European Parliament’s legal committee seeks involvement in AI group

The European Parliament’s Legal Affairs committee (JURI) has requested membership of the cross-parliamentary monitoring group on the AI Act, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The group, which still needs to be formalised, was first meant to involve only the Parliament’s committees on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and is tasked to oversee the implementation of the AI Act.

Composition of the working group could be decided during the next IMCO committee meeting – which is scheduled for 14 October. 

Lawmaker Brando Benifei (Italy/S&D), who was co-rapporteur on the AI Act in the previous legislature, said at an event earlier this week that the group will be up and running mid-October.

The AI Act – which aims to regulate AI systems according to the risk they pose to society – entered into force early August. The general-purpose AI rules will apply one year after entry into force and the obligations for high-risk systems in three years’ time.

Similar working groups were set up in the Parliament’s last mandate, on the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which will continue with the incoming Parliament.

The members of these groups were the rapporteurs of the committees involved in the files and they were chaired by the rapporteurs of each file. In the case of the AI Act, MEPs involved could be Benifei, Axel Voss (Germany/EPP) and Alexandra Geese (Germany/ Greens-EFA). 

Working groups focus on the implementation process for laws, scrutinise delegated acts related to the legislation and invite European Commission and industry representatives to discuss new developments. Their meetings are mostly private, but some are public during regular committee meetings.

When the Commission presented the AI Act in 2021, Parliamentary committees wrangled over which should take charge in shaping the response of lawmakers. This led to a coordinated effort between the IMCO and LIBE committees, with Benifei and Dragos Tudorache (Romania/Renew) as co-rapporteurs.

Euronews reported last month that the Commission is seeking to bring several existing rules in line with the AI Act: it is preparing the revision of technical aspects of the Medical Device and the In Vitro Regulation, for example.