August 2026 General EU Legal Update

Purpose

This update summarises key legal, regulatory and standards developments listed in the August 2026 General EU legal update. It highlights changes affecting Quality, Environment, Information Security, AI Governance, Health & Safety and other compliance obligations, supporting organisations in identifying new and emerging duties for legal registers, compliance evaluations and management system review.

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Upcoming legislation

These measures were published or updated during August 2026 but have future commencement dates, application dates, registration deadlines or transitional requirements.

Directive (EU) 2024/825 on empowering consumers for the green transition

Status: Member States were required to transpose the Directive by 27 March 2026. National implementing rules apply from 27 September 2026.

Strengthens consumer protection requirements concerning environmental, sustainability, durability, repairability and software-support information, including:

• Restrictions on generic environmental claims that are not supported by recognised excellent environmental performance.
• Restrictions on claims about an entire product or business where the evidence relates only to a limited aspect.
• Restrictions on climate-related product claims based solely on greenhouse-gas offsetting.
• Requirements for future environmental-performance claims to be supported by clear, realistic and verifiable implementation plans.
• Restrictions on sustainability labels that are not based on an approved public scheme or credible certification scheme.
• More consistent information about legal guarantees, durability, repairability and software updates.

Belgian legislation concerning environmental claims and sustainability labels

Status: Principal provisions apply from 27 September 2026.

The Belgian Act of 22 July 2026 transposes Directive (EU) 2024/825 into Belgian law by amending the Code of Economic Law. It introduces requirements concerning:

• Unsubstantiated generic environmental claims.
• Whole-product claims based on only one limited feature.
• Climate-neutral or reduced-impact claims based solely on emissions offsetting.
• Sustainability labels that are not established by a public authority or supported by an appropriate certification scheme.
• Future environmental-performance claims that are not supported by a clear, realistic and verifiable implementation plan.
• Information concerning durability, repairability, consumables and software updates.

Netz- und Informationssystemsicherheitsgesetz 2026, NISG 2026, Austria

Commencement: 1 October 2026

Registration deadline: 31 December 2026

Implements the NIS2 Directive in Austria and introduces requirements including:

• Wider coverage of essential and important entities.
• Management-body accountability and cybersecurity training.
• Proportionate technical, operational and organisational cybersecurity measures.
• Cybersecurity controls covering assets, supply chains, continuity, vulnerability handling, encryption and access control.
• An early warning within 24 hours of a relevant incident.
• A full incident notification within 72 hours.
• A final or progress report within one month.
• Registration and supporting evidence requirements.

Decree concerning the information portal for underground cables and pipelines, Walloon Region, Belgium

Commencement: 1 February 2027

Establishes an electronic portal for exchanging information between underground infrastructure managers and persons planning or carrying out ground-disturbance work. The requirements include:

• Registration of underground infrastructure managers and their areas of interest.
• Maintenance of current cable and pipeline information.
• Submission of plan requests before relevant work begins.
• Use of the portal or an approved interconnected system.
• Integration of returned information into planning, design, excavation and contractor controls.
• Continued use of on-site detection, marking, trial-hole and safe-digging arrangements.

French workplace-noise measurement requirements

Commencement: 5 August 2027

The Order of 30 July 2026 updates the standards referenced by France’s workplace-noise measurement rules by:

• Replacing NF EN ISO 9612:2009 with NF EN ISO 9612:2025 for determining occupational-noise exposure.
• Replacing the 1995 edition of NF EN ISO 4869-2 with the 2018 edition for estimating sound-pressure levels when hearing protectors are used.
• Requiring affected procedures, survey specifications, calculations, reports and competence arrangements to reflect the revised methods from the commencement date.

New legislation

These legal texts were made, commenced, published or became applicable during or around August 2026.

Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste

Applies from: 12 August 2026

Establishes a directly applicable EU-wide packaging regime covering:

• Restricted substances in packaging, including PFAS limits for food-contact packaging.
• Packaging recyclability.
• Recycled content in plastic packaging.
• Compostability requirements.
• Packaging minimisation.
• Reuse and refill systems.
• Labelling and consumer information.
• Waste prevention.
• Producer registration and extended producer responsibility.
• Technical documentation and conformity requirements.

