Brussels, BELGIUM – Today, the European Commission’s AI Office published the second draft of the upcoming Code of Practice for providers of general-purpose AI (GPAI) models. Getting the Code right is essential for implementing the EU’s landmark AI Act.
Unfortunately, this new draft includes measures already explicitly rejected by EU co-legislators during the AI Act negotiations. Ideas previously dismissed that have been resurrected include mandatory third-party assessment and differentiated treatment between smaller and larger GPAI developers.
If left unchecked, the Code risks becoming an undemocratic vehicle that overturns the AI Act’s legislative process. This second iteration also contains measures going far beyond the Act’s agreed scope, such as far-reaching copyright measures, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA Europe) warns.
The current drafting process risks dashing the high expectations of AI developers and innovators, with the content of the latest version already suffering tremendously.
Stakeholders were given very little time to review the first draft, only 10 days, and it is unclear how the hundreds of stakeholder responses were reviewed and accounted for within two weeks. Concerns about the drafting process have been widely echoed by Members of the European Parliament and industry in recent days and weeks.
CCIA Europe urges the Commission to take control of the process and fix it. That means granting stakeholders and independent experts sufficient time to submit comments, and ensuring their concerns are addressed in the next draft of the Code. Otherwise, this process cannot reasonably produce a workable Code that stands the test of time.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Europe’s Senior Policy Manager, Boniface de Champris:
“Right now, Europe’s draft GPAI Code still lacks fundamental safeguards. It would jeopardise the trade secrets and confidential information of companies, and introduce measures that directly threaten the safety and security of AI models.”
“It is perplexing to see that this second draft falls short in critical areas when compared to the initial version.”
“The Code of Practice’s success will be vital for general-purpose AI model developers, but also the broader AI ecosystem as well as the competitiveness of Europe’s industrial base and economy at large. However, developer adherence to the Code is seriously at risk without major improvements in the next draft.”
