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EU plans to simplify AI and privacy laws to ease business

operations

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Critics argue changes favour Big Tech and Trump

administration

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Privacy activists warn of biggest digital rights rollback

in EU

history

By Supantha Mukherjee and Foo Yun Chee

STOCKHOLM/BRUSSELS, Nov 19 (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.