Ana Filipa Ribeiro (master’s student in European Union Law at the School of Law of University of Minho and ENDE Research Grant Holder – ref. UMINHO/BIM/2026/33) and Renan Bendel Vaughan (master’s student in European Union Law at the School of Law of University of Minho and ENDE Research Grant Holder – ref. UMINHO/BIM/2026/40)

Setting the scene: a small model in a large problem

On 1 July 2026, the Portuguese Government presented AMALIA,^[1] the first open large language model (LLM) developed in European Portuguese, developed by a consortium of national universities and research institutions with an investment of 5.5 million euros funded under the Recovery and Resilience Plan.^[2] The Minister of State and Administrative Reform framed the launch as a deliberate choice for digital sovereignty and the country’s technological autonomy.^[3]

The moment is politically charged. On 3 June 2026, the European Commission adopted its Communication on European Tech Sovereignty, acknowledging that the European Union (EU) remains structurally dependent on external suppliers for more than 80% of its products, services, infrastructures, and intellectual property in the digital domain.^[4] On 7 July 2026, the Action Plan on Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence acknowledged, more explicitly, that “frontier capabilities are mainly developed outside of the EU, and their availability is often determined by non-transparent, foreign-led processes”.^[5]

The strategic salience of this moment is not contained within the Union’s normative framework. The NATO summit held in Ankara on 7 and 8 July 2026, although its official programme scarcely mentioned the issue, was shaped by access to frontier artificial intelligence (AI) models as an unofficial undercurrent of the discussions: the United States controls access to the most advanced AI capabilities and determines unilaterally which allies may obtain them, leaving European allies dependent on technology they do not govern and whose availability may be curtailed by an external political decision.^[6]

Ana Cardoso (PhD candidate & Master’s in European Union Law at the School of Law of University of Minho. FCT research scholarship holder – 2025.06747.BD.) and Gonçalo Martins de Matos (PhD candidate & Master’s in Judiciary Law at the School of Law of the University of Minho)

In March 2026, the Portuguese Parliament started a rollback of the protection of trans and intersex persons in the country, by repealing Law no. 38/2018 of the 7^th of August,[1] and introducing several bills that – if approved – will mean a major regression on LGBTIQA+[2] people’s rights.[3] As we come out of Pride Month, we must ask if Portugal’s recent position is compatible with the foundational values of the EU and recent developments of the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”).

The potential rollback of rights being discussed in Portugal is not dissimilar from the Hungarian legislation that targeted LGBTIQA+ rights and which gave rise to the recently delivered Judgment C-769/22 Commission v. Hungary.[4] Following an infringement procedure filed against Hungary, the CJEU was called upon to rule on the conformity of that legislation with the fundamental values of the EU. Beyond the issues relating to the specific EU law provisions applicable, the main question underlying this infringement procedure was the consideration of a breach of Article 2 TEU as a self-standing ground for finding an infringement of EU law, i.e. granting justiciability to Article 2.[5] 

The CJEU found that the values set out in Article 2 TEU “lay down legally binding horizontal obligations within the Union and define the very identity of the Union as a common legal order”,[6] which is why, considering the principle of mutual trust, no Member State is to exercise its powers in a way that would go against those values. These were accepted on a reciprocal basis by the Member States, have freely and voluntarily been subscribed, and mean an obligation of respect and promotion.[7] In that sense, the CJEU ruled that “Such stigmatisation and marginalisation, which is tantamount to establishing, maintaining or reinforcing the social ‘invisibility’ of some members of society, runs counter to the values of respect for human dignity, equality, and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities, as referred to in Article 2 TEU”.[8]

Vitória Menezes Sanhudo (master’s student in European Union Law at the School of Law of the University of Minho)

Over the last decade, the regulatory environment for corporate sustainability in the European Union (EU) has been increasingly reflecting a mindset shift regarding the concept of corporation. The analysis presented here is based on that premise. Despite recent legislative changes resulting from the Omnibus Package, it still seems reasonable to assume that the paradigm of corporate environmental (and social) responsibility in the EU has changed from a shareholder centred approach to a stakeholder-centred and sustainability-oriented approach.

We aim to analyse the ongoing transformation of corporate governance in the EU and the path that appears to be taking shape for the future, while remaining fully aware – against the backdrop of this central issue –, of the changes resulting from the Omnibus Package, which have simplified certain reporting and due diligence obligations regarding sustainability in response to criticism of growing regulatory complexity, mainly deriving from corporations’ limited administrative capacity. The objective is to determine whether the growing integration of sustainability into EU law merely represents increased regulatory density regarding the sustainability of the traditional corporate model or if it signals a structural transformation of the very concept of the commercial corporation towards a model in which sustainability, and perhaps purpose-driven models, assume primacy.

The traditional corporate model

The for-profit business corporation has evolved over time in both its legal and social conception. Nevertheless, during a period that may be broadly defined as extending from the late 1990s and early 2000s until 2014 (with reference to the European legislation to be analysed below), a broad consensus emerged regarding the primacy of the shareholder-oriented model. However, although this deference to shareholders’ interests is not presented as a unilateralist point of view –  detached from the reality in which it operates and solely focused on the goal of generating profit –, it ultimately has that effect. In other words, even if, under any legal system, a business corporation is never viewed as a self-contained entity that exists in complete abstraction from its impacts on society, consideration of its effects on the outside world and on the community is ultimately neglected in the practical conduct of its business activities, causing evident harm.[1]