Media and events

The European Parliament and the Council of the EU adopted the final text of the simplified AI Act, the so-called Digital Omnibus on AI, in June 2026. Rules for high-risk AI systems will apply from 2 December 2027 for stand-alone high-risk AI systems, and from 2 August 2028 for high-risk AI systems embedded in products. As background, AI systems used to evaluate the creditworthiness of natural persons are considered high-risk.

The General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) according to which Member States can grant aid directly to businesses is under review by the European Commission. The draft of a revised GBER includes amendments that appear useful for leasing, including confirmation that for the Regulation’s purposes loans include leases with or without transfer of ownership.

However, the GBER still contains some provisions with stricter requirements for leasing, which must take the form of financial leasing with transfer of ownership. Leaseurope’s main message is that new EU State aid rules should be focused on asset usage rather than legal ownership, in order to ensure equal treatment for all lease agreements. Moreover, Leaseurope calls for guidance specifically on the inclusion of leasing in state aid programmes which would take in account the specificities of leasing.

The debate on a potential EU Social Leasing scheme gains momentum as the S&D Group in the European Parliament proposes an ambitious initiative to support access to affordable zero-emission mobility for low-income households. The proposal aims to finance 10 million vehicles between 2027 and 2032 and explores different implementation models, including joint demand pooling and EU-level tenders.

During discussions, Leaseurope highlighted the importance of ensuring that any future scheme takes into account the existing regulatory framework for leasing activities and the key role of the second-hand market in supporting affordability, consumer choice, and the sustainable transition towards electric mobility. The Federation will continue engaging with policymakers by developing a practical framework for how social leasing could operate effectively at EU level.

The EU legislative reform of the securitisation framework has reached a key milestone, with the Council adopting its negotiating position in December 2025 and the European Parliament finalising its position in May 2026. Trilogue negotiations between the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission began in June 2026.

To deliver on the objective of simplification, the European Commission adopted Amended ESRS (sustainability reporting standards) with key new guidance for leasing, as Leaseurope called for. These changes should provide the EU leasing industry and its auditors with much-needed clarity. In general, lessees will report Scope 1 and 2 impacts of leased assets rather than lessors. There should also be no need for major data collection exercises by lessors to prepare Scope 3 (upstream and downstream) reporting if reasonable high-level averages can be used instead.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has finalised the methodology, reporting instructions and data collection templates for its report on the prudential treatment of leasing under CRR III (Article 495c). Developed following extensive technical engagement with Leaseurope, the final templates reflect the key points agreed during the consultation process and have been used for the one-off data collection exercise by participating credit institutions.

Following the submission of data to the National Competent Authorities (i.e. financial supervisory authorities and/or central banks) the exercise has now entered the data quality review phase. Leaseurope continues to support participating institutions by providing technical guidance and clarifying questions to help ensure the reported data accurately reflects the leasing business model. The EBA's report will form the basis for the European Commission's legislative proposal on the prudential treatment of leasing.