The European Union has taken a significant step towards revising its digital regulatory framework after member states agreed proposals to amend the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), simplify cookie consent requirements and overhaul cybersecurity reporting obligations.

The Council of the European Union adopted its negotiating position on Wednesday, 21st October, clearing the way for negotiations with the European Parliament once MEPs establish their position.

The measures form part of the European Commission’s Digital Omnibus package, introduced in November 2025, and represent one of Brussels’ most substantial attempts to simplify the regulatory obligations imposed on businesses operating across the single market.

Changes to GDPR and personal data rules

The proposed reforms would modify several provisions of the GDPR, which has governed the processing of personal data across the EU since May 2018.

Rather than replacing the legislation, the Council wants to clarify existing obligations, particularly those concerning pseudonymised information, requests for access to personal data and the use of information in scientific research.

The agreed position retains the existing definition of personal data while introducing provisions intended to clarify when pseudonymised information can be linked to an identifiable individual.

Companies would also benefit from simplified procedures for handling manifestly unfounded or excessive data requests and from reduced information requirements in certain low-risk circumstances.

Another proposed change would extend the deadline for notifying authorities of personal data breaches, while establishing more consistent reporting templates across the EU.

For multinational companies, which currently navigate different interpretations of data protection obligations by national authorities, these provisions could reduce compliance costs and administrative duplication.

However, the changes have raised concerns among European privacy regulators.

In a joint opinion published in February, the European Data Protection Board and European Data Protection Supervisor warned that parts of the Commission’s original proposal could create legal uncertainty and undermine existing protections.

They were particularly concerned about proposals affecting the definition of personal data and the Commission’s potential role in determining when pseudonymised information falls outside GDPR requirements.

The Council’s decision to retain the existing definition addresses part of that debate, although the final legislative text remains subject to negotiations.

Fewer cookie banners for internet users

One of the most visible changes would affect the consent notices encountered by Europeans when visiting websites.

Under the Council’s proposal, additional categories of cookies and similar tracking technologies could be used without obtaining explicit consent, provided the relevant legal conditions are satisfied.

The proposed exemptions include technologies necessary to deliver a service, maintain device security or conduct audience measurement.

For website operators, publishers and online businesses, the changes could reduce the number of consent requests displayed to visitors and simplify technical compliance.

The current system has generated extensive legal disputes over whether consent is genuinely voluntary and whether tracking technologies collect information beyond what users have authorised.

EU Today has previously examined the enforcement of these obligations, including a Belgian court ruling concerning the legality of the advertising industry’s consent framework.

The latest proposal would not abolish consent requirements for commercial tracking or behavioural advertising. Technologies falling outside the permitted exemptions would remain subject to the applicable privacy rules.

Cybersecurity reporting and artificial intelligence

The package also addresses the growing number of reporting obligations imposed on European businesses under overlapping cybersecurity legislation.

The Commission originally proposed a single European reporting mechanism for certain data and cybersecurity incidents.

Member states have instead agreed to establish national entry points, supported by an EU-level information system and provisions for coordinating cross-border notifications.

The Council’s position would also clarify the legal grounds for certain uses of personal data in artificial intelligence systems and introduce safeguards for processing sensitive information in specified circumstances.

These provisions follow increasingly complicated disputes over the application of European privacy legislation to AI development and automated decision-making.

As EU Today reported in its coverage of a major GDPR enforcement case involving Uber, automated processing already presents substantial compliance risks for companies operating within the bloc.

Competitiveness drives regulatory reform

The Commission estimates that its wider digital simplification initiative could save European businesses up to €5 billion in administrative costs by 2029.

The initiative reflects pressure from European governments and business organisations to reduce the regulatory fragmentation that makes operating across multiple EU jurisdictions more expensive.

The Digital Omnibus is part of a broader legislative programme influenced by the competitiveness reports produced by former Italian prime ministers Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi.

Under the Council’s negotiating mandate, several existing data-related rules would also be consolidated, while provisions governing the protection of trade secrets would be strengthened.

