Hi all, Traditionally this monitoring report, along with most of Europe, doesn’t show up in August. But we have had some major developments on child verification, so we thought we’d do a quick & dirty version to get the rentrée (the period in September when Europeans start working again) going.
Dimi & Michele === Age Verification: France === France's Constitutional Court struck down <https://www.lemonde.fr/en/pixels/article/2026/08/14/france-s-constitutional-council-strikes-down-ban-on-social-media-for-under-15s_6756507_13.html?srsltid=AfmBOory6mFzhheX3MLIiy4UdM3pr3D6i_0swFUjmqBl9iySy1QF5csw> the social media ban for under-15s on 14 August, ruling that the law disproportionately restricted minors' freedom of information and expression. Notably, the Court explicitly acknowledged the encyclopaedia and knowledge platform exemption in the law — but found that the exemption did not go far enough to save the overall measure. The government has said it will rework the bill, but it is doubtful they will have time considering the looming elections. The ruling matters well beyond France: it is based on fundamental rights that are harmonised across the EU. We can confirm that is already reshaping how bureaucrats and decision makers in Brussels are thinking about what a legally defensible age restriction mechanism needs to look like. === Age Verification: Brussels === We are now waiting for von der Leyen's State of the EU address on 16 September, during which an announcement on social media restrictions is expected. From what we are hearing, parental opt-out mechanisms, risk-based approaches and different age limits are still being discussed. Nothing seems locked in yet. === Age Verification: Spain, Austria, Greece, Netherlands === Spain, Austria and Greece are all advancing their own proposals. Austria is in the early stages, it has notified its draft law <https://technical-regulation-information-system.ec.europa.eu/en/notification/28351> to the Commission under the TRIS procedure. Spain's Proyecto de Ley Orgánica <https://www.congreso.es/public_oficiales/L15/CONG/BOCG/A/BOCG-15-A-52-1.PDF> is advancing through the Congreso. Greece has enacted a law weeks ago that will introduce age verification from 1 January 2027. But the final text is so unclear that the government is currently working on revising it. We are actively monitoring all three, jointly with local communities where possible. We will get active where we see a risk of scope creep. Currently our projects don't seem to be covered. The Dutch government is in the meantime explicitly advocating a risk-based approach and plans to share proposals with the Commission in early September. This is very welcome, as a risk-based approach is an argument we are using with lawmakers. === Digital Omnibus === All 1,840 amendments to the Digital Omnibus have now been published. On the data protection side, the two lead rapporteurs — Kaljurand (S&D) and Salla (EPP) — have staked out different positions on some important questions, including whether to change the GDPR's definition of personal data, how to handle cookies, and whether legitimate interest can serve as a legal basis for AI training on personal data. These questions do look like a re-scoping of fundamental rights <https://wikimedia.brussels/editorial-wmeu-on-the-digital-omnibus-the-russmedia-decision/>, not a simplification measure though. They will be divisive and decisive for the compromises. On saving standard licences for open government data, we are pleased to report that our amendments are all in <https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CJ72-AM-791072_EN.pdf>. The amendments would delete the provision introducing actor-specific differentiated licensing, restore the original language encouraging standard licences, and fix the term of exclusive digitisation agreements. This is the issue we flagged earlier this year alongside Communia, Creative Commons,and many, many others <https://communia-association.org/2026/07/06/open-letter-protect-open-standard-licences-for-public-sector-information/>. We will be reaching out to ask for your support as the compromise process gets underway. === CADA Proposal === The Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA) <https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/communication-european-tech-sovereignty-accompanied-eu-open-source-strategy> is the Commission's proposal to create a sovereignty framework for public procurement of cloud and AI services, with four assurance levels depending on how sensitive the use case is. It is not a priority file for us — its focus is on cloud infrastructure procurement, not open knowledge platforms. However, one provision is worth flagging: to reach the highest sovereignty tier (level 4), providers must demonstrate that no entity established outside the EU holds effective control over the software components they use.This is probably impossible for MediaWiki or any other open source project to fulfill. In practice that could mean that MediaWiki could not be procured for military and intelligence applications as well as nuclear facilities. A real shame! But the question about “effective control” and open source software should be seriously discussed during negotiations. ===END=== -- Wikimedia Europe ivzw
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