June 15, 2026 • 11 mins
The European Union is already revisiting the AI Act before many companies have even completed their first compliance assessments.
In this episode, Giulio Coraggio and Antonio Ravenna discuss the impact of the changes introduced by the EU Digital Omnibus package and what businesses should expect next from the evolving European AI regulatory framework.
The conversation explores:
• why the European Commission proposed changes to the AI Act
• the simplification measures affecting high-risk AI systems
• the relationship between the AI Act and machinery legislation
• the new timelines and delegated acts expected from the Commission
• whether the reforms will simplify compliance or increase uncertainty
• what companies should do now to prepare for AI governance obligations
Giulio Coraggio is a technology and data lawyer at the global law firm DLA Piper, where he focuses on artificial intelligence, privacy, cybersecurity, digital regulation, and technology transactions. He regularly advises international companies on AI governance and compliance strategies.
Antonio Ravenna is a journalist focused on artificial intelligence, innovation, and digital transformation, regularly covering the evolution of AI regulation and its impact on businesses and society.
As AI becomes embedded in everyday business operations, AI governance can no longer be postponed. The regulatory framework may evolve, but the need for responsible AI management remains critical.
Subscribe for more insights on artificial intelligence regulation, privacy, cybersecurity, technology law, and digital innovation.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
I'm Giulio Coraggio.
(00:00):
And I'm Antonio Ravenna.
And today we're gonna talk aboutthe changes introduced by the
Digital Omnibus to the AI Act.
SPEAKER_01 (00:08):
And we're gonna make it during the time of a coffee
break.
So, Julio, what happened duringthe negotiation for the digital
omnibus?
SPEAKER_00 (00:19):
Well, the negotiations on the digital
omnibus have been ongoing formore than a year now.
SPEAKER_01 (00:26):
It's a very long time.
SPEAKER_00 (00:27):
It's really a long time.
Uh bear in mind that the nextdeadline for the UAI Act is the
2nd of August of this year.
So basically, companies werereally in a stressful situation
because they had an approachingdeadline that the ongoing
negotiations they didn't knowwhether the deadline was gonna
(00:49):
be postponed and uh they were ina sort of limbo.
SPEAKER_01 (00:53):
So there was a lot of uncertainty.
SPEAKER_00 (00:55):
Absolutely, and uh well, I would say the
uncertainty is still therebecause um we know that an
agreement was reached.
Uh apparently the meeting uhended uh at four in the morning.
And uh that reminds us thenegotiations uh uh on the UAI
Act.
Uh all of us were on uh XTwitter, uh how it's called now,
(01:19):
uh following uh the trilogue,the discussions, the discuss
negotiations between theParliament, Commission, and the
Council on the text of the UAIAct.
And it's so surprising that umafter uh uh after a year they
need to revise the text.
SPEAKER_01 (01:38):
So let's get practical.
What companies should be doingin the next, I don't know, like
three months.
SPEAKER_00 (01:44):
Well, uh they should be doing what uh they have been
doing now because uh uh the uhagreement uh that was reached on
the digital omnibus um uh istrue that uh introduced um uh uh
among others an extension of uhthe most approaching deadlines.
At the same time, companies arealready adopting AI solutions.
(02:08):
Um the idea behind the digitalomnibus changes was to avoid
duplications.
Uh this was driven mainly byGermany because uh, in relation
to machinery, for instance,there was um a risk that um on
top of the already burdensomeobligations in provided by uh uh
(02:32):
machine-specific regulations,then there was an additional
layer uh of obligation when AIwas embedded uh into machines.
And we know that uh the um forinstance the the um IoT industry
within Germany is so strong andthat is normally powered up by
(02:53):
AI, so basically compliance wasgonna become uh an additional
cost uh that um is moremanageable by very large
corporations, and uh sobasically what had to become a
competitive advantage forEurope, so regulating, I said,
(03:14):
um, a common play field foreveryone was gonna turn into a
disadvantage because uh we knowthat the uh giant um US
corporations have more financialcapabilities, so they can afford
uh on the one hand uh largerfines, on the other hand, um
(03:35):
additional complianceobligations, while the smaller
uh European companies uh don'thave uh normally, well obviously
with some exceptions, uh theeconomy of scale uh that allows
to absorb the additionalcompliance burden.
And uh so basically uh this wasturning into a disadvantage for
(03:59):
uh European companies.
SPEAKER_01 (04:01):
So a lot of certification we can say.
