From Obligation to Aspiration: What the EU Digital Omnibus Means for AI Literacy?

07/04/2026: On 19 November 2025, the European Commission published the Digital Omnibus package – an ambitious legislative proposal that cuts across the EU’s entire digital rulebook. The Commission designed the Omnibus to boost European competitiveness by trimming regulatory burden. To achieve this, the package rewrites provisions across the AI Act, GDPR, ePrivacy Directive, Data Act, and EU cybersecurity legislation in a single sweep. This post addresses  one specific proposed change with the potential to reshape how organizations prepare their employees for an AI-driven workplace, the AI literacy requirement. We will compare the current obligation AI literacy obligation with the three competing positions that have emerged in the legislative process.

The European Commissions Proposed “Encouragement Framework”

Currently, the EU AI Act imposes a binding legal obligation on organizations to “ensure a sufficient level of AI Literacy of their staff”. In its original Omnibus proposal, the European Commission deviated substantially from this approach by replacing the binding obligation on organizations with a softer framework in which the European Commission and Member States would be tasked with “fostering” or “encouraging” organizations to ensure AI literacy. To some, the European Commission’s proposal represents a significant downgrade from a binding legal duty to a non-binding encouragement framework. Among those critics, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) and the European Data Protection Supervisor (“EDPS”) expressed their concerns with the proposal via a joint opinion in which they said: “Transforming the current obligation into an obligation for the European Cmmission and the Member States to ‘encourage’ providers and deployers to do so would significantly soften this obligation and ultimately undermine its very objective.”

Background Information Despite the initial criticisms levied by the EDPB and EDPS in response to the European Commission’s initial proposal, it’s important to remember that the EU Digital Omnibus package is still a legislative proposal. The contents of that proposal still need to undergo trilogue negotiations between the European Commission, The European Council, and the European Parliament before obtaining it’s final form. Trilogue negotiations are expected to commence in April 2026, with the Cypriot Presidency aiming for an agreed text in May 2026.

The Legislative Process

The European Commission, the European Council, and the European Parliament have all expressed their respective negotiating positions on the AI literacy requirement prior to the imminent trilogue negotiations. In other words, we already know the three positions from which the final outcome on AI literacy will be negotiated. As I have already  mentioned the European Commission’s position, lets now compare it to the positions of the European Council and the European Parliaments respectively:

European Councils Negotiating Position

On 13 March 2026, the European Council adopted their negotiating position where they effectively endorsed the European Commission’s approach, opting for a softer “encouragement” framework led by the Commission and Member States rather than a binding legal duty on organizations.

European Parliaments Compromise

As confirmed via plenary vote on 26 March 2026, Parliaments approach to the AI Literacy requirement can be understood as a compromise between the proposal put forward by the European Commission, and the concerns raised by the EDPB and EDPS. In a departure from the European Councils endorsement of the European Councils proposal, the European Parliament elected to reinstate a mandatory legal obligation on organizations (like the current AI Act wording), but with a modified standard. Instead of organizations being required to ensure a sufficient level of AI literacy, they would only be required to take measures supporting improvement of AI literacy among staff. For organizations, they will still be bound by a legal obligation concerning AI literacy, however, there is a significant easing on the legislative burden compared to the text of the current EU AI Act considering they would only need to prove they have “taken measures” to promote AI literacy, rather than guaranteeing a specific outcome (that all employees are AI literate.)

In addition to re-instating a (revised) legal obligation on organizations, European Parliament position also involves adding a new obligation for the European Commission to issue practical implementation guidance on how to apply the literacy requirement in practice. It’s the blended approach of re-instating a (lowered) legal obligation on organizations, while adding a new obligation for the European Commission to provide guidance to ease the legislative burden on organizations which gives the European Parliaments position the feeling of a compromise.

What does this mean going forward?

We need to see the results of the trilogue negotiations to be sure, but given the European Parliaments firm commitment to reinstate a legal obligation on organizations, and the EDPB and EDPS’s criticisms of the “encouragement” framework supported by the Commission and Council, the likely negotiated outcome will look most similar to the “compromise” position expressed by the European Parliament. For organizations grappling with AI literacy implementation, it would be wise to assume the maintenance of some form of legal obligation concerning AI literacy going forward.

Beyond the legal dimension, investing in AI literacy is simply good business practice. Your employees are likely already using AI-powered tools on a daily basis, and just as you train them in the use of any other tool that is essential to their work, enabling them to understand the AI systems they interact with is a matter of common sense. Whether or not the final trilogue text preserves a hard legal obligation, equipping your workforce with the knowledge to use AI effectively and responsibly benefits your organization either way.

Regardless of the final text, here are some recommended measures that your organization can already take: 

• Treat AI literacy as a binding obligation today: The EU AI Act has been in force since 2 February 2025 and remains unchanged until the Omnibus is adopted.
• Build a documented program now: active enforcement begins August 2026. Having evidence of a mature program will be advantageous.
• Do not count on the obligation being removed: even in the most business-friendly scenario, AI literacy will likely remain an organizational expectation.
• Prepare for Commission guidance: all positions agree on some form of Commission-issued implementation guidance, which your program should be ready to incorporate.
• Document everything: training materials, attendance logs, role mappings, competency matrices, and evaluation results will serve as compliance evidence under any final version of the obligation.

At Considerati, we will monitor the legislative process closely to provide you with timely updates and practical advice. If you have any questions on how we could help implementing AI Literacy requirement within your organization, or if you have any questions about the EU Digital Omnibus package in general, we’re happy to have an introductory call.