EU Council approves AI Act simplification package

The EU Council gave final approval on 29 June 2026 to a regulation simplifying parts of the AI Act under the Omnibus VII legislative package. The measure is intended to streamline the EU’s digital framework, improve legal certainty and support more harmonised implementation of AI rules across the single market.

The regulation delays application of high-risk AI requirements that had been due to apply on 2 August 2026. The new deadlines are 2 December 2027 for stand-alone high-risk AI systems and 2 August 2028 for high-risk AI systems embedded in products. National authorities will also have until 2 August 2027 to establish AI regulatory sandboxes.

The law adds a prohibition on AI practices that generate non-consensual sexual and intimate content or child sexual abuse material. It also reduces the grace period for providers to implement transparency solutions for artificially generated content from 6 months to 3 months, with the new deadline set on 2 December 2026. The text further clarifies the AI Office’s role in supervising systems based on general-purpose AI models, while preserving national authority powers in areas including law enforcement, border management, judicial authorities and financial institutions.