EU AI Office: a preliminary analysis
On 29 May 2024, the European Commission revealed further information about the creation of the EU AI Office. Organisational changes will take effect on 16 June 2024, with initial meetings and guidelines expected soon after. CAIDP Europe applauds the timely establishment of the EU AI Office but regrets the opacity that has surrounded it.
Human-centric AI governance is key to ensure proper application and enforcement of the EU AI Act. We are looking forward to a real consultation process on the contents of each unit, and transversal coordination on fundamental rights protection within the Directorate‑General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CNECT) and with other DGs. In the meantime, CAIDP Europe carried out a first analysis of the EU AI Office by comparison with the previous structure of the EU Commission.
The EU AI Office results from a slight adaptation of the European Commission’s Directorate on AI and Digital Industry (CNECT A). The question of the contribution from the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (DG JUST), in charge of fundamental rights, including data protection, has still to be clarified. So does the establishment of a coordination platform with the Digital Services Act or the Digital Market Act governance structures.
CAIDP Europe also welcomes the organisation of the first European AI Office’s webinar (recording available here) with an interactive Q&A session on risk assessment and compliance requirements for both high-risk AI systems and general-purpose AI models with systemic risks. In both cases, prevention and mitigation of negative impact on fundamental rights are key. CAIDP Europe however regrets the lack of discussion on fundamental rights aspects.
We are looking forward to knowing more about the EU AI Office's insights on the necessary safeguards to be operationalised in order to ensure fundamental rights protection risk assessment and compliance with EU AI Act do not make fundamental rights violations permissible. Fundamental rights protection is guaranteed through the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and relevant EU legislation that ought to be respected. With regard to standards, CAIDP Europe is looking forward to knowing how the EU AI Office will implement the recent case law of the EU Court of Justice which ensures free access to harmonised standards (CJEU Grand Chamber, Case C588/21 P, 5 March 2024). Citizens' access to standards is crucial to enable them to verify
Whether a given product or service complies with the requirements of the EU AI Act;
Whether the standards comply with the requirements of the EU AI Act.
As a civil society organisation, CAIDP Europe is committed to make sure of it.