SPEAKER_00 (04:03):
Yeah, I mean uh uh someone would say it's a useless
stratification, uh, because umthe type of certifications that
are already provided uh by uhsector-specific uh legislation,
like let's think about uh thelife sciences sector.
Uh it's really high heavilyregulated, and introducing an
(04:30):
additional obligation ofcertification for uh high-risk
uh AI systems would was gonna uhfirst of all delay the entrance
into the market, uh, secondlyincrease the costs, and uh in a
nutshell was uh uh turning intoum less effective services for
(04:53):
the European um uh economy andat the same time uh uh more
reduced resources also to becomemore competitive uh uh globally.
What I can see is uh theagreement on the digital uh
omnibus is the first time, asfar as I remember, that uh
(05:15):
Europe understood that they needto have an approach that is sort
of uh uh market driven.
They need to understand that uhregulations cannot work in in uh
silence.
So I regulate this piece of amachine, I regulate this other
piece, and uh and uh they it'son companies to put all the
(05:41):
pieces together.
Uh while um the Europe nowunderstood that they need to put
themselves into the shoes of umuh European companies uh that uh
have uh when they put all thepieces together need to then uh
offer their services on themarket, and uh they need to have
(06:03):
a more um uh kind of um um uhmarket-driven approach.
They need to understand whenthese layers of um legislation
become too burdensome, they areturning into a disadvantage.
While uh I'm not saying that uhthe US approach of total
deregulation is should be therule, but um a right balance
(06:29):
should uh understand whenregulating is necessary and when
it is um excessive.
So it's the first time that uhthere is a this sort of
acknowledgement by uh Europe.
There could be definitely aturning point.
I mean, we we see the same withthe GDPR that is so much
(06:49):
principle-based.
Sometimes um I always say uhthat um uh privacy rights are
used by individuals in anabusive manner at the moment,
uh, to to damage, for instance,their employers, to get some
money from their suppliers.
(07:10):
Uh while um it's true that um umthere should be an ethical
approach uh to business, but umuh then uh basically if uh the
economy is not growing, everyoneis paying more and everyone is
having a worse living.
SPEAKER_01 (07:31):
So what's really changed with these digital
omnibus in the AI sphere?
SPEAKER_00 (07:36):
Well, first of all, uh the we were saying before, uh
duplications are reduced.
So when in when there is uh umsector-specific legislation, uh
then uh the the additional layerof obligations under uh the UAI
Act uh are is complete is uh notremoved totally but is
(08:01):
considerably reduced.
Uh secondly, the deadlines ofAugust of this year uh are
postponed to 2027, the end of2027, and for um AI solutions
that uh have um sector-specificlegislation to uh 2028.
(08:21):
I mean this all shows that umthe uh legislator understood
that the economy wasn't uhwasn't ready uh to afford this
legislation.
Uh let's bear in mind that theUAI Act is the first uh
legislation that came into placebefore before the hype of that
(08:43):
of the technology because we'restill at um the infancy of the
this uh uh legislation.
Uh so let's see, because uh uhmy big question, and uh it's uh
oh maybe a question also for theaudience um having a legislation
that applies to a technologythat is so evolving uh in a very
(09:05):
quickly manner and uh will comeinto place in two to three
years.
Uh, are we really sure that thislegislation can properly fit uh
with a technology that in two tothree years might be
considerably different?
Uh, just a last message, if Ican, um Antonio.
Uh the worst strategy for abusiness would be to say, okay,
(09:29):
now I have more time.
I I can uh I can pose.
I mean uh uh let's bear in mindthat uh companies' operations uh
have considerably changed overthe last 12 months because AI is
now embedded in their operationsand it will be more and more.
If you think that you have moretime and you can adopt solutions
(09:51):
without doing a complianceassessment that should have a
sort of a long-term view, umthen you risk uh that um uh once
this technology is an essentialcomponent of your operations,
you realize that uh thesesolutions are not compliant, and
(10:12):
uh just uh removing that pieceof technology from your
operations or making thatcompliant would be so expensive.
So it's not that the messagefrom uh the you is not that you
have more time, uh you you cantake a break.
Uh you have more time to becomecompliant because they realize
(10:36):
it takes longer.
SPEAKER_01 (10:37):
So, in a nutshell, it is uh really, really big news
for everyone.
SPEAKER_00 (10:42):
Well, it's it's it's it's a it's a big news.
I I remember what happened withthe GDPR that we we we knew it
was coming, but then we stillremember the long nights of uh
May 2018.