The European Parliament must now determine its negotiating position before formal discussions between the institutions can begin. Until the legislation is agreed and adopted, existing GDPR, cookie consent and cybersecurity requirements remain in force.

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to lift a court order that stopped border wall construction across the Big Bend region of Texas.

The post Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Restart Big Bend Border Wall appeared first on Breitbart.

The penalty, one of the largest levied against a tech giant, stemmed from a lawsuit by New Mexico claiming the social media company had misled users about their data privacy.

© Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times

Coroner says she’s considering adopting recommendations from Victoria’s cults inquiry as investigation into Elizabeth Struh’s death continues

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The coroner investigating the death of Elizabeth Struhs is considering adopting recommendations from Victoria’s cults inquiry, warning a “lack of curiosity” about her family’s religious beliefs was a “missed opportunity”.

Elizabeth, an eight-year-old, died on 7 January 2022 of diabetic ketoacidosis after her father ceased providing insulin to treat type 1 diabetes.

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© Photograph: BBC

© Photograph: BBC

© Photograph: BBC

Northern Territory government announced sweeping reforms of child protection sector in May, just days after the Warlpiri girl was found dead

• Warning: This article contains images of and references to Indigenous Australians who have died

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A report on the Northern Territory’s child protection sector has detailed “confronting” and “heartbreaking” failures in the lead-up to the alleged murder of Warlpiri girl Kumanjayi Little Baby.

The five-year-old was found dead in April, five days after she was allegedly abducted from a town camp in Alice Springs.

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© Photograph: Rhett Hammerton/EPA

© Photograph: Rhett Hammerton/EPA

© Photograph: Rhett Hammerton/EPA

At least three people have died in severe flooding across eastern Spain after Storm Adam brought extraordinary rainfall to the Mediterranean coast, forcing thousands from their homes and leaving residents stranded on rooftops as emergency services struggled to reach inundated communities.

The worst flooding struck parts of Valencia and Alicante, where swollen rivers overwhelmed roads, flooded residential districts and disrupted transport. Authorities ordered residents of 145 municipalities to remain indoors as rescue operations continued on Monday, 19th October.

The disaster has revived memories of the October 2024 floods, which killed more than 230 people in the Valencia region and prompted widespread criticism of the authorities’ emergency warnings and response.

Thousands evacuated as rivers burst their banks

The coastal town of Oliva, in Valencia province, was among the worst affected areas. Approximately 2,000 people were evacuated from seven campsites as floodwaters spread through low-lying neighbourhoods, while residents elsewhere sought refuge on upper floors and rooftops.

According to reports from the Spanish news agency EFE, emergency crews were reinforced by Spain’s Military Emergencies Unit, whose personnel were deployed from their base at Bétera to assist local firefighters and rescue teams.

Helicopters were used to reach people trapped by the rising water. Roads became impassable, vehicles were swept away and several settlements were temporarily isolated as streams and drainage channels overflowed.

The scale of the rainfall was exceptional even for a region accustomed to intense autumn storms. In parts of Valencia and Alicante, precipitation approached 700 litres per square metre over approximately 48 hours, equivalent to 700 millimetres of rain.

Pego, in neighbouring Alicante province, recorded more than 600 millimetres within approximately 36 hours, placing considerable pressure on local waterways and drainage infrastructure.

Fatalities and emergency restrictions

Two women died during the weekend, including one swept away by floodwaters near Cabrera de Mar, north of Barcelona, and another whose body was recovered near Sagunto, in Valencia.

A third woman was found dead inside a flooded property in Oliva during rescue operations on Monday. Separately, a 64-year-old man died after suffering a heart attack at a flooded campsite in the same town, according to EFE’s account of the incident.

The regional authorities activated level-two emergency arrangements, enabling additional resources to be mobilised as local services confronted the consequences of prolonged rainfall.

At the height of the emergency, stay-at-home restrictions covered approximately 800,000 people. These measures were subsequently eased in many municipalities, although restrictions remained in force in particularly exposed districts.

