EU finally addresses unpopular cookie consent notices with new digital proposal

Updated November 20th, 2025: After much hullabaloo, the EU Commission has set forth a new proposal that will simplify the current and “unpopular” state of cookie consent for internet users across Europe.

The new amendment to “modernize cookie rules to improve users' experiences online“ will reduce the endless number of "cookie banner pop-ups" a user must now endure, the EU Commission said about the planned digital overhaul.

Instead, the new cookie rules will allow EU users “to indicate their consent with one-click,” with their "accept or reject" preference being saved right in the browser settings.

The cookie changes are just one of several new legislative measures announced by the EU Commission on Tuesday, all designed to “streamline rules on artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity and data,” it said.

But don’t break out the milk to celebrate just yet, the EU’s new digital package, including the cookie notification consent proposal, will first have to pass the muster of the European Parliament and its 27 member states before adoption.

“This initiative opens opportunities for European companies to grow and to stay at the forefront of technology while at the same time promoting Europe's highest standards of fundamental rights, data protection, safety, and fairness,” the Commission said about the projected changes.

Cookie conundrum: privacy vs. simplification

Consumers will definitely get behind the European Commission’s plan to eliminate most pop-ups requesting consent to cookies. But privacy activists say this is a major gift to purveyors of the surveillance economy.

The EU has been contemplating the tweaks since September.

These banners proliferated in 2009 when the e-Privacy Directive was revised to require websites to get explicit consent from users before loading cookies on their devices. Users are now clicking “Yes” en masse.

Now, according to Politico, the European Commission wants to simplify the process. Last week, the EU’s executive met with tech industry representatives to discuss cookies and consent banners.

Additionally, a note sent to industry and civil society and seen by Politico showed that the Commission wants to tweak the rules to include more exceptions and allow users to set their preferences on cookies once instead of every time they go on a website. And they visit hundreds of them each day.

In May, Denmark, currently presiding over meetings in the EU Council, also suggested that consent banners or cookies collecting data for technicalities or statistics could be dropped.

These are harmless, Copenhagen said, unlike cookies used for marketing, advertising, or sharing data with third parties.

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Privacy activists say the problem with the Commission’s new push to loosen up cookie rules is that the proposals would seemingly cover all types of cookies.

Studies have long shown that the system, supposed to protect consumer rights, is being manipulated. One paper found in 2019 that cookies are often collected in a way that’s not actually compliant with the EU’s privacy laws.

However, getting rid of the process or oversimplifying it would hurt consumers more and endanger their data, the privacy community says. Activists are wary of cookies being used for targeted advertising.

Studies have long shown that the system, supposed to protect consumer rights, is being manipulated.

“Focusing on cookies is like rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic, the ship being surveillance advertising,” Itxaso Domínguez de Olazábal⁩, policy adviser at European Digital Rights, told Politico.

The industry lobby is more keen to talk about the competitiveness of the European tech industry. Their suggestion is to move cookie regulation to the GDPR, which allows companies to adjust their privacy safeguards according to the level of risk associated with data processing.

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