Introduction

In the space of just one week, the EU’s top court, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”), delivered two important judgments that clarify the scope of sport rule-making activities that can benefit from an antitrust exemption: the ROGON judgment on 9 July 2026, and the much more detailed RRC Sports judgment on 16 July 2026, which builds on and develops ROGON.  The sporting rules at play in these cases concerned football players’ agents, and more specifically those adopted by the German Football Association (ROGON judgment), and FIFA (RRC Sports judgment).  However, the principles set out in the ROGON and RRC Sports judgments will resonate beyond sport arenas to find potential application to rule-making by self-regulatory bodies in other sectors. 

Continue Reading ROGON and RRC Sports: The EU’s Top Court vindicates a pragmatic application of the antitrust sporting exemption to players’ agent regulations

For more than twenty years, FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (“RSTP”) have sought to balance the stability of football teams with player mobility. That balance was fundamentally challenged by the European Court of Justice (“ECJ” or the “Court”) in Case C-650/22 FIFA v Diarra (“Diarra”).

Less than two years later, on 10 June 2026, FIFA approved a new version of the RSTP due to officially enter into force on 1 January 2027.

The reform represents the most comprehensive overhaul of the transfer system since the introduction of the modern RSTP in 2001. While it responds directly to Diarra, it also reflects the ECJ’s insistence – primarily expressed in Superleague – that sports governing bodies must pursue legitimate objectives through rules that are transparent, objective and proportionate. Moreover, alongside the substantive amendments to the RSTP, FIFA introduced a new governance model under which future changes to the RSTP will be developed through structured social dialogue among players, clubs and leagues.

This blog examines the key EU competition law and free movement implications of the new RSTP. In particular, it considers how the revised rules reflect the principles identified in previous ECJ case law and how they reshape the competitive and regulatory framework governing player transfers.

Continue Reading From Diarra to FIFA’s New Player Transfer System: How EU Law is Reshaping Football’s Transfer Rules and Governance

Executive Summary

There were a few key takeaways from the 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara, where Covington was present:

  • Industrial collaboration boost: Introduced a “Front Door for Industry” to streamline engagement and procurement processes.
  • “Made in NATO”: Aims to foster industrial cooperation and ensure nondiscrimination across the Alliance. For non-EU firms, this will help balance the EU’s preference for “made in the EU” production.
  • Strategic industry cooperation: Strategy emphasizing communication, innovation, and scaling defense production, recognizing industry as integral to security alongside armed forces.
  • Division of roles: NATO focuses on command, control, and capability standards, and the EU to manage funding and regulatory frameworks – a complex but opportunity-rich environment.
Continue Reading European Defense After the NATO Summit

This alert discusses hot topics and enforcement trends that have made an impact across the Middle East region in the first half of 2026, and signals developments to watch by the end of the year, with a focus on Compliance (Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Anti-Money Laundering, Sanctions, Data Protection), Foreign Direct…

Continue Reading Middle East Hot Topics 2026 Mid-Year Review

Yesterday, following a second National Security Determination from the Department of War (“DoW”), the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) clarified the scope of its ban on foreign-produced “power inverters,” a category of devices added to the FCC’s “Covered List” in late July.  This new determination revises and narrows the definition of power inverters to more “accurately reflect” the types of inverters that pose unacceptable national security risks—a move that, like its carve-out earlier this year of toy drones from foreign-produced unmanned aircraft systems, may signal a willingness to take a more nuanced approach to defining the classes of devices that pose national security risks.  At the same time, this new determination clarifies which of these devices qualify as “foreign-produced,” a move that simultaneously (1) provides an alternate path for an inverter not to be foreign-produced and (2) may signal that the FCC and national security agencies are taking a more limited view of what devices are U.S.-produced and therefore outside the scope of the ban.