Schools were closed in affected areas, roads were blocked and rail services disrupted. The situation remained particularly difficult where floodwaters had entered homes, commercial premises and tourist accommodation.

Renewed examination of emergency preparedness

Storm Adam has inevitably drawn comparisons with the disaster of October 2024, when catastrophic flooding in eastern Spain exposed serious weaknesses in emergency communication, evacuation procedures and coordination between public authorities.

That earlier disaster generated disputes over responsibility between regional and national institutions, particularly concerning the timing of warnings and the deployment of rescue resources.

The latest flooding places those questions back on the political agenda. Spain’s decentralised administrative structure gives regional governments substantial responsibility for civil protection, while the central government can provide military assistance and additional emergency resources.

The deployment of the Military Emergencies Unit demonstrates how rapidly local incidents can require national intervention when extreme rainfall affects several municipalities simultaneously.

The challenge extends beyond issuing weather warnings. Authorities must determine whether warnings reach vulnerable residents, whether evacuation routes remain accessible and whether emergency personnel can intervene before flooding becomes dangerous.

In communities close to rivers, floodplains and coastal drainage systems, these decisions become particularly consequential when rainfall accumulates over a short period.

European implications of repeated flooding

The disaster also raises questions about infrastructure investment and the application of European flood-risk legislation.

Under the EU’s Floods Directive, Member States are required to assess flood risks, prepare hazard maps and develop management plans designed to reduce the consequences for human health, economic activity and the environment.

Those obligations require national and regional authorities to identify vulnerable areas and consider preventive measures, including land-use planning, flood defences and emergency preparedness.

Extreme rainfall does not produce the same consequences everywhere. The effects depend partly on local geography, drainage capacity, urban development and the condition of waterways.

Meteorological warnings had also extended towards Catalonia as the weather system moved northwards, creating additional concern in areas where saturated ground could increase the risk of further flooding.

For the affected municipalities, the immediate priorities remain the completion of rescue operations, restoration of essential services and assessment of damage to homes, roads and businesses.

The longer-term examination will concern whether the emergency arrangements and infrastructure improvements undertaken since the 2024 disaster were sufficient to reduce the consequences of another major autumn storm.

A Cuban man found floating off the coast of Florida last week on what appeared to be a one-man vessel made of wood and foam says he was attempting to fish and never intended to reach the United States.

The post Cuban Found Floating Off Coast of Florida on Foam ‘Raft’ Says He Got Lost, Wasn’t Trying to Emigrate appeared first on Breitbart.

Eight-year-old Queensland girl died in 2022 after being denied insulin by her religious parents

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Elizabeth Struhs’ child protection case was not “prioritised” or worked intensively because the staff member assigned to her case was “very busy”, a coroner has heard.

The Queensland coroner’s court also heard the case worker may have been “overly influenced” by the presentation of Struhs’ “upper class home”, putting cases believed to involve a more immediate risk ahead of Elizabeth’s.

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© Photograph: BBC

© Photograph: BBC

© Photograph: BBC

Cristian Mungiu’s Cannes winner echoes the news story of a Romanian couple whose children were taken by the Norwegian government. As it heads to London film festival, two writers explain how the film exposes real hypocrisies

When Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord was shown in Romania as a one-day preview this June, the reception was extraordinary. Across 53 towns and 96 cinemas, the film reportedly pulled in over 40,000 viewers in a single night, a number arthouse cinema rarely sees in Romania. But the response here had little to do with cinema. It felt instead like a reopening of a familiar fault line about the clash of values within the EU itself.

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© Photograph: ©Tudor Panduru

© Photograph: ©Tudor Panduru

© Photograph: ©Tudor Panduru

They aren’t made of asphalt, have no traffic lights, and no cars drive on them. Yet, these unusual “highways” are already saving thousands of lives. In the Brazilian Amazon, conservationists have built rope bridges high up in the trees, allowing monkeys, sloths, and other jungle inhabitants to safely cross over the roads. The results are […]

EU data protection chief Wojciech Wiewiórowski has joined trade unions and privacy activists in their concerns over the bloc’s ‘Digital Omnibus’ — which includes amendments to EU privacy rules that may allow data harvesting from workers without their permission to feed AI models.

