BusinessEurope
EU employers' confederation representing 20 million companies; backed softer AI-literacy wording in the Digital Omnibus.
Last refreshed: 1 July 2026
BusinessEurope won softer AI-literacy wording in the Digital Omnibus, so who lost?
Timeline for BusinessEurope
Backed the softened wording exempting employers from a duty to ensure worker comprehension
AI: Jobs, Power & Money: Brussels fixes AI Act job deadlineWhat is BusinessEurope?
Why did BusinessEurope support the Digital Omnibus AI-literacy change?
Who is the president of BusinessEurope?
Background
BusinessEurope backed the softer support wording that replaced the AI Act's original ensure duty on workplace AI-literacy training when the Council of the European Union gave the Digital Omnibus final adoption on 29 June 2026 . The change shifts responsibility for fostering AI literacy away from individual employers and towards the European Commission and member states.
Founded in 1958 as UNICE and renamed BusinessEurope in 2007, the Brussels-based confederation represents 42 national business federations and roughly 20 million companies across 36 European countries, and is formally recognised as a social partner at EU level.
BusinessEurope's win on the AI-literacy wording sits opposite the European Trade Union Confederation's reading of the same change as a weakening of workers' legal protections, a split that runs through the wider Digital Omnibus negotiation over how FAR the EU should loosen the AI Act's original compliance duties.