EU digital package promises €155B in savings with streamlined AI and data rules
The European Commission has unveiled a sweeping EU digital package aimed at cutting red tape, accelerating AI innovation, and making cross-border business easier through unified digital identities. The plan bundles new data governance, cybersecurity simplification and European Business Wallets designed to remove duplication and ease compliance for companies of all sizes.
For eeNews Europe readers, the move is likely to reshape how European tech firms develop, deploy and scale AI and digital services. The package puts standards and tools first, giving semiconductor, embedded, and cloud vendors a clearer regulatory path while significantly reducing compliance overhead.
This package matters because it directly affects product certification timelines, R&D spend, and go-to-market speed for AI-enabled systems and connected products.
Digital Omnibus: harmonizing AI, data and cybersecurity rules
The centrepiece — dubbed the “digital omnibus” — combines reforms across AI, cybersecurity reporting and data access. High-risk AI regulation will only apply after required support tools and standards are available, with implementation timelines capped at 16 months. SMEs and small mid-cap companies stand to benefit most, with simplified documentation expected to generate savings of €225 million annually.
The proposal also expands regulatory sandboxes, including an EU-wide sandbox planned for 2028, opening more real-world testing for sectors such as automotive and industrial automation. At the same time, the AI Office takes on stronger oversight powers, especially for general-purpose AI models, aiming to reduce regulatory fragmentation.
Cybersecurity incident reporting — which currently spans NIS2, GDPR, DORA and sector rules — will shift to a single reporting interface. GDPR itself sees targeted clarifications intended to streamline compliance without weakening privacy safeguards. The Commission also wants to modernize cookie consent, reducing banner fatigue and enabling one-click preference management.
Access to high-quality datasets is another core theme. The Commission will consolidate the Data Act into a single framework that merges four data regulations into one and adds model contractual terms and cloud contract clauses. Exemptions around cloud switching for SMEs and mid-caps could save another €1.5 billion in one-off costs.
Data Union Strategy and business wallets: scaling across 27 states
To fuel AI development, the new Data Union Strategy proposes expanded data access via labs and a legal helpdesk for navigating the Data Act. New safeguards aim to prevent leakage of sensitive European data and ensure fair international treatment.
Perhaps the most transformative element is the European Business Wallet — one secure digital identity for companies operating in any EU member state. Firms will be able to sign, store and exchange verified documents digitally, potentially unlocking up to €150 billion each year in reduced overhead and administrative processes.
Executives across the Commission framed the move as a competitiveness push. Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, said: “We have all the ingredients in the EU to succeed. We have talent, infrastructure, a large internal single market. But our companies, especially our start-ups and small businesses, are often held back by layers of rigid rules. By cutting red tape, simplifying EU laws, opening access to data and introducing a common European Business Wallet we are giving space for innovation to happen and to be marketed in Europe. This is being done in the European way: by making sure that fundamental rights of users remain fully protected.”
Legislative adoption now moves to Parliament and Council review, while a multi-year Digital Fitness Check runs through March 2026 to evaluate future simplification moves.
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