Overview

• The Commission is drafting an omnibus proposal for December that seeks to simplify the 2009 e-Privacy cookie regime and reduce banner prompts.
• A recent focus group note floated letting users set consent once in their browser rather than responding on every site.
• Denmark, leading Council talks, proposed dropping banners for cookies used for technically necessary functions or simple statistics.
• Industry groups, including IAB Europe, urge shifting cookie governance into the GDPR’s risk-based framework, potentially allowing reliance on legitimate interest.
• Privacy advocates warn that broader exceptions could fuel adtech tracking, with a larger fight expected when the Digital Fairness Act is introduced next year.