European Commission
The EU executive body proposing legislation, enforcing competition law, and managing sanctions and financial aid.
The European Commission's 9 September 2026 draft act would confine city curbs on short lets to the dearest housing markets and demand three years of evidence of housing harm before any CAP, its second step after the 2024 data-sharing regulation.
Last refreshed: 4 October 2026 · Appears in 14 active topics
Can the 21st sanctions package pass unanimously before the Russia oil price cap auto-lifts?
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The European Commission is the European Union's executive. It proposes legislation, runs EU programmes and enforces EU law where the treaties give it powers. Its College has one commissioner from each member state and is led by a president, Ursula von der Leyen since 2019.
Enforcement gives it direct power over companies. It can investigate, adopt binding remedies and impose fines under competition law and the Digital Markets Act. On 3 September 2026 it adopted its first Article 102 guidance on dominant firms, with a 40% market-share marker that is not a floor. Its fining power over large AI model makers under the AI Act began on 2 August.
Its reach extends beyond the EU's borders through money and access. In June 2026 Commissioner Magnus Brunner asked five Caribbean states to close their passport-sale schemes by 1 June 2028. It manages the €90bn Ukraine Support Loan, disbursing €3.47bn on 30 July, and pledged $568m towards the Ebola response in DR Congo in September. Foreign-policy sanctions it prepares still need unanimous agreement among member states.
The Commission ties caps to proof
the Commission's short-let policy moved from transparency to supply control in 2026. Regulation 2024/1028, on platform data sharing, took full effect on 20 May with five Mediterranean states able to send listing data and Germany and the Netherlands unable to; the Commission itself published nothing that day.
Its follow-up arrived on 9 September as a draft act. Under it, a city could CAP short lets only where housing costs are highest, and only after documenting three years of damage to its housing market. That sets a high evidentiary bar for newcomers while favouring cities with long data records. The draft fulfils the European Affordable Housing Plan of 16 December 2025, in which the Commission promised a second short-let law.
The Commission levies a record DMA fine
the Commission's Digital Markets Act case against Google peaked in July 2026. On 16 July it told Google to give competing AI services free access to 11 Android functions and to hand anonymised Search ranking data to rival search engines from January 2027.
Seven days on, the Commission imposed €890m in penalties: €460m for self-preferencing Google's shopping and travel results, and €430m for Play Store rules that stopped developers steering users to cheaper offers. Google has 60 days to comply. The penalty decision had sat unsigned in the president's office for months. Teresa Ribera's competition TEAM framed the case around data as an input for search and AI, the theme the Commission also pressed when it ordered Meta to reopen WhatsApp to rival assistants on 9 June.
Tariff threats follow the Commission's fines
Each step in the Commission's digital enforcement now draws a trade response from Washington. On 26 June 2026 Donald Trump threatened 100% tariffs over digital taxes.
Within 24 hours of the €890m Google fine, on 24 July, he opened a Section 301 inquiry under US trade law into the EU's digital regulation. US trade representative Jamieson Greer had said the day before that the fine created massive uncertainty for US exports, and Trump said the US is not a piggybank for Europe. Press reports listed Nokia, Airbus and Volkswagen among exporters exposed to retaliation. For the Commission, the investigation ties each enforcement decision under its digital rulebook to the threat of tariffs on European exporters.
Tariff threats follow the Commission's fines
How is the EU responding to Trump's 100% tariff threat on digital taxes?
Why has the European Commission not signed the Google DMA fine?
Reference
Who is Teresa Ribera at the European Commission?
What does the European Commission actually do?
Who is the President of the European Commission?
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