Commission should work on new AI Liability rules, civil society groups say
The European Commission has been urged to work on new AI liability rules after it pulled out of an existing proposal, in a letter sent to the EU executive on Monday by civil society and consumer groups.
The signatories — which include consumer group BEUC, and privacy advocates Article 19 and Mozilla – said that the 'EU needs rules to address the legal gaps left by the AILD withdrawal and ensure a fairer, simpler path to compensation for all people affected by AI systems, including consumers in the EU, in case of harm by an AI system.'
In the Commission's 2025 work program, presented in February, the EU executive said it plans to
scrap
the AI Liability Directive because 'no foreseeable agreement' is expected on the proposal.
The rules were intended to offer consumers a harmonised means of redress when they experience harm arising from AI products or services. They were proposed in 2022 but no significant progress has been made since.
The joint letter – addressed to EU Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen and Michael McGrath, the commissioner for consumer affairs – argues that new EU AI liability rules would prevent fragmentation across the Bloc and enhance trust in AI.
'Certain national regimes might adequately protect consumers and individuals affected by AI, but not all do. This leads to an unfair scenario where people harmed by an AI system in one member state would have better chances at being compensated than those located in a different member state,' the letter said.
Other rules, like the revised Product Liability Directive (PLD) also apply to AI systems, but the letter argues that legal gaps remain.
EU Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen has been
invited
to the Legal Affairs Committee on 9 April for a discussion on the topic.
The file has not yet been officially withdrawn, but the Commission will aim to do so by August, when it publishes a final work program.
Lawmakers are divided on the issue, and member states have not officially decided on their position.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
an hour ago
- Euronews
What does the Washington summit on Ukraine mean for the EU?
Seated around the same table at the White House, five European leaders, the President of the European Commission and the Secretary General of NATO rallied around the Ukrainian President to support his demands for peace in the presence of US President Donald Trump. The EU is back at the negotiating table on a possible peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, according to this expert. "I dare say that the EU is back but now we have to stand firm and show determination. And that also means a willingness to accept the risk, especially by giving Ukraine a security guarantee with troops on the ground," Sven Biscop, director of the Egmont Institute, a Brussels-based think tank, told Euronews. The priority for the Europeans was to push for security guarantees in Kyiv to be an integral part of any possible future peace agreement, to protect Ukraine from another Russian attack in the future. Security guarantees In a U-turn, the US President hinted for the first time that the US might provide Ukraine with security guarantees. "Trump said this time that the Europeans should provide a security guarantee coordinated by the United States," Biscop explained. "This is really a change of viewpoint because initially he was saying that this was the job of the Europeans and that the United States or NATO would not be involved. So it's a move in the right direction, but it's still not very detailed." An agreement has yet to be reached on what security guarantees the United States and the EU are prepared to provide to Ukraine. Article 5 The best would be one that comes closest to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, according to the director of the Egmont Institute. "A security guarantee means promising to go to war if your security is threatened. Anything less than that is support, but it is not a security guarantee. The best way to make this credible is to deploy troops to Ukraine after a ceasefire or peace agreement," says the researcher. Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Western allies would formalise security guarantees for Ukraine within the next ten days.
