The Audience Measurement Coalition (AMC) acknowledges the Commission’s ambition to simplify the EU’s digital rules, specifically in relation to the ePrivacy Directive and GDPR, through the Digital Omnibus Proposal.

The proposal does not address, however, the operational realities of a transparent and healthy media market, which includes the ability for Joint Industry Committees and research suppliers to provide official audience measurement reports, ie. verified and impartial audience metrics necessary for market trust, commercial transactions, regulatory compliance, and digital transparency. The AMC is raising an urgent concern regarding the Digital Omnibus proposal’s article 88a(1)(c) which, as currently written, would unintentionally hamper reliable, independent audience measurement across Europe.

The provision allows online services to measure their audience without seeking consent, but only if the data is accessed and collected by the organisation “solely” for its “own use”. While this is helpful for a company’s own internal activities, it ignores the manner in which trusted media metrics are produced. For the media market to function fairly—allowing advertisers, media organisations, agencies and regulators to compare performance across different services (TV, press, radio, digital)—measurement must be conducted by independent providers, such as Joint Industry Committees (JICs) and research suppliers, who enforce a single, uniform methodology and ensure impartiality.

By excluding independent bodies and research suppliers from the provision, the proposed new rule would support the production of fragmented, internal-only reports. These reports would not enable comparability in the market, rendering the data unusable for advertisers, regulators, and the media market. This would undermine the very transparency, impartiality, inclusiveness, proportionality, non-discrimination, comparability and verifiability that article 24 in the 2024 European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) seeks to guarantee. It would contradict its attempt to support and further develop self-regulated industry agreed measurement. Furthermore, it does not consider the precedent set in the draft ePrivacy Regulation discussions, where a specific legal basis for the purpose of audience measurement, including for authorised third parties, received wide political support both in the European Parliament and in the Council.

Additionally, we took note of the approach in article 88b concerning the placement of centralized consent preferences under operating system control. While we appreciate the crucial carveout for media services, the provision may fundamentally alter the way digital markets operate across Europe, with possible ripple effects that cannot yet be foreseen. A comprehensive impact assessment should therefore be conducted covering matters such as technical, security, commercial, and open web market dynamics before such a mechanism is enshrined in EU law.

The AMC remains committed to a constructive dialogue with the Commission, European Parliament and Council to ensure that the final Digital Omnibus text will be consistent with other  European instruments and uphold media market fairness and transparency.