This Week in ICT & Cybersecurity — Brussels (#29, 2026)
AI Act enforcement from 2 August; Temporary online child abuse derogation in force; AI Gigafactories call opens; Japan joins Horizon Europe; New ICT survey rules; 5.9 GHz band widened for ITS.
July 26, 2026 to August 01, 2026
AI Act enforcement from 2 August; Temporary online child abuse derogation in force; AI Gigafactories call opens; Japan joins Horizon Europe; New ICT survey rules; 5.9 GHz band widened for ITS.
📋 In This Week's Newsletter
• 📅 This Week's Calendar in Brussels
• 🇪🇺 European Commission
• ⚖️ EU Legislation
This Week's Calendar in Brussels
- Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE): On August 06, the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) is scheduled to meet. Agenda includes: Chair’s announcements; Chair’s announcements concerning coordinators’ decisions; Date of next meetings.
European Commission
Commission begins enforcement of the Artificial Intelligence Act and transparency rules
The European Commission will begin enforcement of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act and related transparency provisions on 2 August 2026. The AI Office, together with national authorities, is tasked with supervising compliance for general-purpose AI (GPAI) models, including new requirements for user notification when interacting with AI and labelling of AI-generated or altered content. Obligations include documentation, risk mitigation, and copyright transparency for GPAI providers, as well as prohibitions on certain harmful AI practices. Enforcement is divided among the AI Office, national competent authorities, and the European Data Protection Supervisor for EU institutions. Scientific support is provided through a newly convened 60-member panel, with Professor Alessandro Abate appointed as Lead Scientific Adviser.
EU launches call for AI Gigafactories, aiming to expand computing capacity and mobilise €30 billion
The European Commission opened a call for tenders to establish up to seven AI Gigafactories across Europe, supported by €10 billion in EU and national funding and targeting the unlocking of an additional €20 billion in private investment. The facilities are intended to expand large-scale AI computing infrastructure and serve businesses, academia, and public authorities. Applications are open to consortia or special purpose vehicles, with awards managed by the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU). The call closes on 12 November 2026, with construction to begin in 2027.
Commission sends Statement of Grounds to Temu on Foreign Subsidies Regulation inspection
The European Commission issued a Statement of Grounds to PDD Holdings Inc. and its subsidiary WhaleCo Technology Limited, which operates Temu in the EU, alleging obstruction during a Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) inspection conducted in December 2025. The Commission contends Temu failed to comply with requests for information regarding its EU activities and IT systems, possibly contravening Article 14 of the FSR. Temu faces potential fines up to 1% of annual turnover if findings are confirmed. The company may now provide observations before a final decision is made.
Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, and Slovenia receive over €1.86 billion under Recovery and Resilience Facility
The Commission disbursed more than €1.86 billion to Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, and Slovenia from the Recovery and Resilience Facility on 30 July 2026, following the satisfactory completion of reform milestones. Denmark concluded its fifth and final payment, reaching 100% of its €1.63 billion RRF plan, primarily for clean transition and digitalisation reforms. Belgium and Bulgaria each received their fourth tranche, with Bulgaria required to fulfil several outstanding targets before the next payment. Slovenia obtained its sixth instalment for e-health, digitalisation, and clean energy projects. All RRF projects must be completed by 31 August 2026.
Japan officially associated with Horizon Europe
Japan formally joined Horizon Europe on 29 July 2026, becoming the programme's most populous associated country. Japanese entities now participate in Pillar II projects—covering digital, health, and climate challenges—on equal terms with EU members, with access to more than €52.4 billion in funding. The association follows negotiations concluded in December 2025 and is expected to enhance cooperation in advanced research domains including AI, semiconductors, and digital technologies. Japan is the 23rd country associated with Horizon Europe.
EU Legislation (Official Journal)
Temporary derogation adopted for communications providers to combat online child sexual abuse
Regulation (EU) 2026/1881, published on 28 July 2026, establishes a temporary derogation from Directive 2002/58/EC. It authorises providers of number-independent interpersonal communications services to use certain technologies for processing data solely to detect and report online child sexual abuse until 3 April 2028. The Regulation prescribes mandatory safeguards, such as limiting intrusiveness, prior data protection impact assessments, retention limits, regular reporting, and judicial redress. End-to-end encrypted communications remain excluded from its scope.
New technical requirements for the 2027 ICT usage survey adopted
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1864, dated 29 July 2026 and published on 30 July 2026, sets out updated technical items, transmission formats, metadata, and reporting arrangements for the annual ICT usage sample survey under Regulation (EU) 2019/1700. The rules define sample characteristics, target populations, reference periods, and statistical standards for Member States reporting on households' use of information and communication technologies for reference year 2027.
Wider frequency channels approved in the 5.9 GHz band for road ITS safety applications
Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1800, of 24 July 2026, amends Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1426 by introducing 20 MHz channels alongside existing 10 MHz channels for safety-related intelligent transport systems (ITS) in the 5.9 GHz frequency band. The new decision reflects technical recommendations from CEPT Report 91 and aims to increase spectrum efficiency and enable advanced ITS use cases while protecting urban rail systems.
