Over the past few days, the following topics attracted our attention:
EU Commission Moves Ahead with Social Media Ban
UK Plans Mileage Tax on Electric Cars
UK Ministers Backtrack on Costly Net Zero Aviation Fuel Mandates
EU Commission Moves Ahead with Social Media Ban
The European Commission has decided to temporarily suspend procedures for social media age-restriction laws in EU Member States. However, this is not due to concerns about privacy or freedom of expression, but because it wishes to introduce an EU-wide age-verification regulation, the EU Kids Act, according to Reclaim The Net.
EU Member States must coordinate with the Commission on laws that may affect the single market. The Commission can postpone a Member State’s legislation by one year and has now done so for Austria’s draft bill banning social media for under-14s. The same applied to the draft from Belgium’s Flemish Region.
The Commission justifies the decision by seeking a more comprehensive Union-wide solution. Spokesperson Thomas Regnier said the Commission rejects fragmenting the single market. Otherwise, there would be different age limits and different rules, and it would be almost impossible to enforce them - including platforms - and ultimately there would be no protection at all. Regnier said the goal is to introduce a Kids Act applying in all Member States, with a phased social media ban that “harmonises the rules to ensure that all children across the EU receive equal levels of protection.” In conclusion, Regnier confirmed that the Commission has therefore decided to postpone by 12 months all national draft legislation on social media bans that overlap with the future “harmonised” rules.
Under the EU Kids’ Act, for which the public consultation is open until 3 December, platforms must verify every user’s age with a Member State-accepted solution, including the EU Digital ID or the EU age verification app. Once in force, platforms have six months to check existing users and block those under 15. Accounts whose age cannot be determined must also be suspended, likely affecting many anonymous and pseudonymous ones. The rules also cover app stores, operating systems, video platforms, online games and AI services deemed a threat to minors’ privacy or safety. Adults who do not verify their age will have to make do with the children’s version.
Most Member States were already planning bans on minors before the first Kids Act draft. For this reason the Commission did not block Greece’s under-15 ban, which passed in October and takes effect in January 2027. France also avoided delay and passed its law in July, but the Constitutional Council blocked it. This has not, however, set France back, as an amended version is currently being drafted.
For the remaining countries the Commission is expected to apply the one-year delay. A spokesperson declined to name which states might receive an exemption. National officials have already criticised the move. Austria’s Deputy Minister Alexander Pröll called the decision unacceptable, saying Brussels is stopping Member States from legislating. Denmark’s Digital Affairs Minister Christina Egelund expressed disappointment yet plans to seek permission to proceed. Poland intends to push ahead with an under-15 ban despite the Commission’s decision, seeking government approval in the first quarter of 2027.
The implications of the Commission’s decision will also become apparent later, for example in Germany, where the government approved principles for an under-13 ban in October. Similarly, in Slovakia, which approved an under-16 ban in August, and in Portugal, which announced an under-15 ban plan in September. The same applies to Cyprus, which approved an under-15 action plan in September, and to Italy, where the Senate is currently debating a draft bill.
The Commission hopes the EU Kids Act will enter into force in 2028, as negotiations in the European Parliament and among Member States still lie ahead.
UK Plans Mileage Tax on Electric Cars
The UK government has presented a budget proposal which introduces a new mileage-based tax on electric cars and plug-in hybrids. The proposal also includes the possibility of using connectivity features available in newer cars, such as internet connections, to administer the tax. According to the authorities, this would enable transport officials to collect mileage data digitally, calculate the tax and make tax collection easier. Critics, however, believe there are grounds for concern over privacy and describe the plan as a ‘Big Brother’ surveillance scheme, reports the Daily Mail.
