Reaction to the AI Act vote in committee

Today , the European Parliament’s IMCO and LIBE committees have adopted their amendments to the AI Act’s proposal, laying the foundation stone for a vote in the June plenary session and the start of trilogue negotiations over the summer.

DIGITALEUROPE’s Director General Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl said:

“Today’s vote brings the AI Act closer to reality. With the emergence of generative AI, it is important that digital businesses have clarity on how the new regulation will affect them and their products. At first glance, the text today strikes a good balance but we will continue to work on the finer details. How we define AI and the potential risk of each use will have huge implications for Europe’s competitiveness and ability to take advantage of a market that is set to be worth €1.3 trillion by 2030. 

Besides legal clarity, we need to make sure that companies, especially smaller ones, have plenty of support and guidance as they implement the regulation, as well as harmonised standards. Great efforts should also be made to align with international partners, for example at the upcoming Trade and Technology Council (TTC) meeting with the US.  Finally, before we rush to impose compliance obligations on businesses, we need time to test-try (or sandbox) the proposed regulation on companies before it enters into force.”