AI Compliance or Bureaucratic Burden: EU's AI Code of Practice Creates Risk of Regulatory Clashes

In an article published by Law360, Kristina Ehle and Marijn Storm discuss the anticipated third draft of the European Commission’s Artificial Intelligence Code of Practice (AI CoP), and the concerns among industry participants that the CoP may cause regulatory challenges, and be subject to legal challenges. As discussed in the article:

“The delay is caused by a request for extra time by the working groups that are currently drafting the AI CoP, and coincides with reports of serious criticism by major stakeholders who are expected to sign up to the AI CoP.”

“The AI CoP is intended to provide practical specifications of the general requirements for providers of general-purpose AI models included in the European Union AI Act. The purpose of the AI CoP is to enable efficient compliance and legal certainty. Instead, the AI CoP is now emerging as a source of legal concern.”

“The second draft of the AI CoP, released in December, significantly expands beyond the EU AI Act's legal framework, particularly in areas such as copyright protection, public transparency on training content, and reporting obligations.

“By extending its scope, the AI CoP risks interfering with other EU laws by introducing requirements deviating from existing regulations, notably in EU copyright law. This regulatory overreach further contradicts the EU's recent push to simplify EU rules and regulations, including the withdrawal of the proposed EU AI Liability Directive and EU e-Privacy Regulation as part of the European Commission's 2025 Work Program.”

Read the full article.