Europe Just Gave Itself 16 More Months on AI Safety Rules
The European Parliament approved amendments delaying key EU AI Act high-risk obligations from August 2026 to December 2027 — though the rules requiring AI systems to disclose themselves to users stay on schedule.
The European Parliament granted final approval on 16 June 2026 to material amendments to the EU AI Act, delaying application of certain significant obligations for high-risk AI systems and simplifying other rules.
The amendments follow sustained industry pressure and concern about the EU's own ability to release supporting compliance frameworks and guidance on time. They sit within a wider EU effort to streamline digital regulation through so-called "omnibus" measures.
At the time of the Parliament vote, the next step was European Council formal adoption, followed by publication in the Official Journal — expected complete by 2 August 2026. Until that happened, the Act's original form remained law.
The practical effect, once in force: standalone Annex III high-risk systems — covering recruitment, credit scoring, biometric identification, law enforcement, education and border-control tools — get until 2 December 2027 to comply, a 16-month extension from the original 2 August 2026 deadline. AI embedded in regulated products under Annex I, such as medical devices, machinery and vehicles, gets until 2 August 2028.
One category of obligation is untouched: Article 50 transparency rules — including disclosing to users when they're interacting with an AI system, and deepfake or AI-content labelling — proceed on the original 2 August 2026 schedule regardless.
The advice to businesses from legal counsel tracking this: treat the delay as an extension of time to complete compliance work, not a material relaxation of what's ultimately required.
Source: Morgan Lewis