EU Council Gives Final Approval to the AI Act — May 21, 2024
The Council of the European Union formally adopted the Artificial Intelligence Act, clearing the final legislative hurdle before publication in the EU Official Journal and triggering phased compliance deadlines.
The adoption confirms the text agreed with Parliament, locking in prohibitions on unacceptable AI, obligations for high-risk and general-purpose systems, and penalties up to €35 million or 7% of global turnover. The Council highlighted timelines for bans on social scoring and real-time biometric surveillance, GPAI transparency duties, and the creation of the EU AI Office.
- Implementation timeline. Most rules will apply two years after entry into force, with earlier deadlines for prohibitions and general-purpose model obligations.
- Governance structure. The law establishes an AI Board of national regulators, a scientific panel, and the Commission’s AI Office to coordinate supervision.
- Enforcement. Member states must set penalties and resource market surveillance authorities to audit high-risk deployments.
EU-focused product teams should finalise compliance roadmaps ahead of the act’s staged enforcement milestones following Official Journal publication.