Artificial Intelligence: Council and Parliament agree to streamline the rules
The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement to simplify and streamline parts of the EU’s artificial intelligence rules under the AI Act. The changes aim to reduce administrative burdens for businesses, improve legal certainty, and support innovation while maintaining consumer protection and safeguards against harmful AI uses.
The agreement includes delaying the implementation of certain rules for high-risk AI systems to give companies and regulators more time to prepare technical standards. It also excludes machinery already covered by sector-specific regulations from the AI Act. In addition, the updated rules introduce a ban on AI systems that generate non-consensual explicit content and require watermarking of AI-generated material.
The proposal is part of the EU’s broader “Omnibus VII” simplification agenda, which seeks to streamline digital legislation and strengthen Europe’s competitiveness while preserving strong regulatory standards for AI technologies.