Latest news with #AILiabilityDirective
Euronews
31-07-2025
- Business
- Euronews
EU Commission confirms ditching of AI liability and patents proposals
The European Commission has formally withdrawn proposals for an AI Liability Directive and a Regulation on Standard Essential Patents (SEP), despite some resistance from lawmakers and member states, a spokesperson for the institution confirmed to Euronews. In its work program published last February, the Commission announced its plans to withdraw the two files because it saw 'no foreseeable agreement' being reached. Some MEPs and member states resisted the move, but this now seems to have been ineffective. They had six months to oppose the decision. The spokesperson said on Thursday that 'having considered their views, the Commission has confirmed the withdrawal.' The AI Liability rules were intended to offer consumers a harmonised means of redress when they experience harm arising from AI products or services. The rules were proposed in 2022, but no significant progress has been made since. Some lawmakers pushed for its continuation, including Axel Voss (Germany/EPP), claiming that they wanted to address AI Liability as soon as the AI Act was signed off. EU Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen said that the planned directive would have led member states to 'apply the rules in different ways'. 'We continue to listen to interested stakeholders, as we remain committed to having a balanced and fair regulatory environment of AI in the EU. We will be drawing lessons from the negotiations of the previous proposals," the spokesperson said. Standard essential patents - key to tech products The proposal on patents was further on in the decision-making process at the time when it was withdrawn. In April 2023, the Commission published its plan for a regulation on SEPs, which are patents that protect the technology deemed essential in a technical standard or specification, used in the automotive, smart energy, and payment industry. The rules were agreed by the Parliament in February 2024, before the Commission signalled this year it intended to withdraw the proposal, surprising many. Industry Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné told Parliament in April that the Commission withdrew the file with the hope to get a broader agreement. The Commission now says that 'neither the Parliament nor the Council adopted a clear signal of support for the SEP Proposal.' Adding, that if 'circumstances change' the Commission will revisit its policy stance, and 'consider an adequate policy response. In the meantime, the Commission will continue to monitor market and international developments aimed at overcoming SEP licensing frictions. Simplification Scrapping these files fits into the simplification agenda of this Commission. Commissioner Virkkunen previously announced carrying out a digital fitness check, which will result in an 'omnibus' simplification package set to be presented on 10 December. The EU executive aims to identify reporting obligations in existing digital legislation that can be cut to ease pressure on enterprises, particularly SMEs. Lawmaker Tiemo Wölken (Germany/S&D) said earlier this month that he will sue the Commission for lack of transparency regarding the two legislative files. Wölken said that the withdrawal came after Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US Vice President JD Vance met at the AI Summit in Paris. Requests to get access to Commission documents regarding this process were not answered. He filed a lawsuit with the General Court of the European Court of Justice. 'My access to documents requests were primarily an opportunity for the Commission to clear up such rumours. But instead, they decided to delay my requests, which is why I now ultimately have no choice but to take legal action to bring clarity and to obtain the documents concerned,' Wölken said.
Euronews
09-04-2025
- Business
- Euronews
EU Tech Commissioner defends scrapping of AI Liability rules
ADVERTISEMENT The AI Liability Directive would not have led to one set of uniform rules across the EU, Henna Virkkunen, the EU Commissioner responsible for tech, told members of the European Parliament's Legal Affairs committee (JURI) on Wednesday. 'With a directive, member states implement the rules in different ways,' Virkkunen said. 'I favour more regulations to make sure we have one single market,' she added, referring to the legal instrument that is equally binding across all member states. The committee members had ask ed the Commission why it withdrew the AI Liability Directive after the EU executive said it saw 'no foreseeable agreement' on the proposal in its 2025 work program published in February. 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. 'We need to fully implement the AI Act before we propose new rules – in the last years the European Commission has proposed a lot of digital rules and we need to simplify them before presenting something new,' Virkkunen said. Related EU Commission presents plans to boost AI uptake, protect critical sectors EU Commission to launch consultation on grand AI strategy Lawmakers have been divided over the need for the rules. The rapporteur in JURI Axel Voss (Germany/EPP), wants to keep working on the dossier. His counterpart in the Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee (IMCO), Kosma Złotowski (Poland/ECR), said in his draft opinion published in January that the 'adoption of an AI Liability Directive at this stage is premature and unnecessary.' Voss said in the JURI hearing on Wednesday that simplification is a trend 'but liability rules are needed anyway to create a true digital single market'. Sergey Lagodinsky (Germany/Greens) said he was 'very puzzled' about the reasons for withdrawal and said that co-legislators needed to be consulted. On the other hand, both Diego Solier (Spain/ECR) and Svenja Hahn (Germany/Renew) – members of the IMCO committee -- spoke out in favour of the Commission decision. Hahn said that the existing product liability laws and national tort laws are enough and that consumers have enough opportunities to file claims. In a letter to Virkkunen sent earlier this week, civil society and consumer groups called upon the Commission to work on new AI liability rules to fill 'legal gaps'. The Commission has until August to make a final decision on the matter.
