By Supantha Mukherjee and Foo Yun Chee
STOCKHOLM/BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Europe is set to streamline its AI and privacy laws on Wednesday to simplify the EU’s tougher rules in a move critics say will appease Big Tech and U.S. President Donald Trump.
The European Commission’s plans include allowing tech firms to use personal data to train AI models based on legitimate interest without asking for consent, and delaying rules for high-risk AI systems by a year, a draft seen by Reuters shows.
EU antitrust chief Henna Virkkunen is due to present a ‘Digital Omnibus’ to cut red tape and overlapping laws such as the GDPR, the AI Act, the e-Privacy Directive and the Data Act.
Over the last decade, the European Union has introduced ambitious digital laws ranging from the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to the AI Act, which business groups say hamper innovation and leave European firms at a disadvantage.
Companies from Google owner Alphabet and Facebook owner Meta to Europe’s Siemens and SAP have all called for revision of the AI rules to make things easier for business.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has regularly criticised EU regulations and said it was targeting U.S. firms, charges which the Commission had rejected.
Tech lobby groups had also urged the EU to pause implementation of the AI Act, which entered into force last year with various provisions being phased in.
“The Commission needs to show it is serious about simplifying rules and fostering innovation, while safeguarding Europe’s legal heritage and landmark legislation,” Dessislava Savova, partner at law firm Clifford Chance, told Reuters.
“We don’t expect a regulatory revolution, but we do hope for meaningful, practical changes.”
SIMPLER, MORE PREDICTABLE RULES
Changes to the AI Act include exempting companies from registering their AI systems in an EU database for high-risk systems if these are only used for narrow or procedural tasks.
“The Commission appears to be aiming for simpler, more predictable rules that reduce friction for innovators while keeping core EU safeguards intact,” Ahmed Baladi, partner at law firm Gibson Dunn, told Reuters.
The proposals would need to be approved by EU countries and privacy-focused members of the European Parliament before they can be implemented.
Lawmaker Brando Benifei, who led negotiations on AI rules, said on Tuesday that the European Parliament must continue defending European citizens’ digital rights.
BIGGEST ROLLBACK OF DIGITAL RIGHTS IN EU HISTORY
Privacy activists such as Noyb and civil rights groups see the amendments as a dilution of EU regulations.
An open letter from a group of 127 civil organisations called the proposals “the biggest rollback of digital fundamental rights in EU history”.
And on Wednesday, a group of campaigners deployed four mobile billboards around Brussels, alongside hundreds of posters across the city, urging Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to stand up to Big Tech and the U.S. President.
“It is disappointing to see the European Commission cave under the pressure of the Trump administration and Big Tech lobbies,” Dutch MEP Kim van Sparrentak said in a statement.
(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm and Foo Yun Chee in Brussels; Editing by Alexander Smith)