“When it comes to processing of personal data in the context of the development and deployment of AI, I am very concerned that the text would remove all references to additional safeguards from the article in question, including the unconditional right to object for individuals,” Wiewiórowski told EUobserver.

“The Digital Omnibus should be about fostering responsible innovation, not a dilution of core concepts or safeguards of data protection law,” he said.

The leaked proposal, seen by EUobserver, is set to be discussed at the technical level on Friday (25 September) in the EU Council, including Article 88c (now renamed as 88bis) of GDPR .

Under the current rules, Article 88 of GDPR covers processing of data in the employment context.

“The processing of personal data in the context of the development and operation of an AI system or of an AI model may be carried out for a legitimate interest of the controller or a third party,” reads the leaked proposal put forward by the six-month rotating Irish EU Council presidency. 

This article continues, but the full version is available only to EUobserver.com subscribers. Visit account.euobserver.com/membership

A child protection activist, Dennis Engelmann, has filed a criminal complaint against a Berlin performance artist after a video circulated of the artist appearing only in his underwear while performing in front of children at a family festival at a left-wing venue.

Engelmann the complaint to Berlin police over Felix Baumann’s Sept. 6 appearance at ufaFabrik Boulevard 2026, a free outdoor street-art and environmental festival in the Tempelhof neighborhood. Police accepted the complaint and forwarded it to the responsible unit for review, Engelmann said.

Video of the incident has gone viral on X and other social media platforms.

This male artist danced half-naked in front of young children, in the German capital city of Berlin, during a family event.

A criminal complaint has now been filed against artist Felix Baumann, who has received significant taxpayer money for his performances.

Child… pic.twitter.com/gRvmG7Ukit

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) September 16, 2026

The festival, held on the grounds of the ufaFabrik cultural center, was advertised as entertainment for “young and old,” with a children’s circus, a children’s farm and other family programming. Baumann was listed at 3 p.m. on the covered outdoor stage, between a children’s circus act and other performances. His solo show “ha ha ha hi!” has been marketed at other venues as suitable for audiences ages six and up.

Engelmann said the recording showed children standing immediately in front of the stage. In comments to the weekly newspaper Junge Freiheit, he said Baumann’s act should be investigated.

“For me, a clear line has been crossed here,” Engelmann said. “I find not only the extremely revealing clothing, but especially parts of the dance movements and the demonstrative play with one’s own body to be obscene and sexualizing. And that’s right in front of children at a family event. This is neither child-friendly nor responsible. From a professional point of view, I consider this specific incident to be a risk to the child’s welfare.”

Germany: Transgender police officer confesses to raping 14-year-old girl in fast food bathroom, possessing up 2,000 violent child porn files, and producing animal porn

According to the complaint and subsequent accounts of the video, Baumann performed in underwear at points in the routine, moved through the audience and, while wearing a nightgown, pulled the garment down and exposed his nipples. Engelmann wrote that he was expressly requesting a criminal investigation of the documented facts.

Baumann, 34, is a freelance physical-theater, dance and contemporary circus artist based in Berlin. His website describes “ha ha ha hi!” as a one-man show blending dance, circus, physical comedy and object manipulation, built around a “mediocre comedian” trying and failing to tell a joke. Other presenters have billed the piece as roughly 45 minutes long and recommended it from age six.

EU hands out €220,000 to ‘drag queen’ courses targeted at young people

The research that led to the production was supported by the German Performing Arts Fund with money from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Junge Freiheit reported that Baumann received a €7,500 research grant from that fund when Green Party politician Claudia Roth held the federal culture post, and that he has received additional public support. His professional résumé lists further federal arts funding in recent years.

ufaFabrik describes itself as a place of diversity for people of “all nationalities, religions and professions.” The venue also receives significant financial support from the state of Berlin. According to figures cited from the Senate Department for Finance, the center received more than €2 million in taxpayer funding between 2021 and 2023.