Euronews
07-04-2025
- Business
- Euronews
Commission should work on new AI Liability rules, civil society groups say
ADVERTISEMENT 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.
Euronews
19-03-2025
- Science
- Euronews
NASA astronauts return to Earth after 9-month space mission
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Earth on Tuesday, closing a saga that began with a bungled test flight more than nine months ago. Their SpaceX capsule flew down into the Gulf of Mexico in the evening, a few hours after leaving the International Space Station, ending 286 days in space from what was supposed to be just a week-long mission due to problems with their Boeing Starliner capsule. A replacement crew with NASA's Nick Hague and Russia's Alexander Gorbunov flew up on a SpaceX capsule last fall with two empty seats to bring Wilmore and Williams back to Earth. 'On behalf of SpaceX, welcome home,' radioed SpaceX Mission Control in California as the crew stepped out of the capsule. 'What a ride,' replied Hague, the capsule's commander. "I see a capsule full of grins ear to ear". During their mission, Wilmore and Williams circled Earth 4,576 times and travelled 195 million kilometres by the time of splashdown. Williams even set a record on the flight for the woman with the most time spacewalking in their career. Wilmore and Williams quickly transitioned from guests to full-fledged station crew members, conducting experiments, fixing equipment, and doing spacewalks together. 'This has been nine months in the making, and I couldn't be prouder of our team's versatility, our team's ability to adapt and really build for the future of human spaceflight,' NASA's commercial crew programme manager Steve Stich said. Wilmore and Williams will have to wait until they're off the SpaceX recovery ship and flown to Houston before reuniting with their loved ones. The three NASA astronauts will be checked out by flight surgeons as they adjust to gravity, officials said, and should be allowed to go home after a day or two. The Starliner is still under an engineering investigation, according to the AP. So SpaceX will launch the next crew for NASA as soon as July. The European Commission will decide whether to definitely scrap its planned liability rules for artificial intelligence systems by August, a Commission official told lawmakers in the European Parliament on Tuesday. 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 Commission indicated, however, that the file could stay on the table if the EU Parliament and Council undertake to do extensive work on it over the coming year. The Commission official told the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) on Tuesday that it is waiting for the official views of both the Parliament and the member states and will then 'carefully think about the withdrawal'. The file has not been officially withdrawn, but the Commission need to do this in six months, starting from the publication of the work program. The Parliament itself is divided about the plans. The lawmaker responsible for steering the AI Liability proposal through the parliament, German MEP Axel Voss of the Legal Affairs committee, said the Commission's move was a 'strategic mistake'. The rapporteur in the IMCO committee, Kosma Złotowski (Poland/ECR), said in his draft opinion published in January that the 'adoption of an AI Liability Directive at this stage is premature and unnecessary.' The lawmakers in favour of withdrawing the rules say the consumers are protected by the Product Liability Rules as well as by the AI Act, which started to enter into force gradually. EU Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen has been invited to the Legal Affairs committee on 9 April for a discussion on the topic. Member states have not yet discussed the proposal to get rid of the rules at working party level.
Euronews
26-02-2025
- Business
- Euronews
European Parliament to grill Commission over ditched AI liability rules
The Legal Affairs committee in the European Parliament will ask European Commission representatives to explain why it wants to withdraw its AI Liability Directive proposal, Parliament sources have told Euronews. In the Commission's 2025 work program, presented earlier this month in Strasbourg, 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. Last week, group coordinators from the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) voted to keep working on liability rules for the time being. The Legal Affairs committee, which leads the Parliament's work on the issue, has not yet officially decided what to do, but will get together early March to decide on the next steps. The Parliament is divided over the need for the rules, however, with the centre-left, left and greens in favour of continuing with the file, whereas the centre-right and conservative groups, including ECR and EPP, broadly behind scrapping the plan. The rapporteur in the IMCO committee, Kosma Złotowski (Poland/ECR), said in his draft opinion published in January that the 'adoption of an AI Liability Directive at this stage is premature and unnecessary.' Regarding the member states, Euronews understands that there are no plans to discuss the Commission's proposal to get rid of the rules, at working party level. The question of what value they would add has been raised several times by member states during the examination of the proposal in the Council, the EU official said. The Brussels tech lobby and consumer organisations were likewise divided about the need for additional rules.
