Employers Set to Benefit from Proposed Changes to EU AI Act

Facing concerns from industry and citing implementation challenges at the governmental level, the European Commission this week proposed a deferral of aspects of the AI Act and proposed other substantial amendments.

Major proposed amendments include:

• Postponing enforcement of the “high-risk” provisions to December 2, 2027, or August 2, 2028, for systems deemed high-risk pursuant to EU harmonization legislation. 

This development is significant for employers, given that use of AI systems in “employment, workers management and access to self-employment” is one area deemed “high risk” and therefore subject to the Commission’s proposed deferrals. 

• Placing the onus on the European Commission and EU Member States to encourage AI literacy, rather than leaving it as an obligation falling only on providers of AI systems and deployers (i.e., employers).

The AI literacy requirement is already in effect, so this change would represent a substantive realignment of responsibilities. 

• Allowing the processing of sensitive, “special category” personal data for bias detection and mitigation purposes to the extent necessary, subject to protection protocols. Other measures like use of synthetic data must be explored and eliminated before such data could be used.
• Removing the registration obligation for providers that consider an AI system referred to in Annex III of the AI Act as not high-risk.
• Simplifying quality-management responsibilities for all SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) including start-ups.
• Facilitating regulatory sandboxes, with priority access to be given to small businesses. The Commission shall adopt EU-wide implementing acts for the sandboxes. 

The proposed amendments will now move to the European Parliament and the Council for consideration, where further substantive changes should be expected.