The European Commission’s Digital Omnibus aligns a series of almost vital measures for European digital law. But behind the narrative of efficiency and competitiveness, Brussels is relaunching en bloc texts that have just been consecrated as « historic », at the risk of installing a legislative method that raises questions. The European Commission today unveiled its long-awaited « digital omnibus », the first salvo in a major project to bring European digital law up to speed. The exercise is intended to be technical, but touches on weighty texts – GDPR, ePrivacy, NIS2, Data Act, AI Act, « platform to business » regulation. The European executive, which must now convince the European Parliament and the EU Council, is moving forward with a dual objective: to lighten the administrative burden and clarify a pile of rules, while ensuring that the objectives and level of protection of fundamental rights remain unchanged. Suffice to say that this is a perilous exercise, and one that already promises to be fraught with pitfalls, if we are to believe the already numerous criticisms of the project, leaked as early as last week. Forexample, the highly consensual and respectable Bruegel Institute has already announced the color, believing that « the proposed changes to the European AI and data protection framework compromise fundamental rights to protection without improving European digital competitiveness. » « User fatigue with banners » One of the most…
