Sweden Confirms Push for AI Act Pause; EC Hints at Simplifying Measure
Swedish Prime Minister and Moderate Party Leader Ulf Kristersson will raise pausing the implementation of the EU AI Act at the European Council meeting this week in Brussels, his office confirmed to us Wednesday.
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A Kristersson spokesperson also confirmed a reported quote from the prime minister, the first government head to call for a pause, that the AI rules are "confusing" because they're coming into effect without the existence of common standards.
The EC "is fully committed to the main goals of the AI Act, which include establishing harmonized risk-based rules across the EU and ensuring the safety of AI systems on the European market," an EC spokesperson emailed Wednesday. "Our commitment and goals remain the same."
At the same time, the spokesperson added, the EC is working on an upcoming digital simplification omnibus. "In this simplification context, all options remain open for consideration at this stage."
Last month, there were suggestions that the European Commission might postpone the applications and enforcement of some provisions of the law that haven't come into effect, an article from DLA Piper noted June 4.
However, the article added, "At the time of writing, any postponement remains a subject of discussion, and no formal plans have been tabled. As things stand, those designing compliance programs ought to be implementing them to meet the AI Act's published timetable rather than banking on the possible delayed entry into force."