Technology & Science
EU Unveils ‘Digital Omnibus’ to Delay High-Risk AI Rules and Trim GDPR Cookie Pop-Ups
On 20 Nov 2025 the European Commission proposed a “Digital Omnibus” that pushes enforcement of high-risk AI obligations back 16 months, lets firms tap anonymised EU data for model training, and folds GDPR cookie consent into a one-click browser setting.
Focusing Facts
- High-risk AI compliance deadline shifted from 1 Aug 2026 to 31 Dec 2027 in the draft amendments.
- Draft creates a new “legitimate interest” basis that lets companies process anonymised or pseudonymised personal data—including biometrics—for AI training without individual consent.
- Commission claims the streamlining could save businesses up to €5 billion in administrative costs by 2029.
Context
Europe’s regulatory pendulum is swinging again: just seven years after GDPR (2018) set a global benchmark for data protection—much like the 1995 Data-Protection Directive did in the dial-up era—the bloc is now emulating its 1985 Single European Act moment, when rules were pared back to spur competitiveness against the U.S. and Japan. The Omnibus reflects structural pressures: chronic under-investment in European deep-tech, a widening AI-patent gap with the U.S./China, and louder national calls (notably France & Germany) for growth-first policy. Historically, loosening guardrails to catch up technologically (e.g., the 1973 Basel deregulation that chased petro-dollar finance) has produced mixed results—sometimes catalysing innovation, sometimes eroding public trust that later demands even harsher correction. On a century scale, this pivot matters because it tests whether Europe can reconcile its rights-based legal tradition with the dynamics of a general-purpose technology like AI; the outcome could set the tone for the next cycle of global digital governance or, if it backfires, trigger the same kind of regulatory recoil that followed the 2008 financial crisis.
Perspectives
Business and technology trade publications
e.g., CIO, SiliconANGLE — Frame the Digital Omnibus as a necessary streamlining that will slash compliance costs and help European companies stay competitive in the global AI race. Heavily quote EU officials and industry lobbyists, so the privacy-rights backlash is played down and the narrative echoes Big Tech’s interest in weaker oversight.
Civil-liberties and rights-focused outlets
e.g., Al Jazeera, The Hindu — Warn that the Commission’s proposals amount to the biggest rollback of EU digital rights in years, shifting Europe toward a permissive, industry-driven model. Rely on activist language and worst-case scenarios, potentially overstating the threat while giving limited space to the economic arguments behind the reforms.