
Cookies, consent, and clicks – will the EU new ‘Reject All’ rules work?
Cookies have been around since the early days of the internet. The “Accept All” button has become a routine reflex for many. But even the “Reject All” button disguises hundreds of so-called “legitimate interest” tracking.
Now the EU wants to fix this loophole in its landmark privacy rules, claiming users would save 198 million hours a year with new changes – but will these really empower users or reshape old problems into a new form?
Owen Carpenter-Zehe



![EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič outlined how “more than 40 percent of our €51bn in services trade [with canada] is delivered digitally.”](https://static.euobserver.com/2026/03/P-069102_00-10_02-HIGH-285994.jpg)













![OpenAI (creator of ChatGPT) will invest $500bn [€422bn] over the next four years into AI infrastructure. For comparison, the EU Commission wants create €200bn in investment towards AI infrastructure](https://static.euobserver.com/2023/05/258406f96541ba09a95c130f68a18555.jpg)