Chapter 9 - European Harmonised Standards under the EU AI Act

Abstract

This contribution discusses the role of technical standards in the AI Act and, in particular, the links between European and international AI standardisation. Standards harmonise expectations and practices across industries and provide predictability for market participants, thus enabling global trade. At the same time, standards have been essential tools for compliance with European legislation, and their role is becoming even more prominent in the European Digital Single Market. To understand how and why standards are used in the AI Act, whether compliance with these standards is mandatory and which alternatives exist, one needs to know the legal rationale behind European standardisation and how it relates to the international rules and agreements pertaining to AI standards