Two big EU files stalled this week because capitals put their own interests first. Germany and France held up the Council's position on the data omnibus, and Dublin's draft budget cut competitiveness funding by 12.8% to keep the net payers on board.
Other governments moved on their own. Spain's AI advisers asked for public power to pull rogue systems off the market, and London promised to free startup hires from non-compete clauses.
Policy & Regulation
Berlin and Paris stall the data omnibus over trade secrets
EU ambassadors were due to adopt the Council's mandate on the data omnibus, which rewrites parts of the GDPR, ePrivacy rules, and the Data Act, on 7 October. Under joint pressure from Germany and France, the item was reduced to a discussion and the vote pushed to Sunday.
On Saturday evening the file was taken off Sunday's agenda too, with "no new date set or revised text prepared", MLex reported. The dispute is the Data Act: Berlin wants data covered by a trade secret shared only with the holder's "explicit agreement", while the Irish presidency would let holders refuse when they show a "significant risk" of misuse.
Germany also tabled a "low-risk data controllers" category that would exempt micro-enterprises, SMEs, and non-profits from many GDPR duties. Spain, Bulgaria, Latvia, and Estonia object to a different clause, which lets companies train AI on personal data under legitimate interest rather than consent.
Parliament's rapporteurs, Marina Kaljurand and Aura Salla, are working through more than 1,500 amendments and aim for a position in February.
The package was sold as a way to save companies time. It has already spent a season stuck in the Council.
(Agence Europe; netzpolitik.org; MLex)
Dublin's budget draft cuts competitiveness first
The Irish presidency tabled its negotiating box for the 2028-2034 budget on 10 October, 8% below the Commission's proposal. Competitiveness takes a 12.8% cut and external action 17.4%, according to Parliament's lead negotiators.
Parliament's own-resources rapporteurs say the box takes no decision on new revenue, including the proposed levy on large companies' turnover. The Commission is reportedly reworking that levy so it falls mostly on the biggest groups: a digital tax in all but name, built to avoid provoking Washington.
Co-rapporteur Siegfried Mureșan said the box "cannot be the starting point for an agreement". Ministers debate it in Luxembourg on 13 October and leaders on 15 and 16 October.
(European Parliament; netzpolitik.org)
Brussels calls in its scientists on rogue AI agents
The Commission convened a special meeting of its 60-member scientific panel on general-purpose AI on 9 October, after the panel looked into "recent loss-of-control incidents". With the AI Office, it drafted questions for the companies whose models were involved, which the Commission did not name.
Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen told Reuters that "we in Europe are well equipped", because the AI Act covers a model's whole life cycle. The AI Office is still assessing answers to information requests it sent to more than 30 model providers in late August, Chinese startups among them.
(European Commission; RNZ / Reuters)
Spain's AI council wants public power to switch systems off
Spain's International Advisory Council on AI, chaired by Manuel Castells, published its Madrid Manifesto on 8 October. It says self-regulation "cannot ensure" AI develops in the public interest.
It asks for independent testing of frontier and agentic models before release, with evaluators given access to incident logs, and traceable identities for AI agents. It also wants developers to carry the burden of proof for high-risk harms, and public authorities to have the power to suspend systems that escape human control.
The Commission told Politico on 8 October it has no plans "at this stage" to revive AI liability rules. Madrid has now put the argument back on the table.
(Spanish Ministry for Digital Transformation; techUK)
Capital & Investment
September brings EUR 15.8 billion, mostly to a few names
European startups raised EUR 15.8 billion across 300 deals in September, almost five times August's EUR 3.2 billion, according to Tech.eu data. Three rounds passed EUR 1 billion, led by Mistral AI's EUR 3 billion Series D, with Nscale also among them.
Cloud took 35% of the month's money, EUR 5.5 billion, and UK companies raised EUR 7.3 billion. Private money for European compute is arriving in large cheques, in the same weeks the Council draft trims the public share.
(Tech.eu)
Endeavor Catalyst puts Europe's periphery at the centre of a $320 million fund
Endeavor Catalyst announced its oversubscribed $320 million Fund V on 7 October and named Europe its fastest-growing market.
It invests in ten European countries, none of them France, Germany, the UK, or the Netherlands: Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey, and Ukraine.
Its European Fund V investments include Bulgaria's EnduroSat and HappyRobot, founded by Spanish entrepreneurs. Catalyst backed 12 European companies in the first half of 2026, against 14 in all of 2025, and plans another $25 million to $30 million before year end.
(Tech.eu)
Wiremind takes outside money for the first time, with Bpifrance on board
The French revenue management company raised EUR 35 million after 12 profitable years without outside capital. IronWave, Seaya Andromeda, and Bpifrance's Large Venture fund came in; the founders keep majority control.
Its software prices seats for rail and air operators, and revenue grew 67% in 2025. Here the state investor joined a profitable company on the founders' terms, a quieter use of public capital than subsidies.
Work & Society
Parliament wants a risk check before the algorithm arrives
MEPs voted 413 to 210 on 6 October to ask the Commission for a law on psychosocial risks at work, such as burnout, harassment, and excessive workload. The International Labour Organization links more than 840,000 deaths a year to these risks.
The report asks for a prior risk assessment, with workers' representatives, before employers bring in automated decision-making or monitoring systems. MEPs say algorithmic management must not impose excessive monitoring, and a human must always oversee it.
The Commission now has three months to say whether it will propose a law.
Talent & Workforce
London promises to legislate on non-competes
Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the Innovation Nation Summit in Manchester on 9 October that the government will legislate so non-compete clauses "will no longer be a barrier to hiring" for startups. He called it the "Bosman ruling for the innovation sector".
Last week we reported founders from ElevenLabs and Synthesia lobbying for limits. Ministers have not committed to an outright ban; options range from a ban to caps on duration, and a consultation covering garden leave opens with the 28 October Budget.
One to Watch
How much of Europe's new compute goes to Europeans
The Council's lawyers told national experts on 6 October that the Cloud and AI Development Act fits WTO rules, if its "Buy European" provisions are adjusted. In Parliament, a draft opinion by Green MEP Sergey Lagodinsky reportedly cuts the four sovereignty tiers to two and reserves at least 80% of new capacity in acceleration zones for EU players.
The lead committees present their joint draft report on 1 December. Watch whether the 80% survives, and whether member states treat it as a sovereignty measure or a trade risk.
(techUK)