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As is known, there are two enforcement deadline years for the AI legislation: a) 2026, for new models, and b) 2027, for other models. Since the Commission started drafting the rules in September 2024, the whole process had been widely criticized. Tech giants (together with the publishers and copyrights-holders) are worried that the AI rules will violate the EU’s copyright laws and restrict innovation; besides, companies claim they do not have enough time to comply before the rules are applied this August.
Background
The European integration concept has been initially based on “moving the member states together” (as the “European model”); hence using politico-economic and regulatory means. This concept is widely used presently in the EU-wide digital transition and in the context of artificial intelligence (AI), whose impact, as a transformative technology, reaches far beyond the tech sector. This is why the present European AI law is “laying down harmonized rules on AI” among the member states.
Reference to the Regulation 2024/1689 of 13 June 2024 in: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L_202401689.
More on the regulation’s history in: https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/the-act/
Like all previous industrial revolutions, including the digital, Internet and AI presently have shaped the modern political-economy’s patterns. Thus, the European AI legislation intends to regulate artificial intelligence systems in view of the risks they pose to business and societies; the AI law has partially entered into force in August 2024, but will fully apply only in 2027.
At a time of unprecedented technological, economic and geopolitical change, the European Union strives to lead in AI innovation and adoption of the EU wide AI legislation, which will be critical for meeting the competitiveness and sovereignty challenges; the latter are clearly identified by Mario Draghi in the last year’s report.
More on the report in: https://www.integrin.dk/2024/09/09/eu-wide-competitiveness-challenges-and-perspectives-in-draghi-report/
AI Champions initiative
The mentioned European integration model -unfortunately- has been currently disrupted by unclear, overlapping and increasingly complex laws and regulations, as revealed by the EU-wide experts. It puts European AI ambitions at risk, jeopardizing the development of European champions and the ability of science, societies and industries to deploy AI at the scale required by global competition.
Leaders of the European corporate community (including SMEs, multiple industrial sectors and national governance – collectively employing millions of workers) feel compelled to strive for changes. As soon as European states have had important growth advantages: such as a strong industrial base, abundance of talents and world-class researchers, a culture of openness and collaboration, and elaborate regulatory framework. Hence, the EU-wide business has welcomed the Commission’s AI continental action plan coped with the regulatory simplification.
Supporters of the EU AI Champions initiative also welcomed discussions considering the need to postpone the enforcement of the AI law as relevant guidelines and standards in the right direction (aka, and continue to be developed); various industries work together to find common digital solutions.
CEOs from more than 40 European companies including ASML, Philips, Siemens and Mistral, are asking Commission for a “two-year clock-stop” on the AI law before key legal obligations enter into force this August. To address the uncertainty that the AI legal implementation is creating, the initiative’s authors have urged the Commission for a delay of the act, before its key obligations enter into force, in order to allow both for reasonable implementation by companies, and for further simplification of the new rules.
More in the “champions” letter at: https://aichampions.eu/
Suspending enforcement’s logic
First of all, mentioned consumer groups’ initiators have warned against delays and backtracking the privacy issues of the AI Act: i.e. the growing pressure regarding a potential stop-the-clock mechanism is problematic, they say.
Re-opening the AI Act or delaying its rules from entering into force would undermine existing key accountability mechanisms of over 50 organizations – including Access Now, Centre for Democracy and Technology Europe (CDT) and the European Consumer Organization (BEUC), the initiators warned recently the EU Technology Commissioner Henna Virkkunen.
At the same time, the letter expresses concern over “growing pressure regarding a potential ‘stop the clock’ mechanism to suspend or delay the implementation and enforcement of the AI Act.”
The EU ‘simplification’ agenda should not be used to drive deregulation, especially in the absence of credible evidence that this would be necessary or effective,” the letter says, adding that the EU rules are based on fundamental values and principles, as well as “efforts to simplify should build on hard-won legal protections, not dismantle them.”
The “move” comes following calls earlier in July by the CEOs from more than 40 European companies including ASML, Philips, Siemens and Mistral, to the Commission to impose a “two-year clock-stop” on the AI Act before key obligations enter into force this August.
They said that the delay was “both for reasonable implementation by companies, and for further simplification of the new rules.”
More in: Kroet C. Euronews (09.07.2025) “Privacy, consumer groups warn against delays and backtracking on AI Act” in: https://www.euronews.com/next/2025/07/09/privacy-consumer-groups-warn-against-delays-and-backtracking-on-ai-act?insEmail=1&insNltCmpId=2012&insNltSldt=10080&insPnName=euronewsfr&insUuid=NWY2OGY1NmMtYTM0Ni00MDM1LTgwNDItNzQ2YzI3OTE2MTZm&isIns=1&isInsNltCmp=1
Arguments for “slowing down” the AI law
Europe’s top CEOs call in a letter for Commission to slow down on AI Act: i.e. the call adds to ongoing concerns about the short timeframe in which companies will have to comply with a set of voluntary rules on general-purpose AI.
“This postponement, coupled with a commitment to prioritize regulatory quality over speed, would send innovators and investors around the world a strong signal that Europe is serious about its simplification and competitiveness agenda,” the letter says.
Source to the letter in: https://aichampions.eu/
More on the issue in another article by Kroet C. in the Euronews (03.07.2025); source: https://www.euronews.com/next/2025/07/03/europes-top-ceos-call-for-commission-to-slow-down-on-ai-act
Besides, the Commission’s AI ambitions risk fueling Big Tech dominance, watchdog warns. Public support for European AI start-ups could end up strengthening the dominance of US tech giants like Microsoft and Amazon, a new report finds.