Digital omnibus package set to further amplify Big Tech’s dominance in Europe
Today the European Commission announced its Digital Omnibus package, re-opening the GDPR, ePrivacy rules and the AI Act under a banner of “simplification” and “competitiveness”.
Despite this claims, it is clear that it is major rollback of the EU's digital rights. The package would:
Open the door to using people’s data to train AI on the basis of “legitimate interest”, rather than clear consent.
Weaken core privacy and device protections, making tracking and profiling easier.
Delay key safeguards for high-risk AI systems until 2027.
This is not a technical clean-up but a rolling back of protections in an era when so many problems stem from the power of digital platforms over our lives. It panders to Big Tech and US lobbying, undermines the core protections that made the GDPR a global benchmark and further erodes the EU’s credibility and leadership on digital rights.
Masquerading as simplification, the European Commission has not followed its own better regulation principles that require proper independent scrutiny of regulatory reform, even where deregulatory, to determine whether the proposed changes reduce costs without compromising the underlying policy objectives. This is not simplification but overturning fundamental rights that will only benefit one side of the market, notably the Big Tech firms that already dominate the EU market.
The proposals will not strengthen EU competitiveness or innovation, instead they will sacrifice fundamental rights, data protection and democratic control over digital platforms. The EU needs to ensure the existing rules are enforced, not weakened.
