Digital Omnibus: the Commission proposes to delay parts of the AI Act
2025-11-19 · Publisher : Commission européenne · Domain : Artificial Intelligence
In its "Digital Omnibus", the Commission proposes to delay the AI Act's high-risk rules, as the standards are not ready. The text, adopted in 2026, sets the deadlines at December 2027 and August 2028.
What changes
- High-risk system rules, due in August 2026, are postponed because harmonized standards and designated authorities are lacking.
- The final text sets December 2, 2027 for stand-alone systems and August 2, 2028 for systems embedded in products.
- SME relief is extended to mid-sized companies; the AI Office's powers are strengthened.
- Co-legislators add a ban on AI-generated non-consensual intimate content and child sexual abuse material.
- Provisional agreement on May 7, 2026, adoption in June, entry into force on July 27, 2026.
On November 19, 2025, the European Commission presents its "Digital Omnibus", a simplification package touching several texts (GDPR, cookie rules, data) with a specific AI Act component. The starting point: the harmonized standards needed for high-risk system compliance are not ready, and many Member States have not designated their competent authorities. ### What happened - **The proposal**: link the application of the high-risk rules to the availability of standards and compliance tools, with backstop dates, instead of the August 2, 2026 deadline. - **Other measures**: extending some SME simplifications to mid-sized companies, lighter registration for systems not classified as high-risk, a stronger role for the AI Office. - **Legislative path**: Council position on March 13, 2026, Parliament position in March, provisional agreement on May 7, Parliament vote on June 16 (423 in favor, 57 against, 174 abstentions), Council adoption on June 29, entry into force on July 27, 2026. ### Key figures | Obligation | Original deadline | Deadline after the omnibus | |---|---|---| | Stand-alone high-risk systems (Annex III) | August 2, 2026 | December 2, 2027 | | High-risk systems embedded in products (Annex I) | August 2, 2027 | August 2, 2028 | | Marking of AI-generated content | August 2, 2026 | December 2, 2026 | ### Why it matters It is the first revision of the AI Act, less than two years after its adoption. It confirms Europe's shift toward competitiveness, in line with the Draghi report, and gives companies more time to prepare for the heaviest obligations. ### Caveats Civil society organizations saw it as a weakening of the regulation under industry pressure. The delay removes no obligation: it shifts the timeline, and the prohibitions as well as the rules on general-purpose models still apply. ### Key takeaways For high-risk projects (recruitment, credit, critical infrastructure), compliance still has to be prepared, but with deadlines pushed back to late 2027 and 2028.
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Tags : IA, Régulation, AI Act, Europe, Simplification