EU Publishes New Technical Regulation
The European Union published Commission Regulation (EU) 2026/245 on February 23, 2026. The new legal text focuses on technical amendments, including transitional deadlines and material authorizations. While not a major policy shift, it highlights the continuous adaptation of the EU's regulatory framework, requiring digital teams to monitor for ongoing compliance updates.
- The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, released in October 2023, adds nine new success criteria focused on improving accessibility for users with cognitive, learning, and motor disabilities, as well as enhancing mobile device accessibility. - Public sector bodies across the EU are mandated by the Web Accessibility Directive to ensure their websites and mobile apps meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA standards, and must provide a detailed public accessibility statement. - The European Accessibility Act will be enforceable from June 28, 2025, setting a common standard for accessibility requirements for certain products and services in the private sector, which will influence the procurement of technology by public agencies. - The EU AI Act introduces a risk-based framework for artificial intelligence, classifying systems that pose a high risk to users and requiring public sector bodies to conduct impact assessments and register these systems in an EU-wide database before deployment. - As of February 2025, the AI Act prohibits certain AI applications in the public sector, including social scoring by public authorities and the use of emotion recognition in schools or workplaces. - The European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles, signed in late 2022, advocates for a human-centric approach to digital transformation, which includes the right to privacy, freedom of choice when interacting with algorithmic systems, and access to key public services for everyone. - As a case study in GovTech, Finland's public service model is designed around life events rather than government structures, using a modular, API-driven architecture and a secure data exchange layer to provide proactive services to citizens automatically. - A 2025 study on Europe's GovTech ecosystem highlighted Portugal's strategy of using partnerships and consortia to accelerate the adoption of new technologies, while also noting the need for more stable funding after the initial pilot phases.
