This Week in Arts & Culture — Brussels (#34, 2026)
Commission designates ChatGPT, Reddit, Roblox as VLOPs under Digital Services Act; Commission adopts Guidelines on exclusionary abuses of dominance; 2026 amending EU budget adopted.
August 30, 2026 to September 05, 2026
Commission designates ChatGPT, Reddit, Roblox as VLOPs under Digital Services Act; Commission adopts Guidelines on exclusionary abuses of dominance; 2026 amending EU budget adopted.
📋 In This Week's Newsletter
• 🇪🇺 European Commission
• ⚖️ EU Legislation
European Commission
Commission designates ChatGPT, Reddit, Roblox under Digital Services Act
On 30 August 2026, the European Commission designated ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine (VLOSE), and Reddit and Roblox as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs), under the Digital Services Act (DSA). Each service reported exceeding 45 million average monthly users in the EU, meeting the DSA threshold for stricter regulatory obligations. These platforms now have four months, until January 2027, to comply with enhanced risk assessment, mitigation of illegal content, and additional transparency measures. The Commission will supervise their compliance, working in cooperation with Coimisiún na Meán for ChatGPT (Ireland) and the Authority for Consumers and Markets (Netherlands) for Reddit and Roblox. The designations bring the total number of very large platforms and search engines under the DSA to 28. The DSA supervision and enforcement is shared between the Commission and the national Digital Services Coordinators.
Commission adopts EU Guidelines on exclusionary abuses of dominance
On 2 September 2026, the European Commission adopted new Guidelines interpreting Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) on abusive exclusionary conduct by dominant companies. The Guidelines conclude a three-year process including stakeholder consultation, a call for evidence in 2023, and a public consultation on the draft text in August 2024. The Guidelines provide a framework for assessing exclusionary practices such as predatory pricing, margin squeeze, and refusal to supply, and outline how efficiency defences may be presented. The Commission explicitly withdraws its 2008 Communication on Article 82 (now Article 102) enforcement priorities. The framework is based on EU Court case law and is intended for use by both the Commission and national competition authorities.
EU Legislation (Official Journal)
Definitive adoption of Amending budget No 1 for the financial year 2026
The Official Journal L published the definitive adoption (EU, Euratom) 2026/1855 of Amending Budget No 1 of the European Union for financial year 2026 on 3 September 2026. The adoption follows the applicable procedures under Article 314 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, integrating changes into the annual EU budget. The amending budget was proposed by the Commission on 10 April 2026, approved by the Council on 16 June 2026, and endorsed by the European Parliament on 7 July 2026. The final declaration of adoption was made by President R. Metsola.