The mileage tax, or eVED (Electric Vehicle Excise Duty), was announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves in the Autumn Budget 2025 and is due to come into force in April 2028. The proposed tax is 1.5 pence (approximately 1.8 euro cents) per mile (1.6 km) for plug-in hybrid cars and 3 pence (approximately 3.5 euro cents) per mile for fully electric cars. Hydrogen-powered cars will also be subject to the higher rate. Under the plan, the tax rate is set to rise annually from April 2029 in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). For example, a driver of an electric car travelling 10,000 miles (approximately 16,100 km) per year would face an additional cost of around £300.
According to the Treasury, no new devices need to be fitted to cars to record mileage data, but it has not disclosed exactly how the system will actually work. Under the standard system, drivers will provide an odometer reading and estimate their mileage for the coming tax period. However, the government is also developing an optional system that could use connectivity features already built into newer electric and plug-in hybrid cars. This would enable the Road Administration to calculate the mileage tax based on the exact number of miles travelled.
In any case, ministers have so far merely stated that drivers must submit mileage data at the end of each year to calculate the eVED tax. The government has said that participation in the connected-car system will be voluntary. However, this does not mean that the mileage tax itself is voluntary: drivers of vehicles covered by the scheme will have to pay it. In any case, the government’s plan to introduce a new mileage tax for electric and hybrid cars is significant, as there are fears that revenue from fuel duty on fossil fuels will decline as people switch away from fossil-fuelled vehicles.
Critics, however, believe the system could be abused and see it as the first step towards eventually monitoring the mileage of all cars. According to a spokesperson for the Tories, the government has previously ruled out the possibility of monitoring mileage, as people’s locations and journey data could be shared or leaked. The development of an optional connected-car system has now revived these concerns. The spokesperson also argued that the authorities are constantly looking for new ways to tax motorists even more.
According to Josie Appleton, director of the Campaign for Freedom in Everyday Life, the mileage tax is a mere pretext for monitoring electric car drivers. Although automatic data transmission may be convenient, she argues that such a system could also be used in other circumstances or for different purposes, including in the name of environmental goals.
Howard Cox, founder of FairFuelUK, an organisation campaigning for lower road taxes, said: “This reeks of Big Brother Britain.” He noted that although the connected-car scheme is currently intended to be voluntary, there is no way of knowing what information might be sought in the future. “Where you drive, where you visit, and what you do in your private life. Our cars, our journeys, and our freedom to travel anywhere, any way, are ours, not Westminster’s,” Cox said, arguing that we must not allow ourselves to be turned into a digitally monitored cash cow for the state.
UK Ministers Backtrack on Costly Net Zero Aviation Fuel Mandates
The UK government is preparing to make concessions to airlines and relax the quotas for so-called sustainable or synthetic aviation fuel, following industry warnings that the rules risk driving up costs for passengers without delivering the promised emissions cuts, reports The Telegraph.
The latest aviation fuel regulations relating to synthetic fuel come into force on 1 January and are aimed at reducing aircraft emissions. The regulations require airlines to use a new synthetic fuel known as e-SAF (electro-sustainable aviation fuel, also called power-to-liquid or PtL fuel). By 2030, at least 0.5 per cent of a company’s total fuel consumption must consist of this fuel, and at least 10 per cent of SAF in total. This is the world’s strictest requirement, and failure to comply will result in a hefty fine for the airline.
At the same time, so-called sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which can be produced from waste oils, used cooking oil and animal fats, remains difficult to source in the quantities required. Global production is still extremely limited, accounting for less than 1 per cent of total aviation fuel consumption. The problem is particularly acute for synthetic e-SAF: as of 2026, only one commercial-scale e-SAF production facility was operational worldwide. SAF is also significantly more expensive than conventional jet fuel, with prices ranging from two to five times higher in some markets.
Moreover, government-imposed fuel mandates and other regulatory requirements designed to achieve net-zero targets have added to the cost of aviation fuel. There is little evidence of a substantial near-term reduction in the price premium. In both the EU and the UK, mandates requiring a 2 per cent SAF share came into force in 2025. Airlines have faced higher fuel costs as a result, and some airlines have already begun adding fare surcharges.