Tech Commissioner Virkkunen is eyeing a revision of the AI Act reporting obligations while pushing hard for a “simplified” implementation and compliance support.
Before the EU’s landmark AI Act is even halfway to fully entering into force, the Commission is looking to revise it.
“We are very committed to the principles we have in AI act… but we’re also looking if there is extra administrative burden or some reporting applications that we could cut to make it easier for the businesses,” Virkkunen said after presenting her flagship AI Continent Action Plan on Wednesday.
With few big AI companies based in EU but many digital laws, the Commission is desperately touting “simplification” and doing everything it can to help European companies catch up in the AI race.
Activists worry the simplification push will water down the AI Act, through either lax implementation or revisions that obstruct meaningful enforcement.
“It is the credibility of the EU to consumers that is at stake,” said Frederico Oliveira da Silva, deputy head of digital rights at the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), adding the Commission should instead ensure legal stability and focus on robust implementation.
“I don’t see that it’s harming anyone if we are cutting some reporting applications,” Virkkunen said when pressed on whether changing the Act would cause uncertainty.
The AI Act will feature in a digital fitness check to identify targeted revisions of digital laws, but the Commission has tried hard not to say that the Act will actually be revised.
One goal of a consultation and call for evidence launched on Wednesday is to “identify further measures that are needed to facilitate a smooth, streamlined and simple application of the AI Act.”
The consultation “is also feeding now our simplification proposal,” said Virkkunen in a Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) hearing on Wednesday.
The focus in the action plan is on “steering” the AI Act implementation in an “innovation-friendly” way and putting in place compliance support structures like an AI Act service desk and regulatory sandboxes. A senior Commission Official said it “will be very careful” about a potential amendment of the law itself.
But they are very much not taking the option off the table.
In the digital simplification package, “nothing is excluded,” the official said.
(vp)