Businesses and citizens want to ‘feel safe’, says EU tech sovereignty VP.
European Parliament lawmakers and member states have agreed on a provisional deal for a simpler application of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act as part of the EU’s digital omnibus package.
Announced last November, the digital omnibus is proposing a consolidation of all rules around data into two major laws – the Data Act and the General Data Protection Regulation. The AI Act and the various laws around cybersecurity are seeing amendments aimed at simplifying administrative burdens.
The AI omnibus has faced repeated criticism for potentially enabling weaker laws around the technology that might substantially impact EU residents’ rights. In a blogpost, the Jacques Delors Centre in Germany said that current market concentration and the dominance of foreign Big Tech in Europe mean deregulation might not primarily benefit European businesses.
Meanwhile, corporate leaders from big companies including Mistral AI, ASML and SAP argue against a potential progressive deindustrialisation led by bureaucratic burdens.
As part of the deal, rules for high-risk AI systems in the EU, including biometrics, critical infrastructure, education, employment, migration, asylum and border control, are now postponed by a year – set to apply from 2 December 2027. These were first set to apply starting August 2026.
“This sequencing will help ensure that technical standards and other support tools are in place before the rules start to apply,” the Commission said in a press release.
“Ireland is committed to driving AI adoption across enterprise, particularly among SMEs, to enhance productivity and competitiveness,” said Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke, TD.
“Regulation plays an important role in ensuring markets operate fairly and in protecting consumers, and it is essential that such regulation is proportionate and targeted to its objectives, protecting citizens while promoting innovation and competition.
“The digital omnibus on AI strikes a balance by simplifying and clarifying the EU AI Act, while maintaining clear and predictable safeguards. By reducing unnecessary barriers to investment and innovation, we can unlock the growth opportunities created by rapid technological change.”
Nudification ban
The provisional deal also introduces an explicit prohibition on AI systems that generate non-consensual sexually explicit and intimate content or child sexual abuse material.
Commenting on the deal, Ireland’s Michael McNamara, MEP said: “We secured a ban on nudification applications, one of our key demands. We fought for it because non-consensual intimate imagery is a systemic harm being industrialised by AI and in which the overwhelming majority of victims are women and girls.”
Issues surrounding AI-powered sexual harassment took the limelight a few months ago, after X enabled its AI chatbot Grok to ‘nudify’ pictures. Shortly following the incident – and strong public backlash – the EU, Ireland and the UK launched official investigations into the platform.
“We want European companies to continue to thrive in the AI age but they need certainty to invest and plan. The stop-the-clock mechanism and the simplification measures we have secured give businesses the breathing room they need,” McNamara added.
Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said: “Our businesses and citizens want two things from AI rules. They want to be able to innovate and feel safe. Today’s agreement does both.”
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