What's ahead 2026 – Technology industry in the EU and UK?
What's ahead 2026 – Technology industry in the EU and UK
In 2026, businesses in the technology sector face a rapidly evolving landscape in the EU and UK. Global disruption and regulatory divergence, unprecedented investment in infrastructure fuelled by AI, heightened merger scrutiny and a surge in private legal actions are shaping a complex environment where innovation, compliance and risk management must be carefully balanced.
To help you stay on top of the key developments, our multi-disciplinary team has created a snapshot of significant emerging themes, incoming reforms, and cases to watch this year. We cover critical areas including: AI, privacy, data, cybersecurity, online safety, consumer protection, ex ante regulation, competition law, foreign investment and competition litigation.
Download the PDF for our analysis of key themes, including:
- Continuing intensive regulatory reform: between the Digital Markets Act, Digital Services Act, AI Act, Data Act, Data Governance Act, Network and Information Systems 2 Directive, Digital Operational Resilience Act in the EU and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, Online Safety Act and Data (Use and Access) Act in the UK, the regulatory landscape in the EU and UK is continually evolving. In addition, the European Commission has acknowledged the need for a more simplified digital regulatory framework to avoid the unintended consequences identified in the Draghi report. It continues to consult on its Digital Omnibus Package unveiled in November last year.
- More aggressive enforcement and higher penalties: by the European Commission, EU Member States' national competition authorities and the UK Competition and Markets Authority. Armed with greater resources, expertise and enforcement powers, we are seeing more investigations, pursuit of novel theories of harm, intrusive remedies and substantial penalties.
- More private action: recent years have seen a significant increase in private proceedings, including class actions, alleging breaches of competition, consumer and privacy laws.
- Greater coordination between domestic and international regulators: the increasing intersection of competition, consumer protection, privacy, online safety and data issues is driving greater cooperation between regulators worldwide.
- Intensified scrutiny of AI including algorithms, automated decision making and generative AI: with the EU AI Act being the first legal framework for AI in the world and regulators across Europe providing guidance on how they will assess the compatibility of AI systems with competition and consumer law.
Other authors: Anna Morfey, Partner; Gabriele Accardo, Partner; Christopher Eberhardt, Partner; Nicolas Quoy, Partner; Alexander Duisberg, Partner; Rhiannon Webster, Partner; Sarah-Jane Dobson, Partner; Max Strasberg, Senior Associate; Emile Abdul-Wahab, Senior Associate; India Case, Senior Associate; Isabella Hunt, Associate; Harriet Martin, Associate; Miran Bahra, Associate; Aanya Verma, Solicitor Apprentice.
Want to know more?
- What's Ahead 2026 ‒ Technology industry in Australia, 6 March 2026.
AI
- The EU’s Digital Omnibus Proposals - What you Need to Know Now, 21 November 2025.
- Free agent? Not quite... new UK guidance on agentic AI for businesses, 13 March 2026.
Data & privacy
- Data Bytes 63: Your UK and European Data Privacy update for November, December 2025 and January 2026, 12 February 2026.
- Podcast – Ashurst Data Bytes 6: The ICO's new investigatory remit under the UK Data (Use and Access) Act, 7 October 2025.
Consumer law
- UK consumer law compliance guide - pricing practices, 25 February 2026.
- Liftoff for the CMA's direct consumer enforcement powers, 20 November 2025.
Competition law
- CAT issues new Practice Direction on expert evidence, 8 December 2025.
- Podcast – CMA investigations underway in UK digital markets shake-up, 2 April 2025.
- Lights on: ECJ's Illumina sheds light on future oversight of killer acquisitions in the EU, 23 September 2024.
- DMCC Act: New digital regime for the UK, 20 August 2024.
- Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 – Support and resources hub.
- Foreign direct investment – Support and resources hub.