Engelmann said he sent detailed questions to both the venue and the artist and set a deadline of 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, for responses. As of Wednesday, neither Baumann nor ufaFabrik had issued a public statement addressing the complaint. Junge Freiheit reported that Baumann deleted his Instagram account after the performance drew widespread criticism online.

German kindergartens promote ‘sexual exploration rooms’ where children are encouraged to masturbate and touch each other

Filing a complaint does not mean prosecutors have opened a formal investigation or that any charge has been filed. Berlin police did not immediately comment on the status of the complaint.

The post Germany: He danced in his underwear in front of children, now police could open an investigation appeared first on Remix News.

A new study shows that in‑cash child benefits play a vital role in reducing child poverty in the EU. On average, these benefits lower the risk of poverty among children by 10.6 percentage points.

The impact of in‑cash child benefits varies across EU countries. Austria sees the strongest effect, with child poverty reduced by 16.6 percentage points. Spain shows the smallest reduction, at 4.6 percentage points. These differences suggest there is room for EU countries to learn from each other and achieve higher social standards.

Key findings

• Child benefits can do more to reduce poverty: large differences between EU countries show room to make cash benefits more effective and help reach the 2030 poverty reduction target.
• Better targeting and wider access could make a difference: in around one third of EU countries, disadvantaged families receive less financial support than better-off families.
• Benefits in kind also support families: by making essential goods and services more affordable, they can reduce the financial pressure on families.
• More children in early childhood education and care (ECEC) could support parents in work: increasing participation could raise maternal employment by up to 5 percentage points, making it easier to combine work and care.
• Investing in children pays off in the long term: analysis shows benefits for education, employment and health. Overall, for every €1 invested in quality benefits in kind for children, the estimated return is €5.26.
  

Progress towards the 2030 child poverty target

The EU has committed to reducing the number of children in poverty by at least 5 million by 2030. Progress towards this target has stalled, so efforts need to be stepped up and policies improved.

The new study underlines that in‑cash child benefits are a key tool to support families and lower child poverty. Its findings will contribute to the preparation of the forthcoming Commission Recommendation on child‑related benefits. This Recommendation was announced in the Communication Breaking the cycle of child poverty – strengthening the European Child Guarantee, which is part of the wider Anti‑Poverty Strategy.

Report on the effectiveness of child benefits in the EU

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Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and MEP Dirk Gotink (EPP, Netherlands) Photographer: Mathieu Cugnot © European Union

The European Parliament has approved a major overhaul of the EU’s customs system, tightening requirements on e-commerce platforms, introducing a new handling fee for goods ordered from outside the bloc and creating a central EU customs authority.

“This is the biggest reform of European customs since 1968, supporting trade and the enforcement of EU rules,” said MEP Dirk Gotink, (EPP, Netherlands) who steered the legislation through Parliament. Gotink said European customs authorities had been overwhelmed by a “tsunami of Chinese parcels” and that the reform would give customs officers stronger tools to enforce EU standards.

Under the new rules, e-commerce platforms and sellers shipping goods directly from non-EU countries to European consumers will be treated as importers. That will make them responsible for providing customs data, handling applicable charges and ensuring products comply with EU law.

The reform also introduces an EU-wide handling fee on goods ordered directly from non-EU countries, with member states required to begin collecting it no later than 1 November, 2026. The European Commission will determine the amount and review it every two years.

Companies that repeatedly breach EU customs rules could face fines ranging from at least 1% to as much as 6% of the value of goods they imported into the EU during the previous 12 months.

The overhaul will also establish an EU Customs Data Hub, designed to replace at least 111 existing customs IT systems. A new EU Customs Authority, based in Lille, France, will manage the hub and coordinate customs cooperation and risk management across the EU.

The Council has already given the reform its final formal approval, making Parliament’s vote the final step in the legislative procedure.