Commission to offer mid-cap companies data protection relief
Currently, companies with fewer than 250 employees are exempt from the data privacy rules to reduce their administrative costs, the Commission now proposes to extend this derogation to the so-called small mid-cap companies.
Small mid-cap companies can employ up to 500 employees and make higher turnovers. Under the plan - the Commission's fourth such Omnibus - such companies will only have to keep a record of the processing of the users' data when it's considered 'high risk', for example private medical information.
The change comes seven years after the GDPR took effect. Since then the rulebook has shielded consumer data from US tech giants but is also perceived as burdensome for smaller and mid-sized companies that often did not have the means to hire data protection lawyers.
The biggest fine issued under the rules so far is €1.2 billion on US tech giant Meta: the Irish data protection authority fined the company in 2023 for invalid data transfers.
Although fines are generally lower for smaller businesses, at up to €20 million or 4% of annual turnover they remain significant.
In the Netherlands for example, VoetbalTV, a video platform for amateur football games, was fined €575,000 by the Dutch privacy regulator in 2018. Although the company appealed and the court overturned the fine, it had to file for bankruptcy.
Both EU lawmaker Axel Voss (Germany/EPP), who was involved in steering the legislation through the European Parliament, and Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems, whose organisation NOYB filed numerous data protection complaints with regulators, called for different rules for smaller companies earlier this year.
Under the plan, 90% of the businesses – small retailers and manufacturers -- would just face minor compliance tasks and would not need an in-house data protection officer anymore, no excessive documentation and lower administrative fines, capped at €500,000.
Voss said his proposal would not weaken the EU's privacy standards, but make it 'more enforceable, and more proportionate'.
Similar calls are coming from the member states: the new German government stressed in its coalition plan that it will work on EU level to ensure that 'non-commercial activities (for example, associations), small and medium-sized enterprises, and low-risk data processing are exempt from the scope of the GDPR.'
By contrast, civil society and consumer groups have warned that the Commission's plan to ease GDPR rules could have unintended consequences.
On Tuesday, privacy advocacy group EDRi stated in an open letter that the change risks 'weakening key accountability safeguards' by making data protection obligations depend on company size rather than the actual risk to people's rights. It also fears this could lead to further pressure to roll back other parts of the GDPR.
Consumer advocates share similar concerns, in a letter from late April, pan-European consumer group BEUC warned that even small companies can cause serious harm through data breaches. It argued that using headcount or turnover as a basis for exemptions could create legal uncertainty and go against EU fundamental rights.
Both groups say the focus should instead be on better enforcement of existing rules and more practical support for small companies.
Meanwhile reforms of the data privacy law are under negotiation between the Council and the European Parliament. A new round of political discussions on the GDPR Procedural Regulation is expected to take place on Wednesday.
EU institutions are attempting to finalise a long-awaited deal to improve cooperation between national data protection authorities. The regulation is meant to address delays and inconsistencies in how cross-border cases are handled under the GDPR, by harmonising procedures and timelines.
According to experts familiar with the file, one of the main sticking points is whether to introduce binding deadlines for national authorities to act on complaints. While the Parliament has pushed for clearer timelines to speed up enforcement, some member states argue that fixed deadlines could overwhelm authorities and increase legal risks.
This change is however not expected to impact the Commission's 4th Omnibus package.
Chip giant Nvidia painted its roadmap for an artificial intelligence (AI), agentic AI, and humanoid future at the COMPUTEX technology conference in Taiwan on Monday, with CEO Jensen Huang highlighting the country as "the computer epicentre".
Taiwan-born Huang said he had been coming to the tech fair for the past 30 years and that his parents were in the audience.
Back in 2016, when he first started speaking about GTX graphic cards, he said no one understood what he was talking about and there were few clients. It was then that the company donated its technology to the then-non-profit OpenAI. The rest, as they say, is history.
Here are all the highlights from Huang's keynote speech, which Euronews Next attended.
Wearing his trademark black leather jacket in 30-degree Celsius heat and a humid climate, Huang announced that Nvidia would build an AI factory supercomputer, which he called the "first AI supercomputer for Taiwan's ecosystem".
He did not go into much detail, but he did say Nvidia would partner with Foxconn, the Taiwanese government, and chip maker TSMC.
