We saw it coming, just maybe not this soon! A bit like Google and the blocking of third-party cookies, nobody ever really bought it… The Digital Omnibus, the project that was meant to make cookie banners disappear across Europe, is already being called into question. On 18 June 2026, the EU Council removed Article 88b of the GDPR from the Digital Omnibus, the flagship measure that would have introduced an automated consent signal managed directly at browser level. In plain terms: cookie banners are not going away. Here is what you need to know, and what it changes for websites.

What Article 88b was supposed to do

In autumn 2025, the European Commission proposed replacing banners with an automated signal. The idea: users set their preferences once at the level of their browser or device, and that signal is then transmitted automatically to the various sites they visit. A similar mechanism already exists in California. An interesting idea in principle, but disconnected from reality: complex to implement, in direct conflict with the granularity of consent that the GDPR requires, and above all reinforcing the monopolistic position of Google, which would have been handed the keys to consent. Flaws that were obvious to e-privacy players, and that quickly got the better of this false good idea.

Why the EU Council reversed course

In its latest position submitted for a vote, the Council simply removed Article 88b. According to the NGO noyb, several Member States including Germany, France and Poland had demanded this removal in advance, under pressure from the ad tech lobby. As proof, a Google lobbying paper, revealed by noyb and relayed by Politico, raised the spectre of online advertising collapsing.

The paradox: governments that publicly call for less red tape are now defending the survival of cookie banners.

What it changes in practice

For websites, nothing moves. Current obligations stay in place:

• Consent remains governed by Article 7 of the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive.
• Refusing must be as simple as accepting, with equal visibility. The French CNIL and the EU courts keep sanctioning misleading banners.
• Banners and CMPs remain essential, and must be audited regularly.

One caveat: the file is not closed. The Digital Omnibus is still under parallel negotiation in the Council and the European Parliament, which has not yet taken a position on Article 88b. A compromise will have to be reached between the two institutions.

The real issue is not the banner, it’s the refusal rate

Whether banners stay or go, the underlying problem does not change: 30 to 40% of users refuse cookies. For a publisher, that is lost advertising revenue. For an advertiser, it is a shrinking addressable audience.

This is exactly where Gimii comes in. Our solidarity pop-in is shown only to users who have refused cookies, and offers them the chance to consent in exchange for a donation to a charity of their choice. The result: up to 30% of consent recovered within a few months, higher advertising revenue, donations for charities, and a 60% tax deduction for the company. Compatible with One Trust, Didomi, Axeptio, Cookiebot, CommandersAct and others.

As long as the banner remains the gateway to consent, turning a refusal into a meaningful yes is the best answer available. And that is exactly what Gimii does.

Sources: noyb | Leto | Osborne Clarke | Taylor Wessing