the governance of open source steward organisations and foundations, creating an Open Source Maintenance Instrument for essential components, and building a list of the most exposed open source software dependencies with the support of the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA). The third objective is to promote open and interoperable digital ecosystems for public administrations by adopting an open source first principle in public procurement, developing guidelines for drafting and evaluating calls for tenders, and establishing a reference model based on three pillars, trusted digital assets, capabilities, and communities, and governance and investment discipline. The fourth objective is to reinforce digital standards and international outreach by integrating open-source processes into standard-setting processes and supporting EU open-source developers in deploying solutions in partner and enlargement countries. The strategy estimates that EUR 2 billion will need to be mobilised by the public and private sectors over seven years to implement its measures. Implementation will be monitored annually with Member States through the Digital Decade Board, with reports to the European Parliament every three years.

June 3, 2026 | Law Introduction | Authorisation, Registration And Licensing

On 3 June 2026, the European Commission submitted the proposal for the Chips Act 2.0, which repeals and replaces Regulation (EU) 2023/1781 (Chips Act). Under Pillar II, the proposal establishes a recognition procedure for European semiconductor technology initiatives and strategic projects. To qualify as a European semiconductor technology initiative, a facility must provide capabilities that are first-of-a-kind in the Union, contribute to the indispensability, resilience, and prosperity of the Union's semiconductor ecosystem, and meet criteria including cross-border dimension and Union added value. Annex II identifies six priority areas for potential strategic projects: European advanced semiconductor manufacturing, AI chips and systems for EU compute infrastructure, an automotive application processor for autonomous driving, a European memory fabrication facility, leading-edge chip design, and strengthening key segments of the value chain. Estimated investment requirements range from EUR 8 to 12 billion for leading-edge chip design, EUR 15 to 30 billion for a memory fabrication facility, and EUR 20 to 40 billion for the advanced manufacturing facility. Strategic projects are designated by European Commission decision on the basis of proposals selected by the Chips Joint Undertaking or, with applicant consent, proposals not selected for funding. Once recognised, European semiconductor technology initiatives and strategic projects benefit from fast-track permit-granting procedures not exceeding twelve months and access to a single one-stop-shop application portal. The European Commission may withdraw recognition where a project no longer meets the criteria or where the designation was based on incorrect information, following an opportunity for the operator to submit observations. Projects for which recognition is withdrawn lose all associated rights but remain subject to priority-rated order obligations for the originally foreseen period.