EU Insight 31 October 2025

The Dutch general election’s results show a close outcome, with Rob Jetten’s centrist-liberal D66 set to narrowly outpace Geert Wilders’ far-right Party for Freedom (PVV). Both are projected to win 26 seats, but with D66 just ahead. Wilders campaigned primarily on anti-immigration and eurosceptic themes, while Jetten focused on progressive reforms and broader European cooperation. Coalition talks will be complicated, as neither party is near a majority, and D66 will need to look for partners among both centre-right and centre-left blocs. With most parties ruling out coalition with PVV, D66 is expected to lead government formation efforts. The official results will be confirmed next week following the final count.

The Commission has preliminary found TikTok and Meta in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA). More than a year and a half after opening formal proceedings, both companies have been found in violation of transparency obligations, not granting researchers sufficient access to public data. Meta is also considered faulty in mechanisms to flag illegal content and to contest content moderation decisions on Instagram and Facebook. Both companies can now review findings and might implement measures to address the breaches. At the same time, investigations will continue, possibly resulting in fines and periodic penalty payments, until the platforms are in compliance with EU law.

With the overarching goal of unlocking more private capital for Europe’s long-term growth objectives, the Commission has published two measures as part of its Savings and Investments Union strategy. Notably, amendments to the secondary legislation under Solvency II, the main framework regulating the insurance sector, will aim to boost insurers’ ability to invest by facilitating long-term equity investments, while also reducing compliance burdens and encouraging securitisation. On the banking side, the Commission has released some guidance clarifying how banks can benefit from more favourable capital treatment when investing through publicly backed investment schemes. As such, the Commission hopes it will help channel funds into strategic EU priorities such as innovation, competitiveness, security and defence.

As part of the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, the Commission has brought together leading private investors from across Europe, including partners from Denmark, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland, alongside the European Investment Bank, to jointly announce their commitment for the multi-billion Scaleup Europe Fund. This new growth fund is designed to back Europe’s top emerging companies in strategic deep tech sectors, such as AI, quantum, and biotech, with the intent to strengthen tech leadership and bridge the funding gap identified in the Draghi report. The fund will be privately managed, with investments expected to begin in spring 2026 following the selection of a dedicated management company.

The upgraded EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area has entered into force this week, with the aim to modernise trade relations and progressively integrate Ukraine into the EU’s Single Market. The original trade agreement, signed in 2014, removed tariffs on industrial goods, but retained some safeguards for agricultural products. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU granted Ukraine a high level of unilateral trade liberalisation by removing all tariffs and quotas on its agricultural exports, leading to political tension in several EU Member States. The modernised agreement reintroduced certain safeguards to protect sensitive EU sectors, notably agriculture, and new conditions to align production standards, related to animal welfare and pesticides.