The ground-breaking draft European Union Act on Artificial Intelligence (AI), which has far-reaching implications beyond Europe (see here), is currently going through the legislative procedure of the European Parliament and Council. The draft AI Act is extraterritorial, sector-agnostic, carries steep noncompliance penalties and applies to multiple stakeholders across the AI value chain, including users and providers. It is the world's first attempt at comprehensive regulation of AI and it may well become the global standard. Adopting the AI Act is one of the priorities of the European Commission.
Mr. Axel Voss, the appointed rapporteur for the opinion of the parliamentary Legal Affairs committee on the draft AI Act, has launched a consultation inviting recommendations from businesses and the public on the proposed law. Mr Voss is well known for his involvement as rapporteur or shadow-rapporteur on initiatives concerning privacy and new technologies, including the General Data Protection Regulation, the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and the ePrivacy Regulation. The Legal Affairs committee is one of five committees providing an opinion on the draft AI Act, together with the two joint committees responsible (the Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee, and the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee).
The consultation seeks any ideas, suggestions and input on the draft AI Act, including on issues such as how to balance the required room for innovation with high safeguards for EU citizens, what the correct definition of AI should be, which AI systems should be categorised as high-risk, whether a stronger focus on ethical standards is required, and how the draft AI Act fits in the existing legal framework of the EU's Digital Single Market.
The deadline for submissions is 14 February 2022 and any input should be sent to Mr Voss's office via email, axel.voss@ep.europa.eu. The multiple stakeholders affected by the proposed AI Act would be wise not to miss this opportunity to contribute.
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