Today in The Hague, the Commission launched a technical support project which will help the Dutch digital infrastructure authority to createand a national AI oversight system (TN).

The Dutch authority requested the Commission’s support to set up a governance and oversight system for AI applications. Artificial intelligence is evolving faster than the regulatory framework of safety and ethics standards. The same challenge is faced by national authorities across the EU. The project — implemented in partnership with UNESCO — will examine existing IT oversight systems, provide a set of good practices and oversight scenarios, practical options on oversight arrangements of TN, as well as on-the-spot assistance to the Dutch authority. The project, in addition to providing direct support to the Dutch authority, will involve other EU competent authorities in the collective effort to address the complex and diverse challenges associated with the supervision of AI technologies.

This technical support project is in line with the Artificial Intelligence Act, the first EU regulation on AI, proposed by the Commission in 2021. The act aims to strengthen Member States’ research and industrial capacities while ensuring fundamental rights and security rights. The act is in the final stage of the legislative process. With its approval, it will establish the first rules for artificial intelligence at a global level.

The Technical Assistance Instrument (TSI) is the Commission’s main instrument for providing technical support for reforms to Member States. It is part of the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027 and the recovery plan for Europe. It builds on the success of the previous programme, the Structural Reform Support Programme, which since 2017 has implemented, together with the TSI, over 1,500 technical support projects in all Member States.

Lena Flitzani