AI Office director Lucilla Sioli, said that the AI Act would be part of the Commission’s digital package for which the Commission work programme 2025 announced an impact assessment by the end of the year.
After regulation took a back seat to investment and growth at the AI Summit, concerns have been raised about the future of EU AI regulation.
Sioli spoke on a panel on Wednesday about privacy and AI. Replying to a question about the Commission’s plans for the upcoming digital package, she said that the AI Act will be part of the digital omnibus, but that no “big review” of the AI Act should be expected. The Commission is “simply looking at how to simplify some aspects for SMEs” said Sioli.
The assessment will likely focus on the intersection with other legislation, Sioli clarified to Euractiv on the sidelines.
However, it remains unclear whether this means the AI act would be re-opened.
The Commission had announced that the legislation would be part of an assessment of “whether the expanded digital acquis adequately reflects the needs and constraints of businesses such as SMEs and small midcaps.”
The digital package will also tackle cybersecurity reporting, and data-sharing rules, confirmed Commissioner Šefčovič in a press conference.
This is the first mention of the digital package by the Commission as an “omnibus.” At the press conference held by Šefčovič, he explicitly said that it would not be.
“I cannot confirm that the Commission will reopen the AI Act,” Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told Euractiv when asked to confirm Sioli’s statements. The Commission did not respond to a request to deny that it was considering reopening the Act.
