Why you should be planning now for Rapid Regulatory Impact Workshops in early 2026

If you work in data, digital or AI, I can imagine that you’re probably looking at the EU’s Digital Omnibus proposals with a mix of interest and exhaustion. Between the AI Act 2.0 changes, the Data Act amendments, and the GDPR/ePrivacy reforms, the landscape is shifting fast, and yet nothing is final - all quite frustrating especially when you know your leadership team are asking whether you have things under control.

Right now, detailed planning is probably unrealistic for most companies:

• The proposals will go through the usual EU legislative process and may be compromised or reshaped in trilogues.

• The timeline could accelerate if the European Parliament applies its urgent procedure under Rule 170, as it has done for previous omnibus packages.

• Many leadership teams are focused on year‑end priorities, budgets and close‑out, not on new cross‑functional change programmes.

So this is probably not the moment to design a full implementation programme around legal texts that are still in motion.

But it is the right time to plan how you will respond, and when.

Why Q1 2026 is your window for rapid analysis

From early 2026 onwards, we will hopefully have:

• A clearer picture of how the Parliament and Council want to shape the proposals.

• Better visibility of what’s likely to survive into the final texts and what is politically fragile.

• A realistic view of whether the Parliament is going to fast‑track the Digital Omnibus package using Rule 170.

That makes Q1 2026 the ideal moment for leaders to run short, focused “rapid analysis” workshops that:

• Take the latest draft legislation as input.

• Produce a first‑cut view of business impacts, risks and opportunities.

• Sketch out what work needs to be scheduled, and who needs to be involved.

• Begin a draft business case for funding the most important work packages.

You’re not committing to final solutions at that point because you’re putting in place a flexible structure that can easily adjust as the law finalises, but still demonstrates that you are in control.

How Purpose and Means can help

We’ve developed a proven facilitated workshop format that can be used in‑person, online, or hybrid, specifically designed for times like this, when rules change but uncertainty is still high. We have facilitated the workshops for data protection teams in a number of global companies, as well as a European data protection authority. The format is built to:

• Ingest new or updated laws and regulations quickly (AI, data, privacy, sector‑specific rules).

• Analyse business impacts across ways of working, tools & technology, people & organisation, and data/metrics.

• Turn those impacts into a prioritised set of work packages: what needs doing, in what order, and by whom.

• Produce a draft business case you can use to justify budget and resources as part of your planning cycle.

The result is not a legal memo that sits in a drawer. It's a set of living documents and a clear story you can present to your executive team: here’s what’s coming, here’s what it means for us, and here’s how we’re going to stay in control.

What you can do now

Given year‑end realities, you don’t need to start the workshops immediately. Instead:

1. Reserve capacity in Q1 2026 for one or more rapid analysis sessions, timed around key EU legislative milestones.

2. Decide who your core cross‑functional group will be (legal, data/AI, IT, product, infosec, operations, risk/compliance).

3. Identify the trigger: for example, “Once the Parliament and Council agree their positions, we convene a workshop within 4–6 weeks.”

If you’d like to be ready to move quickly, get in contact to hear how our facilitated workshop format works in practice. We can help you set up a clear, credible response plan so that when these regulations do land, whether on the standard timeline or via an urgent Rule 170 procedure, you can demonstrate to your leadership team that you have things under control.