Wolfgang Maschek

Wolfgang A. Maschek is the Head of the European Public Policy Practice based in the Brussels office. Wolfgang’s practice includes representing both private and public sector clients at EU and national level across various regulated industries and policy matters. With over two decades of experience leading public policy teams across various regulated industries, Wolfgang connects with clients by leveraging his extensive legal and regulatory expertise to overcome complex challenges and seize business opportunities in Europe. His experience includes areas such as international trade, foreign direct investment, technology and AI, financial services, healthcare, and environmental and chemicals policy.

For the last decade, Wolfgang successfully led the Brussels-based public policy team at an international law firm. Earlier in his career, Wolfgang served as Senior Counsel and Head of the European Regulatory and Public Affairs department at a global financial services provider. Between 2002 and 2006, Wolfgang represented the Austrian Central Bank in Brussels, where he was responsible for liaising with European institutions and advising on European developments affecting monetary policy and financial market supervision. Wolfgang’s experience also includes working at the European Commission and at the Oesterreichische Kontrollbank.

Wolfgang has consistently been recognized by Chambers Europe and other ranking platforms as a leading lawyer in the Government and Public Affairs field.

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The EU Cloud and AI Development Act in Depth

By Paul Maynard, Dita Charanzová, Jadzia Pierce, Fredericka Argent & Wolfgang Maschek on June 16, 2026

Posted in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Technology

On 3 June 2026, the European Commission (“Commission“) published its proposal for a Regulation establishing a framework of measures for strengthening Europe’s cloud and AI ecosystem—the Cloud and AI Development Act (“CADA Proposal“). The CADA Proposal sits at the heart of the Commission’s broader Tech Sovereignty Package (which we describe at a high level here), and aims to address what the Commission perceives as two critical vulnerabilities in the EU’s digital landscape: a structural deficit in data centre capacity and a dependence on a limited number of non-EU cloud computing service providers.

EU Tech Sovereignty Package

By Jadzia Pierce, Dita Charanzová, Paul Maynard, Anna Sophia Oberschelp de Meneses, Wolfgang Maschek, Bart Szewczyk, Matthieu Coget & Laura Schukraft on June 4, 2026

Posted in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cybersecurity, EU Law and Regulatory, Technology

On June 3, the European Commission published its Tech Sovereignty Package, a set of legislative and policy initiatives designed to address what the Commission characterizes as Europe’s technological dependencies on non-European suppliers. The Package marks a further step in the evolution of the EU’s technology policy, with initiatives spanning the full tech stack—from chips and infrastructure to software, cloud, and artificial intelligence. Through this “ecosystem” approach, the Commission seeks to reduce supply-side dependencies by strengthening domestic capabilities in Europe and stimulating demand in downstream sectors.

The Package comprises four components: two legislative proposals—(i) the Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA), and (ii) the Chips Act 2.0—as well as two non-legislative initiatives—(iii) the EU Open Source Strategy and (iv) a Strategic Roadmap for Digitalisation and AI in Energy.

European Commission Publishes the Proposed Industrial Accelerator Act

By Sibel Yilmaz, Carole Maczkovics, Laurie-Anne Grelier, Wolfgang Maschek, Katharina Ewert, Atli Stannard, Sam Jungyun Choi, Romain Girard & Matthieu Coget on March 16, 2026

Posted in EU Law and Regulatory, European Union, Foreign Direct Investment Regulation, International Trade, Procurement Policy

On 4 March 2026, the European Commission (the “Commission”) published its proposal for a regulation establishing a framework for the acceleration of its industrial capacity and decarbonisation in strategic sectors (“Proposed Industrial Accelerator Act”, or “Proposed IAA”), accompanied by four annexes. The initiative is intended to strengthen the EU’s industrial base while accelerating decarbonisation in key manufacturing sectors considered strategically important (i.e., energy-intensive industries, net-zero technology manufacturing, and the automotive manufacturing ecosystem). These sectors currently represent less than 15% of EU GDP, and the Commission’s objective is to increase this share to 20% by 2035. The Proposed IAA was delayed three times before publication and underwent significant rewriting, which reflects both internal debates within the Commission and diverging reactions from Member States. It also reflects the challenges posed by the broader geopolitical context, as the Commission aims to address economic security concerns through industrial policies whilst navigating international trade relationships and commitments.

The Proposed IAA introduces a regulatory framework combining three policy tools. First, it establishes demand-side measures designed to create “lead markets” for low-carbon and “Made in EU” industrial products through public procurement and certain public support schemes. Second, it introduces conditions for allowing certain foreign direct and indirect investments (“FDI”) in strategic sectors, aimed at maximising the industrial benefits of such investments within the EU. Third, it includes measures to streamline permitting procedures and facilitate industrial clustering, with the objective of accelerating the deployment of manufacturing projects.

This blog summarises the key aspects of each tool and their potential implications for companies active in the covered industries or looking to invest in the covered industries.