The bloc has proposed delaying strict rules for “high-risk” AI until 2027 to address concerns about slowing innovation.
Published November 20, 2025
The European Union is moving to roll back comprehensive rules governing artificial intelligence and data privacy in a bid to boost lagging innovation in the region.
The European Commission’s announcement on Wednesday of what it called a “digital omnibus” marked the culmination of a showdown between red tape-plagued technology companies and privacy advocates who fear they could violate digital rights.
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Under the proposed reforms, the bloc would delay the introduction of stricter risk management and monitoring rules for “high-risk” AI until 2027, and allow technology companies to use anonymized personal data to train AI models.
The reforms, which amend the AI Act and several other privacy and technology-related laws, will also reduce pop-ups on websites asking for permission to use cookies and reduce documentation requirements for small businesses.
EU technical chief Hena Virkunen said the changes, which must be approved by representatives of the EU’s 27 member states, will improve Europe’s competitiveness by simplifying rules on AI, cybersecurity and data protection.
“We have the talent, the infrastructure and a large single market in-house. But our companies, especially start-ups and small businesses, are often held back by layers of strict rules,” Virkunen said.
Lobbying groups for US tech giants, which have been vocal critics of Europe’s regulatory approach under President Donald Trump’s administration, welcomed the move but lamented that it did not go far enough.
“Unfortunately, Omnibus misses an important opportunity to raise outdated computing thresholds for identifying AI models that pose a ‘systemic risk’ and fails to fix problematic extraterritoriality language in copyright clauses that is inconsistent with EU and international principles,” said the Computer and Communications Industry Association, whose members include Google, Apple and Meta.
Privacy rights groups, meanwhile, denounced the reforms as a capitulation to Big Tech.
“This is the biggest attack on digital rights in Europe in years,” said Max Schrems, founder of the Vienna-based copyright group NOYB (European Center for Digital Rights).
“It is patently false that the commission says it ‘maintains the highest standards.’ The commission is proposing to undermine those standards.”
Gianclaudio Malgieri, associate professor of law and technology at Leiden University in the Netherlands, said the proposal marks a shift away from the rights-based approach to technology regulation that has distinguished Europe and the United States.
“If adopted as is, these reforms risk moving the EU model closer to a more permissive, industry-led approach to AI and data use, just at the moment when the world is watching whether Europe can offer a real alternative,” Margieri told Al Jazeera.
