The Council of the EU agreed its negotiating position on changes to digital rules on 21 October, including revised treatment of cookies and other tracking technologies. The announcement was updated with the Council mandate on 22 October.

Its position keeps cookie rules within the e-privacy framework, while adding or clarifying purposes for which placing cookies would not require consent. The Council gives audience measurement, necessary service provision and device security as examples.

This is a negotiating mandate, rather than an adopted change that online shops can implement. The Council says talks with the European Parliament will begin once Parliament has agreed its own position.

For shop operators, the distinction matters when assessing claims that cookie banners are about to disappear. The announcement does not establish a blanket exemption for analytics or advertising tools, and it supplies no implementation date for a final law.

Our reading: keep this on the watchlist for future measurement and consent planning. A headline about simpler rules is not a basis for changing a live consent setup before the final scope and application dates are known.

Source: Council of the EU, 21 October 2026; updated 22 October. Checked 28 October 2026.