The regulation, which will enter into force as soon as it also receives the final approval of the States, has been approved in Strasbourg with 523 votes in favor and only 46 against
The European Parliament has overwhelmingly approved a regulation on artificial intelligence (AI), which is now only awaiting formal ratification by the states to become the world’s first comprehensive law aiming to regulate a technology that is transforming the planet. The legislation, which aims to protect citizens‘ fundamental rights without hindering innovation, was approved by 523 votes to 46, with 49 abstentions. Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market and a strong advocate of the law, hailed the «crushing» support of MEPs for a law that he said makes Europe a «global regulator of reliable Al«. The law could come into effect within a few months, following a final «legal-linguistic check«, as the law’s text has not yet been translated into all official languages. Once approved, the law will come into force 20 days after being published in the Official Journal, at which point its gradual implementation will begin, with full implementation by 2026. The first steps will be the establishment of the Al Office, which will oversee compliance with the regulations. The law sets different requirements and obligations for Al applications depending on the risks they pose. Those considered low risk, such as spam filters or duplicate text detectors, can be used without any restrictions. Those considered unacceptable risk are completely prohibited, while high-risk ones will require continuous supervision. The regulation has been five years in discussion and its final text was only agreed last December, still under the Spanish presidency of the EU, after 38 hours of marathon meetings between the Parliament, Commission, and Council. The approval of the law is only a «starting point«, emphasized Dragos Tudorache, another lead reporter of the European Parliament. He indicated that the implementation will be key to regulate powerful tech platforms approved in this European mandate, which will conclude with the European elections in June.
