The European Commission published, in 2020 the White Paper on Artificial Intelligence (AI). This Paper sets out policy options on how to achieve the twin objective of promoting the uptake of AI and of addressing the risks associated with certain uses of such technology.
On the other hand, the European Parliament (EP) and the EC have repeatedly expressed calls for legislative action to ensure a well-functioning internal market for AI systems where both benefits and risks of AI are adequately addressed at Union level.
Proposal for a Regulation on a European approach for Artificial Intelligence
In this context, the EC has published the Proposal for a Regulation laying down harmonised rules on AI.
Executive summary
The EC has published the Proposal for a Regulation on AI which aims to implement the development of an ecosystem of trust by proposing a legal framework for AI addressing issues such as prohibited practices for the sector, classification of high-risk IA systems or transparency obligations.
Main content
This Technical Note summarises the main aspects of this Proposal for a Regulation:
- Prohibited AI practices. Prohibited AI practices are mainly focused on subliminal techniques, exploiting vulnerabilities, misuse by public authorities and some biometric identification systems uses in public.
- High-Risk AI Systems Classification. The classification of an AI system as high-risk is based on the intended purpose of the AI system in line with existing product safety legislation.
- High-Risk AI Systems Legal Requirements and Obligations. There are obligations and legal requirements that providers of high-risk systems must comply with.
- Notifying authorities and notified bodies. It is set out a framework for notified bodies to be involved as independent third parties in conformity assessment procedures.
- Conformity assessment procedure. There is a conformity assessment procedure to be followed for each type of high-risk AI system. The procedure has the following key elements: harmonized standards conformity assessments, certificates and registration.
- Transparency Obligations for certain AI systems. Certain AI systems require transparency obligations so that natural persons are informed that they are interacting with an AI system.
- Measures in Support of Innovation. National Competent Authorities are encourage to set up regulatory sandboxes and sets a basic framework in terms of governance, supervision and liability.
- Governance and Implementation. A governance system is established at both the Union and National level for the purpose of directing, controlling and executing this Regulation.
- Codes of conduct. The main aim of the codes of conduct is to encourage providers of non-high-risk AI systems to apply voluntarily the mandatory requirements for high-risk AI systems.
Download the technical note by clicking here.