Simplification of the EU’s tech rulebook is crucial to making Europe competitive. The recent Digital Omnibus proposal is an important step toward improving legal clarity for innovators, reducing fragmentation, and supporting the competitiveness of businesses operating in the EU. At a time when companies face an increasingly complex and overlapping regulatory environment, this initiative signals a recognition of the need to streamline the EU digital acquis and provide greater certainty for innovation and investment across Europe.
The Digital Omnibus is central to achieving the EU’s long-term tech adoption and competitiveness objectives: Europe can’t be competitive without a thriving tech sector, nor can it credibly claim to be the “AI Continent” if training and deployment are prohibitively complex. It also strengthens digital sovereignty by boosting Europe’s global value proposition and resilience. Giving companies a practical framework to innovate and scale at home helps shield against dependency risks in today’s geopolitical context. Europe stands to benefit the most from an ambitious Omnibus. Passing it will serve as a stress test of policymakers’ commitment to delivering on Draghi’s competitiveness agenda. The Council and Parliament must now act swiftly to turn simplification into tangible economic strength.
A timely adoption of the proposals from co-legislators will be critical, especially for the AI omnibus. In particular, the Commission’s proposal to delay the entry into application of parts of the AI Act must be approved as soon as possible, since the relevant requirements will otherwise apply as of 2 August 2026. A smooth legislative process will send a strong, positive signal to businesses that the EU is committed to supporting legal certainty and innovation. Should it not be possible to adopt the AI omnibus on time, then the stop-the-clock for high-risk AI and AI transparency should be split from the proposal and fast-tracked.
The Commission’s proposed clarification to the GDPR is also a step in the right direction. While some adjustments are still needed, the Commission’s proposal offers a pragmatic approach on how personal data can be used to develop new technologies while safeguarding individual rights. This is not deregulation or a rollback of fundamental rights – it is a targeted effort to reconcile innovation and data protection so companies can develop and deploy innovative technologies within clear, compliant boundaries.
At the same time, policymakers must continue their efforts on the areas of data and cybersecurity, in particular. While the Data and Cyber Omnibus introduces positive elements, including the proposal for a Single Reporting Platform, it does not yet resolve a number of critical issues. These include concerns around implementation timelines of the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and the Data Act, overlapping compliance, documentation, and auditing obligations across cybersecurity frameworks, and persistent legal uncertainty and complexity created by the Data Act.
Balancing timelines and ambition will be fundamental for the success of the Omnibus proposals. Significant work is needed to fully assess and address the interaction and combined effects of EU legislative frameworks, leveraging the important role of Digital Fitness Checks in the process.
The Omnibus is only a first step: greater ambition will be needed as the legislative process progresses. We urge lawmakers to maintain strong momentum toward further simplification, alignment, and coherence across the digital regulatory landscape. Addressing these shortcomings will be essential to ensure that the package delivers meaningful simplification in practice.