Media trade bodies urge EU to reject harmful Digital Omnibus data rules

The proposed shift would mandate more rigid consent mechanisms, potentially crippling the first-party measurement systems that streaming platforms rely on to prove ROI to advertisers. By forcing a move from the ePrivacy Directive's flexible national interpretations to the GDPR’s horizontal strictures, the EU risks creating a 'consent fatigue' trap where sign-ups are harder to convert. This regulatory friction places European broadcasters at a disadvantage against global platforms that have more robust direct-to-consumer data pipelines. Watch for the result of the Telecommunications Council meeting on June 9, 2026, to see if member states respond to calls for an impact assessment before proceeding.

The Digital Omnibus, first proposed by the European Commission in November 2025, represents a significant attempt to modernize the EU's digital rulebook by merging overlapping requirements from the GDPR, ePrivacy Directive, and the AI Act. Per Europe.eu and legal analysis from Pandectes (February 2026), the package aims to 'restore Europe's dynamism' by reducing administrative burdens like high-risk-only breach reporting. However, specific provisions in the GDPR update, such as the proposed Article 88a, have drawn fire for codifying a 'one-click' refusal right and a mandatory six-month ban on re-requesting consent for the same purpose, according to reporting from ComplianceAndRisks (December 2025).

The media industry's friction with these rules also intersects with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), which came into force in early 2024. Per Cullen International (April 2025), Article 24 of the EMFA already established principles for transparent and impartial audience measurement. Trade bodies argue that the Digital Omnibus’s new consent restrictions under Article 88b—which explores browser-level automated preference signals—could negate the EMFA’s attempts to grant media service providers better access to consumption data.

Critics also point to a potential 'double standard' within the Omnibus regarding AI. While the proposal aims to restrict traditional audience measurement via terminal data, it simultaneously seeks to create a 'legitimate interest' basis for processing data to train AI systems, per Kliemt.blog (January 2026). This divergence has led groups like the Audience Measurement Coalition to claim that the Omnibus fails to provide a risk-based framework for 'low-risk' media measurement while easing rules for more complex AI developments.