After more than a decade of aggressively regulating the technology sector, the European Union is rethinking its stance. In a significant change, authorities in Brussels are moving to reduce and simplify historic rules related to artificial intelligence and data privacy.
Driven by growing concern that overregulation is stifling economic growth, officials and business leaders in the bloc’s 27 countries are questioning whether Europe’s digital framework has gone too far and left companies lagging behind the United States and China. The Trump administration has also criticized European regulations.
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Europe has long been seen as Big Tech’s most formidable watchdog. Authorities in Brussels have already imposed billions of dollars in fines and demanded changes in practices from Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta for antitrust violations, data abuses and the uncontrolled dissemination of illicit content.
Lawmakers have passed laws to stop the biggest tech companies from stifling smaller competitors and to force social networks to combat misinformation and harmful material.
These actions contrasted with the more permissive approach of the United States and served as a regulatory model for governments from Latin America to Asia. Any pullback by Europe could ease pressure on the biggest technology companies and signal the start of a more moderate era of oversight in the digital economy.
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“Regulation cannot be the EU’s best export,” said Aura Salla, member of the European Parliament for Finland. Salla, who previously worked as a lobbyist for Meta, stated that companies face a “jungle” of overlapping and sometimes contradictory rules, which delays product development and pushes business to other regions.
The digital simplification package is part of a broader deregulation initiative this year promoted by Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. It follows the departure of officials such as his former vice president Margrethe Vestager, who led much of the technology offensive over the past 10 years.
Proposals for change — the subject of intense lobbying from Silicon Valley and other sectors — are relatively limited. But they reflect the growing realization in Brussels that adjustments are necessary to regain European competitiveness.
Criticism from the Trump administration that the bloc’s rules unfairly harm American companies has added urgency.
The changes could take months to come into effect, as they require approval from the European Parliament and a substantial majority of European Union countries.
Most of the proposed changes aim to stimulate the development of AI on the continent. Potential changes to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) would make it easier for companies to use data — including sensitive personal information — to train artificial intelligence systems.
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Authorities also want to postpone, until at least 2027, important points of the AI Law, the world’s most comprehensive legislation on the use of technology. This could delay the application of measures related to “high-risk” uses of AI in areas such as staffing and education.
Regulators have been under pressure from US technology companies as well as European companies such as Airbus, ASML and Mercedes-Benz to slow down implementation of the law.
Another important change would redefine the European concept of “personal data”, relaxing a crucial protection to facilitate the sale of information collected about users.
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“This is really a mindset shift,” said Patrick Van Eecke, head of cybersecurity, data and privacy in Europe at law firm Cooley, which represents several technology companies.
Some changes may be welcomed by consumers. One would reduce the widespread use of pop-up windows on websites asking for permission to track data. People could set their privacy preferences once in their browser, rather than facing repeated requests on each website.
European officials said the proposals do not represent a major deregulatory shift and are aimed at simplifying rules to help businesses and consumers. But regulatory advocates fear the changes will weaken one of the few existing barriers against the technology sector.
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“It is very clear that the winds are changing,” said Mathias Vermeulen, co-founder of digital policy consultancy AWO in Brussels. “A continent that prided itself for at least a decade on its technology-driven regulation is now practically making a complete U-turn and rethinking its approach.”
Vermeulen said technology regulation has become an easy scapegoat for European economic stagnation. Reducing supervision could mainly benefit American and Chinese companies, he said.
“Adjustments to GDPR will not magically solve Europe’s competitiveness problem,” he said.
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