EU faces defence spending dilemma as US support wavers  European leaders are confronting a pressing dilemma: how to fund a significant surge in defence spending amid rising security threats and waning U.S. military support. With the U.S. signalling potential cuts to aid for Ukraine and President Trump urging European nations to allocate 5% of their GDP to defence, the EU must find ways to mobilise an estimated €500 billion in additional defence investments over the next decade. Policymakers are now exploring options such...

Read more

On Wednesday (12 February), the European Commission unveiled its long-awaited 2025 Work Programme, setting its political and legislative priorities for the year ahead. The programme places simplification at its core, aiming to make EU rules more effective, reduce bureaucracy, and boost competitiveness—key in a context of economic, industrial, and geopolitical challenges. The 2025 Work Programme follows an implementation and simplification agenda, which aims to reduce administrative burdens -including the different Omnibus packages. It places a strong focus on industrial decarbonisation and simplifying regulations for...

Read more

On January 29, the U.S. Copyright Office published the second part of a planned three-part report on copyright and artificial intelligence (AI), this time focused on the question of copyrightability for AI-generated creative works. The first part, published in July 2024, explored the legality of so-called digital replicas of individuals’ likenesses, or “deepfakes.” The report is the product of a sweeping new initiative on AI launched by the Copyright Office in 2023 in response to the first crop of copyright registrations for...

Read more