Decree-Law No. 143 of 7 August 2026 on mandatory compostability of certain packaging, Italy

Effective: 8 August 2026

Requires specified packaging categories placed on the Italian market to be biodegradable, compostable and certified. The measure includes:

• Identification of packaging categories within scope.
• Certification of biodegradability and compostability.
• Supporting material composition and test information.
• Review of inks, adhesives, coatings and other packaging components.
• Alignment with EU packaging and food-contact requirements.
• Monitoring of parliamentary conversion and any resulting amendments.

Regulation (EU) 2023/1543 on European Production Orders and European Preservation Orders for electronic evidence

Binding from: 18 August 2026

Creates a cross-border framework allowing competent judicial authorities to send production and preservation orders directly to relevant service providers in another Member State. It includes:

• Orders covering subscriber, traffic and content data.
• Standard production deadlines of ten days.
• Emergency production deadlines of eight hours.
• Preservation of specified data against deletion or alteration.
• Authentication and confidentiality requirements.
• Legal-remedy, notification and conflict-of-law safeguards.
• Requirements for secure transfer, controlled access, chain of custody and audit logging.

Cyberbeveiligingswet and Cyberbeveiligingsbesluit, Netherlands

In force from: 15 August 2026

Implement the NIS2 Directive in the Netherlands and introduce requirements including:

• Classification of essential and important entities.
• Registration in the national entity register.
• Management-body responsibility and training.
• Appropriate and proportionate technical, operational and organisational cybersecurity measures.
• Incident identification and reporting.
• Supply-chain and managed-service security.
• Business continuity and vulnerability management.
• Supervisory evidence and enforcement arrangements.
• Sector-specific rules, competent authorities and CSIRT arrangements.

Wet weerbaarheid kritieke entiteiten and Besluit weerbaarheid kritieke entiteiten, Netherlands

In force from: 15 August 2026

Establish an all-hazards resilience framework for entities formally designated as critical by the competent authority. The framework covers:

• Natural hazards.
• Accidents.
• Sabotage and terrorism.
• Public-health events.
• Insider threats.
• Cyber and information-system dependencies.
• Physical security, personnel, premises and utilities.
• Supply-chain and cross-border dependencies.
• Business continuity, recovery and incident reporting.

Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 50, AI transparency obligations

Applies from: 2 August 2026

Introduces transparency requirements for providers and deployers of certain AI systems, including:

• Informing people when they are interacting directly with an AI system, unless this is obvious.
• Machine-readable marking of artificially generated or manipulated audio, images, video or text.
• Information for persons exposed to emotion-recognition systems.
• Information for persons exposed to biometric-categorisation systems.
• Disclosure of deepfakes.
• Disclosure of certain AI-generated text concerning matters of public interest, subject to specified exceptions.

KI-Marktüberwachungs- und Innovationsförderungsgesetz, KI-MIG, Germany

In force from: 29 July 2026

Establishes Germany’s national governance and enforcement arrangements for the EU AI Act, including:

• The Bundesnetzagentur as the default market-surveillance authority.
• A national notifying authority, central complaints body and single point of contact.
• Involvement of sector-specific product, financial, data-protection, media and security authorities.
• Investigation, enforcement and penalty arrangements.
• Regulatory sandboxes supporting compliant innovation.
• Requirements for controlled technical, conformity, incident, post-market and supplier information.

Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Act 2026, Republic of Ireland

Commenced: 31 July 2026, subject to limited excluded provisions

Establishes Ireland’s national framework for implementation and enforcement of the EU AI Act, including:

• Oifig IS na hÉireann as Ireland’s AI Office.
• A national single point of contact.
• An AI register.
• Cooperation between competent authorities.
• Regulatory sandboxes.
• Real-world AI testing arrangements.
• Market surveillance, investigations and enforcement.
• Penalties, appeals and information sharing.
• Data-protection safeguards.

Royal Decree repealing the Belgian rules on barbecue charcoal intended for foodstuffs

Effective: 30 August 2026

Repeals the Belgian Royal Decree of 28 April 1993 concerning charcoal intended for grilling foodstuffs. The change requires affected organisations to:

• Remove obsolete references to the repealed instrument.
• Review product specifications, declarations and test requirements.
• Check supplier questionnaires and purchasing controls.
• Confirm continuing obligations under general product-safety, chemical, packaging, labelling, consumer-protection, environmental and food-contact requirements.
• Retain evidence supporting the revised compliance position.

