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The UK government has signed into law a ban on the supply and sale of wet wipes containing plastic in England, with an 18-month transition and the ban due to take effect in Spring 2027. The move responds to evidence that wet wipes cause 94% of sewer blockages (costing around £200 million annually) and that an average of 20 wet wipes were found per 100m of beach surveyed across the UK.

The UK government is awarding more than £54 million across eight R&D projects through the Sustainable Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Programme, backed by over £20 million from industry (part of a >£74m package) to advance sustainable medicines manufacturing, AI/robotics, anaesthetic gas recycling and novel medical radionuclide uses. Additional measures include the British Business Bank’s €30m commitment to Sofinnova Capital XI and Barts Health NHS Trust’s plans to attract ~£800m for the Barts Life Sciences Cluster.

ECB Banking Supervision published supervisory priorities for 2026-28 focusing on (1) banks’ resilience to geopolitical and macro-financial risks and (2) operational resilience and ICT capabilities, including monitoring of AI and generative AI. The programme includes thematic reviews, targeted OSIs, a 2026 thematic stress test, implementation follow-up for CRR III/CRD VI (in force 1 Jan 2025) and the DORA oversight launch in January 2026.