Upholding consumer protections in the Digital Omnibus on AI

The EU AI Act has been designed to ensure safety, transparency and ethical deployment of AI systems across the EU while protecting consumers’ fundamental rights. There is a careful balance of interests which the EU’s Digital Omnibus now risks overturning.

The proposed reopening of the Artificial Intelligence Act exposes consumers to unnecessary risks and more legal uncertainty. It would undermine compliance efforts that responsible businesses have made. It would also compromise essential consumer protections and erode trust in digital products and services.

BEUC's publication summarises key recommendations to uphold the high standards consumers enjoy in the EU:

• Restrict processing of special data for bias detection;
• Maintain registration obligations for high-risk system;
• Regulatory privileges should remain exclusive to SMEs and EU start-up;
• Reject the reversal of AI literacy obligation;
• Clarify governance and enforcement framework;
• Reconsider “Stop the Clock” timeline.