EU plans "digital expropriation" of Europeans in the interest of AI companies

A leaked Council proposal drafted under the Irish Presidency would effectively make use of any personal data “in the context of AI” automatically lawful across the EU, creating a technology-based blanket exception to data protection rules. The measure (moved as Article 88bis from the Commission’s Article 88c) would allow AI firms to train and deploy systems on virtually any data collected over decades without consent, treating legitimate interest as presumed when AI is involved. The draft also narrows what counts as personal data by expanding pseudonymisation and factors in companies’ internal capabilities when judging applicability, while permitting denial of data subject rights deemed “abusive.” The proposal was fast-tracked without a formal fundamental-rights assessment and is backed informally by several member states, including Germany; Ireland hosts many Big Tech headquarters.

Critics warn this rewrites longstanding EU data-protection promises into a “digital expropriation,” handing Europe’s data to US and Chinese AI giants, undermining competition and industrial policy, and legalising risky uses such as targeted manipulation, disinformation, sexual image generation or military applications. Enforcement would be crippled by subjective company-centred tests and protracted disputes. Political positions split between industry-favouring Commission and parts of Parliament, leaving the European Court of Justice as the likely last check against a law that opponents say would create massive legal uncertainty and erode fundamental rights.