What the Digital Omnibus does
The Commission's proposal (COM(2025) 543, 19 November 2025) is a horizontal "omnibus" amending several digital-acquis instruments. The AI Act amendments are the most consequential. The substantive moves:
- Article 113 application dates. The original Article 113 conditioned the high-risk start date on the readiness of harmonised standards. The Omnibus replaces that conditional mechanism with fixed dates: 2 December 2027 for Annex III stand-alone high-risk systems; 2 August 2028 for AI embedded in Annex I regulated products.
- Watermarking (Article 50(2)). A revised application date for the synthetic-content marking obligation: 2 December 2026 under the 7 May 2026 provisional agreement (Parliament had sought 2 November 2026; the Council 2 February 2027).
- Article 96 EU AI Office tasks. Adjustments to coordinate the AI Office's role in the standards process.
- Conformity-assessment language. Tightened to reflect that the original "as soon as standards are available" mechanism is gone.
What it does not do:
- It does not change the Article 5 prohibited-practices regime. Those have applied since 2 February 2025 and continue to apply.
- It does not change the GPAI regime. GPAI obligations have applied since 2 August 2025.
- It does not change the substantive obligations for high-risk systems — Articles 9 through 27 remain as drafted.
- It does not change Article 111(2) transitional provisions for systems already on the market.
Where the institutions agree
- Replace the conditional standards-based trigger with fixed dates.
- 2 December 2027 for Annex III systems.
- 2 August 2028 for Annex I embedded products.
- Maintain the original AI Act framework otherwise — both institutions explicitly rejected reopening the high-risk obligations themselves.
Where the institutions disagreed (resolved by the 7 May 2026 provisional agreement)
- Watermarking date. Parliament wanted 2 November 2026; the Council wanted 2 February 2027. The provisional agreement landed on 2 December 2026.
- "Nudifier" amendment. Parliament's negotiating position adds a ban on AI-generated sexual or intimate content without the depicted person's consent. The provisional agreement of 7 May 2026 includes it as a new Article 5 prohibition on AI generation of non-consensual intimate imagery and child sexual abuse material, applying from 2 December 2026 with a reasonable-foreseeability standard.
- Procedural specifics. Several technical drafting points around Article 96 and the standards-coordination function.
Why the standards readiness matters
The original "conditional" Article 113 was tied to the publication of harmonised standards by CEN-CENELEC JTC 21. As of April 2026, JTC 21 has not delivered the high-risk standards portfolio (the work programme runs through 2026 with several deliverables targeting late 2026 and early 2027). If standards are still missing in August 2026 and the Omnibus has not yet been published, providers face Article 113 as drafted — meaning conformity assessment with no harmonised-standard presumption of conformity (Article 40), which is operable but materially harder.
Timeline risk: the September–November window
Political agreement was reached on 7 May 2026. Translation, formal adoption by the Council and Parliament, signature, and Official Journal publication typically take 2–4 months from political agreement. The institutions intend to complete adoption before 2 August 2026, but a realistic publication window still straddles the existing 2 August 2026 application date.
If publication is before 2 August 2026: the new dates apply from publication; original Article 113 never fires.
If publication is after 2 August 2026: original Article 113 fires for the high-risk regime on 2 August. The amending regulation, when it lands, retroactively or prospectively (depending on how the entry-into-force clause is drafted) shifts the substantive enforcement date. Most observers expect a brief gap during which providers in good-faith compliance with the outgoing Article 113 will not face enforcement — but there is no formal moratorium.
What expert advice converges on
Across CMS, DLA Piper, A&O Shearman, and the major academic centres, the practical advice is consistent: plan for 2 August 2026. The Omnibus is highly likely to pass in some form, but timing is uncertain and the amending regulation is the only hard ground for replanning. Pre-Omnibus compliance investments are not wasted — the substantive obligations do not change; only the application date might.
What to monitor
- Formal endorsement votes in Parliament and Council (the 7 May 2026 agreement is provisional until they happen).
- Legal-linguistic revision of the agreed text.
- Official Journal publication (typically a Tuesday).
- JTC 21 standards deliveries — even if dates shift, the standards still need to land.