WIREDGOV

On 21 October 2025, the EU Commission unveiled its 2026 Work Programme. The Programme outlines a series of actions with the aim to build a “more sovereign and independent Europe”. This new programme has been dubbed “Europe’s independence moment” by the EU Commission. It seeks to address current and future challenges arising from threats to European security and democracy, to conflicts and geopolitical tensions, to risks to European economy and industry, and accelerating climate change.

Overview of the announcements

The announced work programme lists 38 policy objectives which are to be achieved through 47 legislative initiatives to be proposed throughout 2026. The initiatives are categorised under 6 main categories:

• Sustainable prosperity and competitiveness
• Defence and security
• Social model and innovation
• Quality of life - food, water, nature
• Democracy and Rule of Law
• Global engagement

Key Highlights for Digital and Tech Policy

When it comes to tech and digital policy the major pieces of legislation to be proposed will be the following.

In Q1 2026:

• 28th Regime for Innovative Companies
• Chips Act
• European Innovation Act
• Cloud and AI Development Act

In Q2 2026:

• Quantum Act
• Better Regulation Communication

In Q3 2026:

• Audiovisual Media Services Directive update
• reviews of AI Act and Digital Markets Act implementation

In Q4 2026:

• Digital Fairness Act

According to the EU Commission, the listed legislative initiatives will seek to facilitate doing business within the EU single Market, while also strengthening the EU’s “digital sovereignty”. Most of these announcements have been discussed and followed within the context of the work done by techUK’s EU Policy Working Group and we will continue to follow and analyse them as further information is made available.

Simplification: first annual overview report

The EU Commission, through its communication on this new programme, is eager to highlight its commitment to continuing its work on simplifying legislation to boost competitiveness. Indeed, among the 47 listed initiatives, the EU categorises 25 as having a “significant simplification dimension”. The EU’s objective remains to curt administrative burdens by “25% overall and 35% for SMEs”.

Alongside this the EU released its very first Annual Overview report on Simplification, Implementation and Enforcement. The report  claims that the EU Commission has introduced simplification packages which have already cut costs by over 8.6 billion euros in addition to stress testing the EU acquis in several areas.  It identifies that more simplification packages and full implementation and enforcement of EU rules will be necessary to achieve overall objectives.

Next steps

The EU Commission will now seek to follow this Work Programme throughout 2026 as it continues to negotiate the next EU Budget for 2028-2034 (the Multi Annual Financial Framework, which we wrote about in July 2025) in order to provide legislative priorities with the necessary tools and resources needed to make them a reality.

techUK will now focus its efforts on this ambitious tech and digital legislative agenda to ensure it provides members with relevant information, recommendations, and opportunities.

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