At the EU Digital Summit in Brussels on Wednesday 21 June, Brando Benifei (S&D, Italian), co-rapporteur of the future legislation on artificial intelligence (AI Act) (see EUROPE 13204/27), confirmed that the first political negotiations between the European Parliament and the EU Council will take place on 18 July. The Italian MEP expects complex discussions on a number of subjects.
The first round of interinstitutional negotiations (‘trilogue’) held under the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council should be an opportunity to insist on the need for partial application – or application limited to certain types of AI systems, such as generative AI – of the provisions of the future legislation.
The extension of bans, as set out in the European Parliament position adopted on 14 June in Strasbourg (see EUROPE 13201/1), should also form an important part of the discussions during the forthcoming negotiations.
“It could be a bit tricky, but I hope we’ll be effective. We need to conclude before the beginning of next year and we need to start the implementation process,as well as ‘AI Pact’ and the Code of Conduct on AI (see EUROPE 13194/3), as soon as possible”, commented Mr Benifei.
These two parallel initiatives to the ‘AI Act’, warned Mr Benifei, will be the subject of particular attention to ensure that they “do not have a problematic impact” on the work being carried out by the co-legislators.
“We want to be sure that we are making the best decisions for our citizens. This means not hesitating to introduce strict rules for new systems when they are needed. We want AI to strengthen our democracies, not weaken them”, he concluded. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)