Global Policy Watch

Executive Summary

On October 4, 2026, more than 150 million Brazilian voters will cast their votes in first-round elections for a new president and all state governors, and will also elect all members of the House of Deputies, two-thirds of the Federal Senate, and state-level representatives. Brazil is the second-largest democracy in the Western Hemisphere,

On 10 July 2026, Ofcom published a package of draft materials as part of the third phase of its implementation of the Online Safety Act (the “Act”). While the Act already imposes baseline duties to tackle illegal content and to protect children (where a service is likely to be accessed by them) on all regulated

Executive Summary

On June 29, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. Slaughter that statutory “for-cause” removal protections for Commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unconstitutionally impair the President’s authority over Executive policy-making functions of the U.S. Government. Slaughter provides new authority for the view that the similar protections afforded to Commissioners of the U.S. Consumer

On June 3, 2026, the President issued an Executive Order (“EO”) entitled “Strengthening Customs Enforcement,” which is likely to have far-reaching consequences for companies that act as importers in the United States.  The EO is expected to have a disproportionate impact on importers that are based outside the United States or have a minimal U.S.

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

On May 6, 2026, Brazil’s House of Deputies approved the text of the Critical and Strategic Minerals Bill. The bill establishes a new legal framework for critical and strategic minerals production with a focus on national security, local manufacturing, and sustainability. The bill was approved with wide political support and was sent to the Federal

On May 7, 2026, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) issued a proposed rule that would fundamentally expand the scope of foreign ownership, control, or influence (“FOCI”) disclosure and risk mitigation requirements for a significant number of companies that serve the national defense. The proposed rule, together with DoD Instruction (“DoDI”) 5205.87 (issued in 2024), would

On April 30, 2026, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously advanced S. 3062, the Guidelines for User Age-verification and Responsible Dialogue Act of 2025 (the “GUARD Act”), marking a significant development in federal efforts to regulate certain uses of artificial intelligence (AI) involving minors. The bill now awaits consideration by the full Senate.

Senators

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