Uh this is this cannot happennow because um, first of all,
some provisions of the UAI Actare already in place.
(11:04):
Uh, and secondly, uh thechanging the direction, changing
the technology at a later stageuh might be in some cases not
affordable.
SPEAKER_01 (11:16):
So thank you, Julio.
This is fantastic news for everycompany, and it is very, very
clear that they should not justrest on this news but continue
to acting through theimplementation of the AI Act.
SPEAKER_00 (11:28):
You know, sometimes clients say that I'm
hyperactive, well also my kidsuh say that.
Uh yeah, I mean uh we're here tohelp them and uh thank you
Antonio for the career.
I'm Giulio Coraggio.
(00:00):
And I'm Antonio Ravenna.
And today we're gonna talk aboutthe changes introduced by the
Digital Omnibus to the AI Act.
SPEAKER_01 (00:08):
And we're gonna make it during the time of a coffee
break.
So, Julio, what happened duringthe negotiation for the digital
omnibus?
SPEAKER_00 (00:19):
Well, the negotiations on the digital
omnibus have been ongoing formore than a year now.
SPEAKER_01 (00:26):
It's a very long time.
SPEAKER_00 (00:27):
It's really a long time.
Uh bear in mind that the nextdeadline for the UAI Act is the
2nd of August of this year.
So basically, companies werereally in a stressful situation
because they had an approachingdeadline that the ongoing
negotiations they didn't knowwhether the deadline was gonna
(00:49):
be postponed and uh they were ina sort of limbo.
SPEAKER_01 (00:53):
So there was a lot of uncertainty.
SPEAKER_00 (00:55):
Absolutely, and uh well, I would say the
uncertainty is still therebecause um we know that an
agreement was reached.
Uh apparently the meeting uhended uh at four in the morning.
And uh that reminds us thenegotiations uh uh on the UAI
Act.
Uh all of us were on uh XTwitter, uh how it's called now,
(01:19):
uh following uh the trilogue,the discussions, the discuss
negotiations between theParliament, Commission, and the
Council on the text of the UAIAct.
And it's so surprising that umafter uh uh after a year they
need to revise the text.
SPEAKER_01 (01:38):
So let's get practical.
What companies should be doingin the next, I don't know, like
three months.
SPEAKER_00 (01:44):
Well, uh they should be doing what uh they have been
doing now because uh uh the uhagreement uh that was reached on
the digital omnibus um uh istrue that uh introduced um uh uh
among others an extension of uhthe most approaching deadlines.
At the same time, companies arealready adopting AI solutions.
(02:08):
Um the idea behind the digitalomnibus changes was to avoid
duplications.
Uh this was driven mainly byGermany because uh, in relation
to machinery, for instance,there was um a risk that um on
top of the already burdensomeobligations in provided by uh uh
(02:32):
machine-specific regulations,then there was an additional
layer uh of obligation when AIwas embedded uh into machines.
And we know that uh the um forinstance the the um IoT industry
within Germany is so strong andthat is normally powered up by
(02:53):
AI, so basically compliance wasgonna become uh an additional
cost uh that um is moremanageable by very large
corporations, and uh sobasically what had to become a
competitive advantage forEurope, so regulating, I said,
(03:14):
um, a common play field foreveryone was gonna turn into a
disadvantage because uh we knowthat the uh giant um US
corporations have more financialcapabilities, so they can afford
uh on the one hand uh largerfines, on the other hand, um
(03:35):
additional complianceobligations, while the smaller
uh European companies uh don'thave uh normally, well obviously
with some exceptions, uh theeconomy of scale uh that allows
to absorb the additionalcompliance burden.
And uh so basically uh this wasturning into a disadvantage for
(03:59):
uh European companies.
SPEAKER_01 (04:01):
So a lot of certification we can say.
SPEAKER_00 (04:03):
Yeah, I mean uh uh someone would say it's a useless
stratification, uh, because umthe type of certifications that
are already provided uh by uhsector-specific uh legislation,
like let's think about uh thelife sciences sector.
Uh it's really high heavilyregulated, and introducing an
(04:30):
additional obligation ofcertification for uh high-risk
uh AI systems would was gonna uhfirst of all delay the entrance
into the market, uh, secondlyincrease the costs, and uh in a
nutshell was uh uh turning intoum less effective services for
(04:53):
the European um uh economy andat the same time uh uh more
reduced resources also to becomemore competitive uh uh globally.