Euronews
3 hours ago
- Euronews
Costa: Allies must 'accelerate' work on Ukraine security guarantees
The European Union and allies must match the intense diplomatic activity to end Russia's war in Ukraine with increased "practical work" to provide Kyiv with security pledges including a NATO's Article 5-like guarantee, António Costa said on Tuesday. "After three and a half years of war, diplomatic activity is accelerating and there is growing momentum around providing Ukraine with security guarantees including the agreement of the US President Trump to participate in this effort," the European Council chief told reporters following back-to-back virtual meetings of the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" and EU leaders. "Now is the time to accelerate our practical work to put in place a guarantee similar to NATO's Article 5 with continued United States' engagement," he added. The two virtual meetings were convened following a gathering in Washington on Monday between US President Donald Trump and the leaders of Ukraine, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, the European Commission and the NATO secretary general. The meetings followed a summit last Friday between Trump and Vladimir Putin in which the Russian leader is said to have agreed that the US and European countries could provide Ukraine with guarantees similar to NATO's collective defence clause, according to US officials. Allies must now work out what this would look like in practice but for Europeans, who have been ganging up on Trump over the past week in a clear show of unity, the real breakthrough has been the commitment by the US president that Washington would participate in security guarantees for Ukraine. According to a readout of the meeting of the Coalition of the Willing shared by the UK prime minister's office — Britain co-chairs the group alongside France — "planning teams would meet with their US counterparts in the coming days to further strengthen plans to deliver robust security guarantees". They will also continue their work, started in March, to "prepare for the deployment of a reassurance force if the hostilities ended", Downing Street added. This reassurance force would involve allies sending boots on the ground in non-contact areas. Several countries, including the UK, France and Estonia have already indicated their willingness to do so. Other strands of work include strengthening the Ukrainian armed forces to ensure they remain a strong deterrent in the years to come. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated this on Monday in Washington, asking for more military equipment, training and intelligence data. The country, as well as EU institutions, also sees membership in the 27-member bloc as a security guarantee. Costa and Micheál Martin, the premier of militarily neutral Ireland, called for the EU to move forward with the enlargement process on Tuesday. But Ukraine's accession bid is being stalled by Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban had a different read of Tuesday's meeting, writing on X that "it has confirmed that Ukraine's membership in the European Union provides no security guarantees". "Therefore, linking membership with security guarantees is unnecessary and dangerous," he added. The European Commission, meanwhile, said on Tuesday that it welcomes that Putin has "changed his mind" about holding a bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy but that it will nonetheless submit its proposal for a 19th package of sanctions on Russia in "early September". "We need to continue to maintain absolute pressure on Russia," the Commission's deputy chief spokesperson Arianna Podestà said. "If Russia does not want to have more sanctions imposed on the country, it simply has to stop its war of aggression." Trump said on Monday that it should take "a week or two" to know "whether or not we're going to solve this".
Euronews
3 hours ago
- Euronews
Budapest threatens Kyiv with electricity cut after strikes on pipeline
Hungary on Monday made a thinly-veiled threat to cut off electricity supplies to Ukraine as the diplomatic row over damage to the Druzhba pipeline escalates. The fresh war of words erupted last week after a key distribution station of the Druzhba oil pipeline in Russia's Bryansk region was damaged in a Ukrainian drone strike, temporarily halting oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia. Ukraine carried out a second strike on the pipeline on Monday, this time targeting the Nikolskoye oil pumping station in Russia's Tambov region. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has criticised the Ukrainian authorities for carrying out the strikes on the pipeline, describing them as "outrageous and unacceptable" and writing that "whoever attacks our energy security is, in fact, attacking our sovereignty". The Druzhba pipeline delivers oil from Russia to Central Europe through Ukraine and Belarus. Hungary and Slovakia are the only EU member states still receiving large amounts of Russian pipeline oil after securing carve-outs in the bloc's sanctions targeting exports of Russian oil. Szijjártó said the Russian energy minister had informed him that experts are working on restoring the Nikolskoye station, but it is not clear yet when transport can resume. He also accused Ukraine of trying to drag Hungary into the war. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha responded to Szijjártó, reminding him that it was Russia that started the war and refuses to end it, and accusing Budapest of doing little to reduce its energy dependence on Russia. "You can now send your complaints—and threats—to your friends in Moscow," Sybiha wrote. Szijjártó has since doubled down on his criticism of Ukraine, adding: "A reminder to Ukrainian decision-makers: electricity from Hungary plays a vital role in powering your country…" This is not the first time that Hungary has threatened such a move. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a podcast interview last week that Ukraine would collapse in a day without electricity supplies from Hungary. 'We could arrange the collapse of Ukraine in one day, in one day, but it's not in our interest," Orbán said. "If an accident happens, a few poles fall, a few wires break, then Ukraine will stop," he added. According to data from the Hungarian government, Ukraine imported 2,14 terawatt-hour of electricity from Hungary in 2024, which is around 40 % of the country's total needs. When it comes to natural gas, more than half of the Ukrainian imports are coming through Hungary, 1,65 billion cubic meters in 2025 so far. The European Commission said on Tuesday that they are in contact with Hungary and Slovakia over the matter. "We have no clear information on who attacked the interconnector; however, we emphasize the importance of maintaining energy security. What is important is that the suspension does not affect the security of supply, which is always a priority for the European Commission," a spokesperson added.
