AI liability directive
In “A new plan for Europe's sustainable prosperity and competitiveness”
The European Commission published a proposal for a directive on adapting non-contractual civil liability rules to artificial intelligence (so-called AI liability directive) on 28 September 2022.
In its 2020 report on the safety and liability implications of artificial intelligence, the internet of things and robotics, the Commission identified the specific challenges posed by artificial intelligence to existing liability rules. The European Parliament voted in 2020 a legislative resolution by Axel Voss (EPP, DE) calling for harmonising the legal framework for civil liability claims and for imposing a regime of strict liability on operators of high-risk AI systems.
In the draft AI liability directive, the Commission proposes to complement and modernise the EU liability framework to introduce new rules specific to damages caused by AI systems. The new rules intend to ensure that persons harmed by AI systems enjoy the same level of protection as persons harmed by other technologies in the EU. The AI liability directive would create a rebuttable 'presumption of causality', to ease the burden of proof for victims to establish damage caused by an AI system. It would furthermore give national courts the power to order disclosure of evidence about high-risk AI systems suspected of having caused damage.
In parallel, the Commission published a proposal to revise the product liability directive (PDL) that covers producer’s no-fault liability for defective products (see specific carriage on new product liability directive).
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) adopted opinions on the proposal respectively on 25 January 2023 and 11 October 2023.
In the EP, the file is attributed to the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) and Axel Voss (EPP, Germany) is appointed as rapporteur. IMCO and LIBE are associated committees for opinion with respectively Kosma Zlotowski (ECR, Poland) and Axel Voss designated as rapporteurs for opinions.
The discussions on that file were suspended until the adoption of the closely linked AI Act but have recently resumed with the Commission sending an updated version of the proposal in line with the wording of the AI Act in July 2024 (see carriage on the Artificial intelligence Act). The JURI committee requested a complementary impact assessment study from the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS). The study was published on 19 September 2024, proposing that the AI liability directive should extend its scope to include general-purpose and other 'high-impact AI systems', as well as software. It also discusses a mixed liability framework that balances fault-based and strict liability. Notably, the study recommends transitioning from an AI-focused directive to a software liability regulation, to prevent market fragmentation and enhance clarity across the EU.
The JURI committee had an exchange of views on the AILD proposal that took place on 5 December 2024 where parliamentarians expressed different views on the need to harmonize the non-contractual civil liability regime for AI products in the EU. The JURI committee organized a hearing on the proposal along with the presentation of the EPRS's AILD complementary assessment study on 30 January 2025. The rapporteur aims to publish his draft report on 4 June 2025. This is expected to be followed by a vote in the JURI Committee in January 2026 and a vote in the Parliament’s plenary session in February 2026. The Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) - committee for opinion on the file - has published a timetable for the adoption of the opinion that should be ready end of January and voted in the Parliament’s plenary session in May 2025.
In Council, preliminary discussions have been held in meetings of the Working Party on Civil Law Matters and Member States comments on the proposal were published in October 2024. The Polish presidency expressed interest to continue to work on the AILD proposal during its six-month tenure (January - June 2025).
References:
- EP Legislative Observatory, Adapting non-contractual civil liability rules to artificial intelligence (AI Liability Directive), 2022/0303(COD).
- Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, AI Liability Directive timetable, December 2024.
- European Parliament, Committee on Legal Affairs meeting, 5 December 2024.
- Council, Comments from member States on the proposed AI Liability Directive, October 2024.
- Council, Overview of the current legislative proposals under the Swedish
Presidency, March 2023 - European Parliament, , Resolution on a civil liability regime for artificial intelligence, (2020/2014(INL))
- Economic and Social Committee, Artificial intelligence liability directive, January 2023
- European Data Protection Supervisor, Opinion 42/2023 on the proposals for two
directives on AI liability rules, October 2023 - European Commission, Report on the safety and liability implications of Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things and robotics, COM/2020/64 final
- European Commission, Adapting liability rules to the digital age, the circular economy and global value chains, June 2021
- European Parliament, Committee on Legal Affairs draft report with recommendations to the Commission on a Civil liability regime for artificial intelligence, 2020/2014 (INL)
Further reading:
- European Parliament, EPRS, Proposal for a directive on adapting non-contractual civil liability rules to artificial intelligence: Complementary impact assessment, Study, September 2024
- European Parliament, EPRS, Artificial intelligence liability directive, Briefing, February 2023
Author: Stefano De Luca, Members' Research Service, legislative-train@europarl.europa.eu