Stop the Rollback: EU Digital Omnibus endangers children’s and teachers’ rights
Brussels, 19 November 2025– The European Commission published the Digital Omnibus package, a set of regulatory proposals aimed at “simplifying” and amending existing EU digital regulations, including among others the AI Act, GDPR, and Data Act. In short, the Digital Omnibus package seeks to loosen key EU digital rules, raising serious concerns about privacy, safety, and the future of education. While presented as a technical update to reduce administrative burdens and harmonise legislation, ETUCE warns this package represents a major rollback of essential protections that safeguard Europe’s democratic values, workers’ rights, and the integrity of public education.
Responding to the package, European Director, Jelmer Evers affirms “The Commission’s rhetoric of ‘simplification’ is a smokescreen for dismantling hard-won regulatory safeguards. These rules are not bureaucratic obstacles—they are the backbone of protection for children, teachers, schools, and the quality of our education systems. Weakening them in the name of competitiveness is reckless and unacceptable.”
Among the measures that are relevant for the education sector, under the Digital Omnibus package, the EU Commission proposes several amendments to AI Act. These include a delayed implementation of high-risk requirements, the removal of AI literacy obligations for providers and deployers (except for high-risk systems), replacing it with a general requirement for the EU and Member States to simply promote AI literacy, diluted provisions for high-risk areas(also covering some aspects of education like access to education, assessment, and evaluation). On the privacy framework, the package proposes introducing a series of exemptions to the GDPR that could enable invasive tracking and profiling in schools, reduce safeguards for sensitive data, and weaken core principles of transparency and accountability. Together, these changes strip away protections that keep technology in education ethical and rights based. They do not simplify— they dismantle.
Jelmer Evers: “This deregulation agenda serves corporate interests, not the public good. It risks turning schools into testing grounds for profit-driven technologies, eroding privacy and safety of our children, undermining labour rights, and compromising the safety of our education systems. Teachers and their unions have repeatedly warned against the outsized influence of Big Tech in shaping Europe’s digital future. These proposals ignore those warnings.”
This proposal is the direct result of relentless pressure from Big Tech and political forces outside Europe. The Commission’s proposals come after an unprecedented lobbying offensive: tech giants now spend €151 million annually in Brussels to influence EU digital policy. This corporate push aligns with pressure from the Trump administration, which has threatened tariffs and export restrictions to force Europe to weaken its digital rules. The surge in lobbying coincides with a rushed legislative process, where the public consultation on the Digital Omnibus closed barely a month before the package was published. ETUCE warns that this deregulation push is part of a wider global trend of shrinking civil and democratic space and authoritarianism. The European human-rights-based digital model must be defended—not hollowed out to satisfy corporate and foreign interests.
Jelmer Evers: “Today’s proposal confirms that the EU’s intention is not simplification—it is deregulation, and it is dangerous. The Commission’s proposals dismantle protections that keep our classrooms safe, our data private, and our democracy intact. We will not stand by while Big Tech writes the rules for Europe’s education systems. The European Parliament and Council must reject this assault and defend the public interest.”
