EU Plans for AI Liability Rules Under Scrutiny
The European Parliament’s Legal Affairs committee had an important meeting on Wednesday, where Henna Virkkunen, the EU Commissioner in charge of technology, discussed the AI Liability Directive. She explained that this directive would not create a uniform set of rules across the EU. "With a directive, each member state can implement the rules differently," Virkkunen noted. She emphasized the need for stricter regulations to ensure a single market across the EU.
Committee members were curious about why the Commission decided to pull back the AI Liability Directive. Earlier in the year, the Commission stated that they could not foresee any agreement on the proposal as part of its work plan for 2025, which raised concerns among lawmakers.
The AI Liability Directive was aimed at giving consumers a consistent way to seek compensation if they suffered harm from AI products or services. Proposed in 2022, the legislation has seen little progress since then. Virkkunen stated, "We need to fully implement the AI Act first. In recent years, the European Commission has introduced numerous digital regulations, and we need to simplify these before adding new ones."
Lawmakers are currently divided on the necessity of the AI liability rules. Axel Voss, a member of the JURI committee from Germany, is eager to continue working on the proposals. Conversely, Kosma Złotowski from Poland’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee believes that introducing an AI Liability Directive at this time is "premature and unnecessary."
During the hearing, Voss expressed that while simplification trends are important, having liability rules is essential for establishing a true digital single market. On the other hand, Sergey Lagodinsky from the Greens voiced confusion over the withdrawal and stressed the need for consultation among co-legislators. Meanwhile, Diego Solier from Spain and Svenja Hahn from Germany supported the Commission’s decision, arguing that existing laws already provide consumers adequate means for filing claims.
Earlier this week, various civil society and consumer groups urged the Commission to develop new AI liability regulations to address potential legal gaps. The Commission has until August to finalize its decision on the issue.
