The European Commission’s Digital Omnibus Proposal could have major implications for digital policy in the European Union (EU). In a recent joint statement on the Proposal, ENNHRI and Equinet urge the European Parliament and the Council of the EU to ensure that strong equality and fundamental rights protections are preserved in the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

ENNHRI’s and Equinet’s recommendations on the Digital Omnibus Proposals

The European Commission’s recent Digital Omnibus Regulation Proposal and  Digital Omnibus on AI Regulation Proposal outline substantial amendments to the AI Act and GDPR that could seriously impact fundamental rights and equality protections. The initiatives are also moving forward without adequate impact assessments and public consultation.

In their statement, ENNHRI and Equinet outline eight key recommendations for EU co-legislators in the ongoing Digital Omnibus negotiations to ensure the that robust equality and fundamental rights protections are kept in the AI Act and the GDPR.

Regarding the AI Act, they call for preserving requirements for the registration of AI systems and maintaining the timeline for obligations related to high-risk AI systems. They further stress the need to safeguard the powers of Fundamental Rights Authorities, such as National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs). This is to guarantee their crucial role in independent oversight of AI systems and in addressing fundamental rights risks.

Strict necessity and fundamental rights safeguards should be maintained when introducing an article which would significantly expand the legal basis for processing special categories of personal data for bias detection and correction. Such data includes sexual orientation, race, religion or political views.

Furthermore, they recommend preventing significant weakening of AI developers’ and deployers’ responsibility to ensure AI literacy for their staff. This will help keep responsibility with those who design and use AI systems.

As regards the GDPR, EU co-legislators should preserve the strong definition of personal data and reject amendments that would weaken it. They also emphasise the need to preserve key information obligations and reject proposed changes to automated decision making. Such changes would alter the structure of protection against these decisions and could weaken equality, non-discrimination, data protection and access to effective remedies.

More information and background

Read the full joint statement here.

Explore previous ENNHRI engagement on EU AI policy, including:

• ENNHRI’s response to the European Union’s Digital Package and Omnibus Consultation.
• ENNHRI’s submission on high-risk AI under the AI Act.
• ENNHRI’s common position on the EU AI Act.

Visit ENNHRI’s dedicated resource on AI, including a section with NHRI good practices. The resource was recently updated with new ones.