Safety of Toys (Amendment) Regulations 2026, Malta

Status: Amendment introduced through Legal Notice 221 of 2026. The commencement date should be confirmed.

Updates Malta’s toy-safety framework concerning defined cobalt uses, including:

• Cobalt present as an impurity in nickel used in stainless-steel toys and toy components.
• Components intended to conduct an electric current.
• Neodymium-based magnets where the magnets cannot be swallowed or inhaled.
• Review of bills of materials and supplier declarations.
• Updated chemical risk assessments and conformity documentation.
• Verification of technical evidence supporting each permitted use.

Decree No. 2026-735 concerning guarantees of origin for biogas, France

Effective: 6 August 2026

Revises the French Energy Code framework for biogas guarantees of origin by:

• Restricting guarantees associated with specified supported-production contracts to consumption from natural-gas distribution or transmission networks.
• Excluding LNG bunkering at an LNG facility from the relevant definition.
• Requiring the consumption period to overlap at least partly with the guarantee’s 12-month validity period.
• Requiring improved reconciliation between metered consumption, contracts, certificate records and environmental claims.

Order amending the characteristics of diesel fuels and unleaded petrol, France

Effective: 27 August 2026

Updates the legal specifications and test methods applying to road diesel, cold-weather diesel and E5 and E10 unleaded petrol by:

• Incorporating requirements from the July 2025 revisions of NF EN 590 and NF EN 228.
• Updating product specifications.
• Updating statutory test methods.
• Requiring review of laboratory instructions, certificates of analysis, batch-release controls and supplier contracts.

Environmental authorisation for two EPR2 nuclear generating units at Gravelines, France

Status: Published 22 August 2026 and in force.

Authorises EDF to undertake works required for two EPR2 units near the Gravelines nuclear site. The authorisation includes requirements relating to:

• Water-law activities.
• Regulated installations.
• Protected species and habitats.
• Environmental monitoring and reporting.
• Incident management.
• Waste and restoration.
• Contractor and supply-chain controls.
• Project-specific inspection, evidence and close-out records.

The authorisation does not replace the separate nuclear-installation authorisation and safety framework.

Decree prescribing decommissioning of the Pégase installation at Cadarache, France

Status: Published 22 August 2026.

Requires the CEA to undertake partial decommissioning of the Pégase installation within basic nuclear installation No. 22. The framework includes:

• Defined decommissioning stages.
• Changes to the installation perimeter.
• Radiological and conventional environmental controls.
• Waste characterisation and traceability.
• Dismantling and temporary storage arrangements.
• Configuration management.
• Monitoring, inspection and completion records.

Special Spatial Planning Framework for Renewable Energy Sources, Greece

Published: 19 August 2026

Replaces Greece’s 2008 renewable-energy spatial plan and introduces updated siting requirements for renewable-energy and storage projects, including:

• Expanded environmental and cultural exclusion zones.
• Controls concerning Natura 2000 sites, forests, wetlands, national parks and protected landscapes.
• Requirements relating to heritage areas, roadless areas and bathing coasts.
• A reported 1.5% land-use cap for new photovoltaic development in each Regional Unit.
• Additional criteria for floating solar, island, offshore and wind projects.
• Consideration of grid connections and cumulative environmental effects.

Special Spatial Planning Framework for Industry and the Supply Chain, Greece

In force from: 28 August 2026

Introduces updated national planning requirements for industrial and logistics development, including:

• Priority for organised development within Business Parks and other designated areas.
• Improvement of existing industrial hubs.
• Controls concerning informal industrial clusters.
• Integrated planning for industry and supply-chain infrastructure.
• Consideration of logistics connectivity, critical raw materials and energy security.
• Greater emphasis on environmental performance, green transition and productive resilience.

Legislative Decree No. 151 of 30 July 2026 concerning the floriculture and nursery sector, Italy

Effective: 27 August 2026

Creates an integrated national framework covering:

• Cultivation and marketing.
• Product quality and traceability.
• A five-year national plan.
• Annual sector data collection.
• Logistics platforms.
• Public green infrastructure.
• Training, certification and innovation.
• Sustainable production.

