Simpler EU digital rules and new digital wallets to save billions for businesses and boost innovation

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Europe’s businesses, from factories to start-ups, will spend less time on administrative work and compliance and more time innovating and scaling-up, thanks to the European Commission’s new digital package. This initiative opens opportunities for European companies to grow and to stay at the forefront of technology while at the same time promoting Europe’s highest standards of fundamental rights, data protection, safety and fairness.

At its core, the package includes a digital omnibusthat streamlines rules on artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity and data, complemented by a Data Union Strategy to unlock high-quality data for AI and European Business Wallets that will offercompanies a single digital identity to simplify paperwork and make it much easier to do business across EU Member States.

The package aims to ease compliance with simplification efforts estimated to save up to €5 billion in administrative costs by 2029. Additionally, the European Business Wallets could unlock another €150 billion in savings for businesses each year.  

1. Digital Omnibus

With today’s digital omnibus, the Commission is proposing to simplify existing rules on Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, and data.

Innovation-friendly AI rules: Efficient implementation of the AI Act will have a positive impact on society, safety and fundamental rights. Guidance and support are essential for the roll-out of any new law, and this is no different for the AI Act.

The Commission proposes linking the entry into application of the rules governing high-risk AI systems to the availability of support tools, including the necessary standards.

The timeline for applying high-risk rules is adjusted to a maximum of 16 months, so the rules start applying once the Commission confirms the needed standards and support tools are available, giving companies support tools they need.

The Commission is also proposing targeted amendments to the AI Act that will:

• Extend certain simplifications that are granted to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small mid cap companies (SMCs), including simplified technical documentation requirements, saving at least €225 million per year;
• Broaden compliance measures so more innovators can use regulatory soundboxes, including an EU-level sandbox from 2028 and more real-world testing, especially in core industries like the automotive;
• Reinforce the AI Office’s powers and centralise oversight of AI systems built on general-purpose AI models, reducing governance fragmentation.

Simplifying cybersecurity reporting: The omnibus also introduces a single-entry point where companies can meet all incident-reporting obligations. Currently, companies must report cybersecurity incidents under several laws, including among others the NIS2 Directive, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). The interface will be developed with robust security safeguards and will undergo comprehensive testing to ensure its reliability and effectiveness.

An innovation-friendly privacy framework: Targeted amendments to the GDPR will harmonise, clarify and simplify certain rules to boost innovation and support compliance by organisations, while keeping intact the core of the GDPR, maintaining the highest level of personal data protection.

Modernising cookie rules to improve users’ experience online: The amendments will reduce the number of times cookie banners pop up and allow users to indicate their consent with one-click and save their cookie preferences through central settings of preferences in browsers and operating system.

Improving access to data: Today’s digital package aims to improve access to data as a key driver of innovation. It simplifies data rules and makes them practical for consumers and businesses by:

• Consolidating EU data rules through the Data Act, merging four pieces of legislation into one for enhanced legal clarity;
• Introducing targeted exemptions to some of the Data Act’s cloud-switching rules for SMEs and SMCs resulting in around €1.5 billion in one-off savings;
• Offering new guidance on compliance with the Data Act through model contractual terms for data access and use, and standard contractual clauses for cloud computing contracts;
• Boosting European AI companies by unlocking access to high-quality and fresh datasets for AI, strengthening the overall innovation potential of businesses across the EU.

2. Data Union Strategy

The new Data Union Strategy outlines additional measures to unlock more high-quality data for AI by expanding access, such as data labs. It puts in place a Data Act Legal Helpdesk, complementing further measures to support implementation of the Data Act. It also strengthens Europe’s data sovereignty through a strategic approach to international data policy: anti-leakage toolbox, measures to protect sensitive non-personal data and guidelines to assess fair treatment of EU data abroad.

3. European Business Wallet

This proposal will provide European companies and public sector bodies with a unified digital tool, enabling them to digitalise operations and interactions that in many cases currently still need to be done in person. 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 in their own and the other 26 Member States.

Scaling up a business in other Member States, paying taxes and communicating with public authorities will be easier than ever before in the EU. Assuming broad uptake, the European Business Wallets will allow European companies to reduce administrative processes and costs, thereby unlock up to €150 billion in savings for businesses each year.

Next Steps

The digital omnibus legislative proposals will now be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council for adoption. Today’s proposals are a first step in the Commission’s strategy to simplify and make more effective the EU’s digital rulebook.

The Commission has today also launched the second step of the simplification agenda, with a wide consultation on the Digital Fitness Check open until 11 March 2026. The 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.

Background

The Digital package marks the seventh omnibus proposal. The Commission set a course to simplify EU rules to make the EU economy more competitive and more prosperous by making business in the EU simpler, less costly and more efficient. The Commission has a clear target to deliver an unprecedented simplification effort by achieving at least 25% reduction in administrative burdens, and at least 35% for SMEs until the end of 2029.