On April 23, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that the IRS plans to revise the Form 990 to improve transparency and provide clearer reporting on certain transactions of 501(c)(3) organizations, including government contracts, government grants, and fiscal sponsorship arrangements. In this alert, we provide a summary…

Continue Reading Tax-Exempt Organizations: Treasury Announces IRS Plans to Revise Form 990

International regulators are finalizing the first global safety standards for Automated Driving Systems (“ADS”). In January, the UN Working Party on Automated/Autonomous and Connected Vehicles (“GRVA”) approved a draft UN Regulation (“UNR”) under the 1958 Agreement and a draft Global Technical Regulation (“GTR”) under the 1998 Agreement, submitting both for adoption by the UN World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations.

Developed in parallel to ensure harmonized technical requirements across jurisdictions, the UNR and GTR are expected to be adopted at the 199th WP.29 session in June 2026. In the meantime, work continues on finalizing the accompanying Guidance and Interpretation Document. This post provides an overview of the UN regulatory framework, the legislative status of the ADS instruments as of May 2026, an outline of the key provisions, and implications for companies across the ADS value chain.

Continue Reading UN Regulation and GTR on Automated Driving Systems: Current State of Play

EU Member States are currently designing two possible new Important Projects of Common European Interest (“IPCEIs”) to support the development of AI and compute infrastructure in the EU (together the “Digital IPCEIs”), subject to European Commission (“Commission”) approval.

On 10 March 2026, the “matchmaking” phase under the IPCEI on Artificial Intelligence (“IPCEI-AI”) was officially launched in Berlin. It brings together companies whose AI projects have been pre-selected through national calls for expressions of interest (“CEIs”) in each participating Member State. Its objective is to form European consortia eligible for State co-funding under the IPCEI-AI. National CEIs in 17 participating Member States are now closed; Finland and Lithuania are still expected to launch their CEIs.

A second digital IPCEI on Compute Infrastructure Continuum (“IPCEI-CIC”) was launched in late 2025 by 15 Member States. Several of these participating Member States – including Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain – have not yet launched their CEIs.  

Continue Reading Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs) on Artificial Intelligence and Compute Infrastructure Continuum

On 23 April 2026, the Council of the European Union adopted a new package of economic sanctions against Russia, marking the twentieth sanctions package introduced since the start of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine.

Click here to read the full alert on cov.com.

Continue Reading EU Adopts Additional Sanctions Against Russia and Belarus & UK Adopts Sanctions End-Use Controls

I. Background – From Pharma-Dialogue to Compulsory Price Cuts

Tomorrow, on 29 April 2026, the German Government is expected to adopt a new law to stabilize the finances of the statutory health insurances. This draft law titled “GKV-Beitragssatzstabilisierungsgesetz” (GKV-BStabG) proposes manifold cost-containment measures that would also significantly impact pharmaceutical companies. As such, the new law inter alia proposes new (tightened) pricing rules and compulsory markdown payment obligations for drug companies.

The GKV-BStabG proposes a mix of spending cuts and revenue-increasing measures projected to save the German healthcare system almost €20 billion in 2027 and more than €42 billion by 2030. The cuts in pharmaceutical spending are expected to contribute around €1.9 billion savings in 2027.

The scope of the proposed cost containment measures appears to have hit the German pharmaceutical industry a bit off-guard. Over the last months, the German Government had initiated a Pharma & MedTech Dialogue (see our earlier blog on this dialogue) that gave hope that the Government was open to listen to the industry needs. While the GKV-BStabG is not final and will likely evolve during the legislation process, it clearly shows the Government’s primary interest in short-term cost-cuttings.

This article outlines the key proposals in the GKV-BStabG affecting the pharmaceutical industry and provides an overview of the roadmap of the legislation process. The proposed reform in Germany may also interfere with other international trends like the Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) pricing developments in the US.

Continue Reading Germany plans significant cuts in drug pricing and reimbursement – How would the GKV-Beitragssatzstabilisierungsgesetz impact pharmaceutical companies?

On April 7, 2026, the Fair Work Agency (“FWA”) was established as a new single enforcement body for employment rights in the UK, operating under the framework set out in Part 5 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (“ERA”). In this alert, we provide an overview…

Continue Reading UK Government launches the Fair Work Agency: What do employment and business and human rights specialists need to know?

On April 14, 2026, the FTC announced three settlements and issued closing letters to two additional companies concerning “Made in America,” “Made in the USA,” and similar U.S.‑origin claims (collectively, “MUSA claims”).  These actions reflect the FTC’s continued focus on MUSA claims and, more broadly, the Trump administration’s focus on…

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On 31 March 2026, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) launched a public consultation on draft updated guidance on automated decision-making (“ADM”), including profiling (“Draft Guidance”) and simultaneously published a report on the use of ADM in recruitment (“Recruitment Report”).

The Draft Guidance is the ICO’s first detailed interpretation of the Data (Use and Access) Act’s (“DUAA”) changes to the UK GDPR’s ADM provisions, and the accompanying Recruitment Report is a sector-specific signal of how the ICO expects those rules to operate in practice.

Continue Reading UK ICO Consults on Draft Automated Decision-Making Guidance and Sets Expectations for ADM in Recruitment

Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (“Section 232”) authorizes the President to “adjust” imports—including through application of tariffs, quotas, tariff rate quotas, and license fees—where the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) determines imports threaten to impair U.S. national security. Since February 2025, President Trump has invoked Section 232…

Continue Reading Current and Forthcoming Section 232 Actions by the Trump Administration

Europe has switched to a wartime mindset and is surging defense spending to levels not seen since the Cold War: 20% growth in 2024 and in 2025, and a total of around $450 billion across the EU. Europe is also ramping up defense production locally, and seeking to accelerate this process through preferential funding schemes. Ukraine has become a military powerhouse and a global leader in defense tech, such as drones and counter-drone systems. And the tech Ukraine has other countries need, particularly in the Middle East. The upcoming NATO summit in Ankara in July and the prospective EU-GCC summit later this year in Saudi Arabia will continue to shape investment priorities across EMEA. For private equity firms, technology companies, prime defense contractors, and scale-ups operating in the defense sector, this shift creates opportunities to meet rising demand, while also introducing additional regulatory complexity that must be navigated carefully to secure market access and long-term strategic positioning.

Continue Reading Future of Defense Across EMEA