Decree-Law No. 153 of 26 August 2026 concerning petroleum prices, Italy

Effective: 27 August 2026

Temporary rate period: 27 August to 5 September 2026

Introduces temporary petroleum-price measures, including:

• A diesel excise rate of €532.90 per 1,000 litres during the specified period.
• Application of the rate to qualifying paraffinic diesel, including HVO.
• Application to qualifying biodiesel meeting the stated EU State-aid conditions.
• Requirements for accurate product classification, transaction-date controls and supporting duty records.
• Associated funding and road-haulage provisions.

French agricultural worker accommodation requirements

Effective: 26 August 2026

Introduces requirements for employer-provided agricultural worker accommodation, including:

• Internal noise controls.
• Maintenance of at least 18°C while avoiding condensation and excessive temperatures.
• Clean and complete bedding.
• Lockable individual storage.
• Suitable cooking and dining facilities.
• Waste bins and sanitary arrangements.
• Controlled use of authorised tent accommodation for specified short-term seasonal work.

Decree No. 146 of 26 May 2026 on electrical propulsion systems for recreational craft, Italy

In force from: 25 August 2026

Introduces procedures for approval and installation of electrical power-supply and propulsion systems on recreational craft, including:

• Use of UNI EN ISO 16315 as the reference standard.
• Competence requirements for installers and technical managers.
• Chamber of Commerce registration requirements.
• Approved quality management system requirements.
• Controls for new craft and conversions.
• Approval, installation, test and conformity records.

Karozzini Red Alert – Extreme Heat Guidelines 2026, Malta

In force from: 5 August 2026

Prohibit operation of horse-drawn karozzini during an official Red Alert – Extreme Heat Warning issued by the Malta Meteorological Office. The requirements include:

• Immediate suspension of karozzin operations during the warning.
• No use of horses for karozzin operations during the warning period.
• Monitoring of official meteorological warnings.
• Communication of the stop-work decision to relevant personnel.
• Controlled resumption only after the warning is withdrawn or expires.
• Continued compliance with the existing Karozzini Regulations.

Decree No. 2026-816 amending digital-accessibility requirements, France

Effective: 27 August 2026

Amends accessibility requirements for online public communication services by:

• Aligning specified exemptions and dates with Directive (EU) 2019/882.
• Requiring applicability assessment across websites, mobile applications and online services.
• Requiring review of accessibility statements, multi-year plans and annual action plans.
• Integrating accessibility into procurement, design, development, content publishing and change control.
• Requiring evidence of testing, remediation and monitoring.

Legal Merger Decree 2026, Netherlands

Effective: 19 August 2026

Replaces the Dutch Legal Merger Decree of 12 August 2022 and updates corporate-income-tax policy under Article 14b of the Corporate Income Tax Act 1969. It addresses:

• Standard conditions for legal mergers.
• Tax attributes and specified merger situations.
• Late requests.
• Residence and anti-avoidance conditions.
• Supporting calculations, approvals and transaction evidence.
• Post-merger verification of continuing compliance with applicable conditions.

Significant amendments

The following matters represent substantive changes to existing compliance frameworks arising from August 2026 developments.

• Introduction of a directly applicable EU packaging and packaging-waste regime covering restricted substances, recyclability, recycled content, minimisation, labelling, reuse, refill and extended producer responsibility.
• Strengthening of controls over environmental, sustainability, climate, durability and repairability claims made to consumers.
• Expansion of NIS2-based cybersecurity duties through new Austrian and Dutch legislation.
• Introduction of broader all-hazards resilience obligations for designated critical entities in the Netherlands.
• Application of EU AI Act transparency duties and establishment of national AI supervisory structures in Germany and the Republic of Ireland.
• Introduction of cross-border electronic-evidence production and preservation requirements for affected service providers.
• Further development of environmental controls concerning waste, water, energy, biodiversity, protected areas, packaging and spatial planning.
• Increased reliance on supplier declarations, technical files, certification, traceability and documented conformity evidence.
• Greater supply-chain responsibility through contracts, project authorisations, specifications and customer requirements.
• New and amended workplace requirements concerning noise assessment, agricultural accommodation, underground services and extreme-heat restrictions.
• Increased need to integrate legal-register requirements with procurement, product design, supplier management, information security, business continuity and operational controls.
• Continued need to distinguish directly enforceable obligations from funding conditions, project-specific authorisations, treaty notices and general monitoring items.
• Requirement to retain measures under review where authoritative titles, commencement dates, schedules or transitional provisions have not yet been confirmed.

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