The AI supercomputer will help fuel innovation and expand AI computing in Taiwan, which will help the country's scientists and start-ups, Jensen said.
"Our plan is to create an AI-focused industrial ecosystem in southern Taiwan," said Minister Wu Cheng-Wen of the National Science and Technology Council in a statement.
"We are focused on investing in innovative research, developing a strong AI industry, and encouraging the everyday use of AI tools. Our ultimate goal is to create a smart AI island filled with smart cities, and we look forward to collaborating with NVIDIA and Hon Hai to make this vision a reality".
"No company in history has ever revealed a roadmap for five years at a time, no one will tell you what's coming next," Huang said.
"But we realised Nvidia is not a tech company only anymore, it's an infrastructure company," he added.
As well as specifying that Nvidia is an AI infrastructure company, he added that the current infrastructure built on electricity and the Internet will be transformed into an 'intelligence infrastructure' where AI is integrated into everything.
Another thing we will be talking about in five years, says Huang, is tokens, which are any digitally transferable asset between two people, for example, but not limited to, cryptocurrency.
"Very soon, we will be talking about how many tokens we produce every hour," he said, adding that the AI infrastructure business will be measured in "trillions of dollars".
AI agents, described as digital assistants, will also continue to generate a buzz in the next five years, Huang said.
The future Huang predicts is that there will be many digital employees who will fill the labour shortage.
"The shortage of labour is limiting the world's ability to grow," he said, adding that AI agents can work with humans to plug this gap.
He said that Nvidia engineers have a "layer of AI agents" that help them with their tasks.
"We have to create the necessary tools for workers to manage and improve AI agents," he said, adding that AI agents could even speak to each other in the future.
But before the real development gets underway, Huang said that "we have to reinvent computing".
Lastly, Huang announced a new office for Nvidia's Taiwan operation, which will be called 'Nvidia Constellation'.
Engineers in Taiwan are growing beyond the limits of our current office, so we are building this brand new office".
Huang said that work on the building will start as soon as the company can, but did not set a firm date.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
43 minutes ago
- LeMonde
'European citizens under US sanctions are being erased economically and socially within the EU'
In recent months, the US has added several judges and International Criminal Court prosecutors to the list of "Specially Designated Nationals" maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which is responsible for enforcing US international financial sanctions. On July 9, Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, joined them on the list. The individuals listed have had their assets frozen in the US, and American nationals and companies are prohibited from doing business with them. Neither criminals nor fugitives, but rather respected professionals in international law who have been sanctioned – not for wrongdoing, but for carrying out their duties, in ways that are clearly displeasing to Washington. This development is not just a diplomatic affront; it is an alarming signal. A small but growing number of European citizens – who are innocent under all legal standards of the European Union (EU) – also appear on the OFAC list. They are not under investigation in their own countries. No court has convicted them. And yet, they and their families have been treated as pariahs. Not only in the US, but – more seriously still – in their own countries, within the EU itself. These individuals have become Europe's living dead: legally alive, but erased economically and socially. They are victims of a kind of "civil death" penalty. Their inclusion on the OFAC list, often for opaque or arbitrary reasons, triggers a cascade of consequences far beyond American borders. It is in Europe that banks close their accounts; that IT companies cut off access to email, software, and cloud services; that delivery companies refuse to drop packages at their door. Families have been ruined. Careers destroyed. However, it is perhaps understandable that people subject to OFAC sanctions should be restricted in their travel to, or trade with, the US. After all, it is the prerogative of the US government to exercise sovereignty on its own territory. It is unacceptable, however, that European citizens – some of them above any suspicion in the eyes of their own authorities – lose everything at home due to excessive caution on the part of European companies. These businesses blindly enforce US sanctions. Two trends explain the phenomenon.
