Civil society organisations, including the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), have urged the European Commission in a letter to introduce new rules on AI liability.
The letter was sent today after the Commission unexpectedly dropped in February its existing proposal on the AI Liability Directive from the 2025 Work Programme. The signatories, however, asked the Commission to come up with new AI liability rules.
The current EU rules on liability make it almost impossible for people to prove that an AI operator’s faulty behaviour led to a certain harm, the letter has argued. The withdrawal of the AI Liability Directive has also left legal gaps on how individuals can claim fair compensation if they are harmed by an AI system.
New AI liability rules that replace the Directive should include a “non-fault-based liability approach.”
Non-fault-based liability – which the recent rules on the EU Product Liability Directive have also used – means liability does not depend on a manufacturer’s fault or negligence, but on the fact that the product was defective and the damage was suffered by a person. According to the letter’s signatories, however, product liability rules are not “comprehensive enough” to cover all AI systems. While the rules cover some AI systems, they would not apply in case of harm, such as discrimination faced by an AI system used by insurance companies or banks.
Certain member states may have rules to protect consumers and individuals affected by AI but not all do. AI liability rules at an EU level would mean going from 27 different regimes to a harmonised system, the letter argued.
In 2022, the Commission proposed an AI Liability Directive to establish harmonised AI liability rules across member states for addressing claims of harm caused by AI systems. The Commission reasoned the withdrawal of the proposal in February due to “no foreseeable agreement.”
Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen is expected to attend a hearing in the JURI Committee of the European Parliament this week – the parliamentary committee that was negotiating the proposal, to justify the reason for the withdrawal of the proposal. The Parliament will decide on the next steps after the reasons are presented by the Commission.
There has not been an alternative proposal presented by the Commission on AI liability rules yet.