POSITION | DIGITAL POLICY | DATA & CYBERSECURITY
Omnibus for the digital acquis The Data Act, GDPR and NIS 2 Directive must be less bureaucratic and more innovation friendly to enhance Europe’s competitiveness.
23 February 2026 Executive Summary The European Commission's proposal for the Digital Omnibus is not the team bus we had hoped for, but neither is it the small car we feared. We welcome the Digital Omnibus and the European Commission’s intention to streamline and simplify the digital rulebook. However, the proposals currently on the table do not deliver the relief and clarity that industry hoped for. While the European Commission’s proposal for the Data Omnibus partly simplifies and reduces the bureaucracy of the EU's digital acquis, crucial structural reforms needed to genuinely strengthen the EU’s competitiveness remain unaddressed. As it stands, the streamlining exercise appears to create more uncertainty than it removes. To have a holistic simplification package, the European Commission should have simultaneously presented its proposals for simplification of rules for digital infrastructure with the Digital Networks Act and for cybersecurity with the Cyber Security Act 2 (CSA2). Furthermore, the proposal of the Digital Omnibus should have also addressed all relevant shortcomings and withdraw certain provisions of the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), because in their current version they negatively affect the competitiveness of European companies on global markets. The European Parliament and the Council must not fall short of the European Commission’s proposal and rather seize the opportunity created by the Commission’s proposals to ensure that Europe remains competitive in the global innovation race. Innovation in Europe must no longer be held back by overly bureaucratic and burdensome rules that hinder our digital competitiveness. We urge for swift negotiations with close stakeholder involvement. German industry’s policy recommendations It’s important that the EU places competitiveness at the centre of its agenda. And the issuance of the Digital Omnibus as such shows that the European Commission recognises the necessity to cut unnecessary complexity, simplify regulatory requirements, and enhance coherence across the EU’s digital rulebook to achieve this aim. While the EU Commission’s current proposal for the Digital Omnibus tries to strike a good balance between targeted regulatory interventions and increasing regulatory clarity, German industry believes that the EU Commission's proposal does not sufficiently address the regulatory burdens and risks that continue to undermine Europe’s ability to foster innovation and maintain global competitiveness. Even worse, certain regulatory provisions or formulations continue to fundamentally erode the principles of fair competition by mandating disclosure of essential competitive elements, including trade secrets, through legally imposed transparency obligations. In addition, stronger measures are required to ensure meaningful simplification and to safeguard the interests of European technology leaders. Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie e.V. / Federation of German Industries EU Transparency Register: 1771817758-48 | German Lobbyregister: R000534 Steven Heckler and Dr Michael Dose | Innovation, Security and Technology | www.bdi.eu