BRUSSELS — Ursula von der Leyen hasn’t even published her plans to overhaul the EU’s digital laws yet and already the European Parliament is signaling: This shall not pass.  

Political groups to the left of von der Leyen’s center-right European People’s Party are coming out against draft proposals for a digital omnibus legislation that reveal how the EU executive is looking to loosen privacy rules, amend its artificial intelligence law, and overhaul data legislation to the benefit of industry — not least American tech giants.  

In letters to the European Commission, political groups from center to left barreled into the draft reforms, calling them “extremely worrying,” asking the executive to “reverse course,” and slamming it for what they see as a capitulation to U.S. demands.

The backlash puts von der Leyen in a bind. She could opt to change her proposals ahead of the formal presentation next Wednesday, or else she’ll have to seek votes on the far right — yet again — to pass a key part of her political platform. The EPP is already expected to lean on right-wing support to pass its green rules simplification legislation on Thursday due to a lack of support in the center.

The Commission also backed down on its budget plans to avert a rebellion of centrist groups in the Parliament, POLITICO reported Sunday. 

The digital omnibus draft proposals, obtained by POLITICO last week, showed how the EU executive is looking to ease rules on AI firms under the flagship General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It’s looking to create exceptions for AI companies that would allow them to legally process data linked to people’s religious or political beliefs, ethnicity or health data to train and operate their tech, and also wants to redefine categories of personal data, which would relieve swaths of data from the privacy protections they currently enjoy.

The proposals also envision tweaks to the EU’s landmark AI law, like delays on fines for watermarked content and exemptions for small businesses.

The drafts drew the ire of the center and the left in the Parliament in recent days. Such outcries are exceptional: Parliament groups often refrain from taking a position until a proposal is formally presented.

The Greens group, liberal Renew and Socialists and Democrats have all drawn up letters slamming the Commission.

The Greens addressed von der Leyen and the Commission’s tech chief Henna Virkkunen, asking them to “reverse course and focus on actual simplification” of tech laws, in a letter shared with POLITICO.  

Alexandra Geese, a prominent German member of the Greens group, said the Commission’s plans would “dismantle the protection of European citizens for the benefit of U.S. tech giants.” She said “the Commission should focus on real simplification and streamlining of definitions rather than bending their knee to the U.S. administration.” 

The Renew group voiced “strong opposition to certain changes” and called some of the draft tweaks “extremely worrying.” “We would strongly ask you to remove and reconsider those proposed changes before presenting the official proposals,” the group wrote in its letter to von der Leyen and key commissioners, shared with POLITICO.

Italian S&D MEP Brando Benifei, the Parliament’s lead negotiator on the AI Act, said he was “deeply skeptical of reopening the AI Act before it’s fully in force and without impact assessment.”

Two dozen lawmakers from The Left, the Greens and S&D also backed a written question drawn up by French left-wing MEP Leïla Chaibi that will be filed this week. It follows the EU executive’s reportedly “engaging” with the Donald Trump administration in the lead-up to the omnibus proposal. In it, lawmakers said: “The European Commission’s apparent willingness to yield to pressure from the White House in this way raises serious concerns about the European Union’s digital sovereignty.” 

The S&D came out swinging in a letter on Tuesday, warning the Commission that they’ll oppose “any attempt” to weaken the foundations of the EU’s privacy framework that would “lower the level of personal data protection, or narrow the GDPR’s scope.” The group said Europe’s digital laws at large have “inspired international partners and positioned Europe as a normative power in global tech governance.”

Right to the rescue? 

Von der Leyen’s EPP hasn’t yet issued a united statement about the draft digital simplification plans.  

Finnish center-right lawmaker Aura Salla — who previously led Meta’s Brussels lobbying office — said earlier she would “warmly” welcome the proposal “if done correctly,” as it could bring legal certainty for AI companies. 

The center right, which holds the most seats in the Parliament, could seek support to its right with the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists and the far-right Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) and Patriots for Europe.

Piotr Müller, a Polish ECR member, welcomed the Commission’s draft texts: “After years of excessive legislation that has stifled progress, it is five to midnight: We need ambitious deregulation now.”

Further to the right, French lawmaker Sarah Knafo from the ESN said it would be a “breath of fresh air for our businesses,” lamenting that “Europe has locked itself into absurd over-regulation in the technology sector, which stifles all innovation.”

On the issue of privacy, though, some right-wing lawmakers could turn against the draft idea. The right has previously defended personal privacy and personal freedoms over industry’s interests in some legislative fights.

“We need to let our tech players move forward, while remaining vigilant about sovereignty and control over our data,” Knafo said. 

Lawmakers on both the left and right will be under fire from powerful privacy lobbyists. Civil society campaigners have sounded the alarm in recent days after the drafts leaked.

The Commission is “secretly trying to overrun everyone else in Brussels,” Max Schrems, founder of Austrian privacy group Noyb and a prominent European privacy campaigner, said previously.

The proposals also have to make their way through the Council of the EU, where countries are equally divided on whether to touch privacy rules. 

Documents seen by POLITICO show that at least four countries — Estonia, France, Austria and Slovenia — are firmly against any rewrite of the GDPR. Germany, usually seen as one of the most privacy-minded countries, came out in favor of big changes to help AI blossom.