On February 2nd, the European Patent Office published a preview of its 2026 Guidelines for Examination (the "EPC Guidelines"), which are due to come into effect on April 1st. Other previews have also been published: the Guidelines on Search and Examination at the European Patent Office as a PCT Authority (the "PCT-EPO Guidelines") and the Guidelines for the Unitary Patent (the "UP Guidelines").
The EPO is accepting feedback on these previews until April 3, 2026, and the feedback will be considered in the 2027 revision.
https://link.epo.org/web/legal/guidelines-epc/en-epc-guidelines-draft-2026.pdf
https://link.epo.org/web/legal/guidelines-pct/en-pct-epo-guidelines-draft-2026.pdf