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.”