Continue Reading FCC Narrows Covered List Definition of “Power Inverters” and Clarifies Meaning of “Foreign-Produced”

Employers increasingly rely on automated tools to help make decisions concerning hiring, promotion, discipline, and termination. In response, state legislatures and agencies have begun to regulate uses of these technologies, often referred to as automated decision-making technology (“ADMT”). These laws generally require entities that deploy ADMT in the employment context to, among other requirements, notify affected individuals, disclose how ADMT factors into decisions, and provide rights to appeal or request human review.

This remains a fast-moving area and a hot topic for legislative and regulatory focus, with several states enacting laws this year and additional bills pending. Below, we summarize the key legislative and regulatory ADMT developments that apply in the employment context.

Continue Reading ADMT Law Roundup: What Employers Need to Know About Recent ADMT Laws

On August 12, 2026, the Administration published a National Security Presidential Memorandum (“NSPM”) (“Expanding Capabilities to Combat Transnational Cyber-Enabled Crime”) that signals the Administration’s focus on private-sector participation in offensive cyber operations by establishing a federally supervised program to enable private sector participants to conduct offensive cyber operations against “Cyber-Enabled Transnational Criminal Organizations” (“CE-TCOs”).  

The NSPM follows Executive Order 14390, which, together with the U.S. National Cybersecurity Strategy, demonstrated the U.S. government’s continued focus on disrupting foreign cyber-enabled criminal organizations that engage in fraud, scams, and related cyber-enabled schemes.  The NSPM, which states that “it is the policy of the United States to use all instruments of national power, including the innovative capabilities of the private sector, to combat cybercrime,” signals a potential shift in the U.S. government’s approach to offensive cyber operations by non-government actors.  At the same time, the NSPM makes clear that any such operations would be conducted only after U.S. government vetting and authorization, under federal coordination and oversight, and consistent with U.S. law.   This post summarizes the NSPM and identifies practical takeaways for private-sector entities that may be considering whether to participate in the program.  Additional implementation guidance is expected by mid-October 2026 (60 days after the NSPM publication).

Continue Reading White House Releases National Security Presidential Memorandum on Expanding Capabilities to Combat Transnational Cyber-Enabled Crime

In an August 2026 Unified Agenda entry, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) stated that it intends to complete its long-running effort to revise the regulations implementing the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”). The National Security Division (“NSD”) stated that it is considering a final rule that would adopt “many…

Continue Reading DOJ Signals it will Move Forward with Significant Revisions to FARA Regulations

On August 14, 2026, the French Constitutional Council (the “Constitutional Council”) struck down Article 1 of France’s Act to protect minors from the risks posed by the use of social media (the “Act”), which would have barred minors under the age of fifteen from accessing online social media services. The Constitutional Council held that the prohibition infringed on the freedom of expression and communication in a manner that was not appropriate, necessary, or proportionate to the objective pursued and, separately, that the legislature failed to provide the legal safeguards required to protect the right to respect for private life in connection with the age verification process that the ban would, by necessity, have entailed.

We summarise key aspects of the decision below.

Continue Reading French Constitutional Council Strikes Down Under-15 Social Media Ban

On July 20, 2026, the French data protection authority (the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés, “CNIL”) published a joint exploratory note with the French AI and Digital Council (“CIANum”) on the data protection implications of agentic AI (the “Note”). The Note is exploratory rather than prescriptive: it does not purport to state definitive regulatory expectations, and it does not announce forthcoming guidance. However, it does provide helpful considerations for when the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) might come under strain in the course of processing personal data via autonomous systems, and identifies legal and technical measures that might help mitigate potential risks. The CNIL frames this exercise as connected to its engagement with several international counterparts, including through the G7 data protection authorities during the French G7 presidency.

The Note is the latest in a rapidly accumulating body of regulator commentary on agentic AI, including by the UK ICO, Spanish AEPD, and Singaporean IMDA. Below are some key takeaways.

Continue Reading French CNIL Publishes Note on Agentic AI and Data Protection