EU Council approves streamlined AI rules

The Council has given final approval to a regulation designed to simplify implementation of EU AI rules as part of the Omnibus VII package under the bloc’s simplification agenda. The measure seeks greater legal certainty and more harmonised application across the single market, while advancing the One Europe, One Market roadmap backed by the Cyprus presidency.

The regulation delays the application of rules for high-risk AI systems, setting 2 December 2027 for stand-alone systems and 2 August 2028 for systems embedded in products. It also postpones the deadline for national AI regulatory sandboxes until 2 August 2027 and reduces the grace period for transparency solutions for artificially generated content from 6 months to 3 months, with the new deadline set on 2 December 2026.

The new law adds prohibitions on AI practices involving non-consensual sexual and intimate content and AI-generated child sexual abuse material. It clarifies the AI Office’s role in supervising systems based on general-purpose AI models, preserves national authority in areas including law enforcement, border management, judicial authorities and financial institutions, and creates mechanisms to avoid overlap between AI act requirements and sectoral legislation for products such as medical devices, toys, lifts and watercraft.