France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
Trump, EU chief to meet Sunday in push for trade deal
In a drive to slash his country's trade deficits, Trump has vowed to hit dozens of countries with punitive tariff hikes if they do not hammer out a pact with Washington by August 1. The EU -- which is facing an across-the-board levy of 30-percent -- has been pushing hard for a deal with Trump's administration, while also planning retaliation should talks fall short. Von der Leyen first announced the meeting, writing on X: "Following a good call with POTUS, we have agreed to meet in Scotland on Sunday to discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong." Arriving on UK soil late Friday, Trump confirmed he would meet the head of the European Commission, which has been negotiating with Washington on behalf of the 27-nation bloc. "I'll be meeting with the EU on Sunday, and we'll be working on a deal," he told reporters as he touched down at Prestwick Airport near Glasgow. "Ursula will be here -- a highly respected woman. So we look forward to that," Trump said. "We'll see if we make a deal," added the president -- who reiterated earlier comments saying the chance of a deal was "50-50", with sticking points remaining on "maybe 20 different things." "But we're meeting ... with the European Union. And that would be, actually, the biggest deal of them all, if we make it," he said. The high-level meeting follows months of negotiations between top EU and US trade officials, and days of signals suggesting the sides were moving towards an agreement. According to multiple European diplomats, the agreement under consideration would involve a baseline 15-percent US levy on EU goods -- the same level secured by Japan this week -- and potential carve-outs for critical sectors. Von der Leyen's spokesperson Paula Pinho said "intensive negotiations" had been taking place at technical and political level in the run up to Sunday's meeting. "Leaders will now take stock and consider the scope for a balanced outcome that provides stability and predictability for businesses and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic," she said. 'In Trump's hands' Hit by multiple waves of tariffs since Trump reclaimed the White House, the EU is currently subject to a 25-percent levy on cars, 50 percent on steel and aluminium, and an across-the-board tariff of 10 percent, which Washington threatens to hike to 30 percent in a no-deal scenario. The EU wants to avoid sweeping tariffs inflicting further harm on the European economy -- already suffering from sluggish growth -- and damaging a trading relationship worth an annual 1.6 trillion euros ($1.9 trillion) in goods and services. EU member states gave the European Commission a mandate to pursue a deal to avoid hefty US tariffs, with retaliation held out as a last resort if talks fail. Seeking to keep up the pressure in the final stretch of talks, EU states on Thursday backed a package of retaliation on $109 billion (93 billion euros) of US goods including aircraft and cars -- to kick in in stages from August 7 if there is no deal. Most states prefer a deal to no deal -- even with undesirable levies of 15 percent -- but exemptions are key, with aircraft, steel, lumber, pharmaceutical products and agricultural goods under discussion, diplomats said. Concerning steel, diplomats say a compromise could allow a certain quota to enter the United States, with amounts beyond that taxed at 50 percent. Since launching its tariffs campaign, Trump's administration has so far unveiled just five agreements, including with Britain, Japan and the Philippines. While EU hopes have been rising for a deal, the approaching August 1 deadline also comes with a sense of deja-vu: earlier this month, EU officials also believed they were on the cusp of a deal, before Trump hiked his tariff threat to 30-percent.
Euronews
4 hours ago
- Euronews
EU member states adopt retaliatory hit list in response to US tariffs
The member states on Thursday approved the list of retaliatory tariffs proposed by the European Commission to counter US trade measures, with only Hungary voting against. The list includes an initial package of measures adopted in early April, with up to 30% tariffs targeting products including aircraft, cars and car parts, orange juice, poultry, soybeans, steel and aluminium, yachts. Bourbon whiskey was also included in the list despite intense lobbying by France and Ireland which fear US retaliation on wine and spirits. EU Industries were also consulted before the Commission proposed the list to the member states. The countermeasures will only enter into force if no deal is reached by the 1 August, the deadline set by US president Donald Trump from when he's set to impose 30% tariffs on EU imports. Anti-coercion instrument A qualified majority of member states also appears willing to trigger the anti-coercion instrument, which would enable the EU to hit US services if no deal is reached. Germany was for a long time resistant to using this powerful bazooka, but has now joined France, which has long been a strong advocate of the anti-coercion instrument. Following a dinner on Wednesday between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, a source from the Élysée stated the shared vision of both leaders on the ongoing negotiations between the EU and the US. 'They hoped for a satisfactory outcome to the discussions that would safeguard the EU's interests,' the source said, adding 'while simultaneously accelerating work on countermeasures — including the anti-coercion instrument — in coordination with the Commission, should an agreement not be reached.' The US currently impose 50% on EU steel and aluminium, 25% on cars and 10% on all imports. This article has been updated.