What I can see is uh theagreement on the digital uh
omnibus is the first time, asfar as I remember, that uh
(05:15):
Europe understood that they needto have an approach that is sort
of uh uh market driven.
They need to understand that uhregulations cannot work in in uh
silence.
So I regulate this piece of amachine, I regulate this other
piece, and uh and uh they it'son companies to put all the
(05:41):
pieces together.
Uh while um the Europe nowunderstood that they need to put
themselves into the shoes of umuh European companies uh that uh
have uh when they put all thepieces together need to then uh
offer their services on themarket, and uh they need to have
(06:03):
a more um uh kind of um um uhmarket-driven approach.
They need to understand whenthese layers of um legislation
become too burdensome, they areturning into a disadvantage.
While uh I'm not saying that uhthe US approach of total
deregulation is should be therule, but um a right balance
(06:29):
should uh understand whenregulating is necessary and when
it is um excessive.
So it's the first time that uhthere is a this sort of
acknowledgement by uh Europe.
There could be definitely aturning point.
I mean, we we see the same withthe GDPR that is so much
(06:49):
principle-based.
Sometimes um I always say uhthat um uh privacy rights are
used by individuals in anabusive manner at the moment,
uh, to to damage, for instance,their employers, to get some
money from their suppliers.
(07:10):
Uh while um it's true that um umthere should be an ethical
approach uh to business, but umuh then uh basically if uh the
economy is not growing, everyoneis paying more and everyone is
having a worse living.
SPEAKER_01 (07:31):
So what's really changed with these digital
omnibus in the AI sphere?
SPEAKER_00 (07:36):
Well, first of all, uh the we were saying before, uh
duplications are reduced.
So when in when there is uh umsector-specific legislation, uh
then uh the the additional layerof obligations under uh the UAI
Act uh are is complete is uh notremoved totally but is
(08:01):
considerably reduced.
Uh secondly, the deadlines ofAugust of this year uh are
postponed to 2027, the end of2027, and for um AI solutions
that uh have um sector-specificlegislation to uh 2028.
(08:21):
I mean this all shows that umthe uh legislator understood
that the economy wasn't uhwasn't ready uh to afford this
legislation.
Uh let's bear in mind that theUAI Act is the first uh
legislation that came into placebefore before the hype of that
(08:43):
of the technology because we'restill at um the infancy of the
this uh uh legislation.
Uh so let's see, because uh uhmy big question, and uh it's uh
oh maybe a question also for theaudience um having a legislation
that applies to a technologythat is so evolving uh in a very
(09:05):
quickly manner and uh will comeinto place in two to three
years.
Uh, are we really sure that thislegislation can properly fit uh
with a technology that in two tothree years might be
considerably different?
Uh, just a last message, if Ican, um Antonio.
Uh the worst strategy for abusiness would be to say, okay,
(09:29):
now I have more time.
I I can uh I can pose.
I mean uh uh let's bear in mindthat uh companies' operations uh
have considerably changed overthe last 12 months because AI is
now embedded in their operationsand it will be more and more.
If you think that you have moretime and you can adopt solutions
(09:51):
without doing a complianceassessment that should have a
sort of a long-term view, umthen you risk uh that um uh once
this technology is an essentialcomponent of your operations,
you realize that uh thesesolutions are not compliant, and
(10:12):
uh just uh removing that pieceof technology from your
operations or making thatcompliant would be so expensive.
So it's not that the messagefrom uh the you is not that you
have more time, uh you you cantake a break.
Uh you have more time to becomecompliant because they realize
(10:36):
it takes longer.
SPEAKER_01 (10:37):
So, in a nutshell, it is uh really, really big news
for everyone.
SPEAKER_00 (10:42):
Well, it's it's it's it's a it's a big news.
I I remember what happened withthe GDPR that we we we knew it
was coming, but then we stillremember the long nights of uh
May 2018.
Uh this is this cannot happennow because um, first of all,
some provisions of the UAI Actare already in place.
(11:04):
Uh, and secondly, uh thechanging the direction, changing
the technology at a later stageuh might be in some cases not
affordable.
SPEAKER_01 (11:16):
So thank you, Julio.
This is fantastic news for everycompany, and it is very, very
clear that they should not justrest on this news but continue
to acting through theimplementation of the AI Act.
SPEAKER_00 (11:28):
You know, sometimes clients say that I'm
hyperactive, well also my kidsuh say that.
Uh yeah, I mean uh we're here tohelp them and uh thank you
Antonio for the career.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.