EC adopts Digital Omnibus Package and launches consultation

The European Commission (EC) has adopted its Digital Omnibus Package with a set of proposals which seek to simplify rules on AI, data and cybersecurity. This forms part of the EC's broader digital initiative to help EU businesses innovate, scale and save on administrative costs. At the core of the package is the proposal for a regulation on simplification of the digital legislation which introduces technical amendments to a large range of digital laws.

Key measures include:

• AI – providing clarifications and practical measures to ensure smooth application of AI rules, including provisions for regulatory sandboxes and SME-friendly compliance pathways. Further targeted amendments to the EU AI Act are made through a separate legal proposal within the package.
• Cybersecurity – establishing a single-entry reporting mechanism that consolidates mandatory obligations under, among others, the NIS2 Directive, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). In a second stage, sector-specific rules in areas such as energy and aviation will also be integrated into this single-entry point.
• GDPR – introducing targeted amendments to harmonise, clarify and simplify certain rules, and modernising cookie provisions to improve the online user experience.
• Data access – consolidating all data-related rules through the Data Act, introducing targeted exemptions to some cloud-switching requirements for SMEs and SMCs and offering new compliance guidance with the Data Act.
• European wallets – establishing digital wallets to provide European companies and public sector bodies with a unified digital tool to digitalise operations and interactions that currently require in-person processes. Businesses will be able to digitally sign, timestamp and seal documents; securely create, store and exchange verified documents; and communicate securely with other businesses or public administrations across all 27 Member States. This is set out in a separate legal proposal as part of the package.

The Digital Omnibus Package is accompanied by the Data Union Strategy which outlines additional measures focusing on three priorities: (i) scaling up access to data for AI; (ii) streamlining data rules; and (iii) safeguarding the EU's data sovereignty to strengthen its global position on international data flows. The legislative proposals will now be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council of EU for adoption. This package represents the first step in the EC's strategy to simplify and make more effective the EU's digital rulebook. Further, the EC also launched the second step of the simplification agenda, with a consultation on the Digital Fitness Check. The Digital Fitness Check will "stress test" how the rulebook delivers on its competitiveness objective and examine the coherence and cumulative impact of the EU's digital rules. The deadline for comments is 11 March 2026.

Return to main website.