Opportunity to Improve the AI Act – Will the EU Seize the Moment?
The European Union seeks to simplify its extensive digital regulatory framework to ensure that innovation is not impeded by unnecessarily complex or burdensome rules. As part of this effort, the European Commission has presented a Digital Omnibus on AI, which amends and streamlines certain elements of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act). The objective is to ensure that the AI Act is practically applicable, legally clear, and proportionate, while maintaining a high level of protection for fundamental rights and consumer safety.
Regulatory Burden and Competitiveness
Within the EU, there is an increasing awareness that excessive regulatory burden undermines competitiveness. Against this background, the Commission proposes several key changes:
- Extended timelines for the application of provisions relating to high-risk AI systems.
- More flexible rules governing data processing in the development of AI systems.
- Simplified compliance requirements for smaller businesses.
The overall aim is to reduce administrative costs and create more favorable conditions for innovation.
Main Positions of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise
The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise outlines several critical points regarding the AI Act:
- The date of application of the rules governing high-risk AI systems is highly time-critical and should be addressed separately.
- An insufficiently clear delineation of what constitutes high-risk AI creates significant legal uncertainty. Regulation should be based on actual risks, rather than on specific technologies or entire sectors.
- The requirement relating to AI literacy should be removed, as legislative intervention is unnecessary for companies to ensure appropriate handling and use of AI systems.
- The ability to process special categories of personal data is necessary for purposes such as bias mitigation; however, the current proposal is not sufficient to achieve substantive effects.
- The ability to test AI systems in real-world conditions is essential for innovation, effective risk management, and system adaptation.
- Administrative simplifications are welcome, but regulatory requirements must be designed so that all undertakings, regardless of size, can comply.
- Overlapping regulatory requirements need to be addressed and streamlined.
Conclusion
The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise considers the EU’s Digital Omnibus on AI to be a first step towards a more predictable and less bureaucratic regulatory framework capable of strengthening competitiveness. For Swedish companies, it is crucial that the EU seizes this opportunity to address key shortcomings in the AI Act, ensuring it is proportionate, technology-neutral, and based on clear, risk-based requirements and timelines that make compliance feasible in practice.
