'European rules an added value also for companies'

"Beware of mixing different plans," says Brando Benifei, a PD MEP and co-rapporteur of the AI Act in Strasbourg, responding to criticism from some large non-EU companies that they are not introducing innovative technologies into the single market due to a lack of regulatory clarity. "Because it is true that there are blocked applications but for a dispute related to the Digital Markets Act, not the AI Act, which is another thing".

Rather, the real challenge is the implementation of the new EU AI regulation. "Our approach will be: we are a common market, the rules will have to be enforceable," Benifei continues. "We know that Big Tech does not like some of the rules contained in the regulation, I am thinking of copyright protection or the recognisability of AI-generated content. But we must all work together so that these new solutions are not harmful to SMEs and citizens'.

Another aspect emphasised by Benifei in his speech is the financial one. "In the implementation of the AI Act, in fact, companies will have to be supported by public funds in order to develop solutions that are safe and compliant with all requirements, exactly as is the case for other harmonised products (those with the 'CE' mark) such as toys and medical devices".

There is no shortage of time for implementation (the AI Act will come into force in about two years) 'but we need to start a voluntary early adaptation process now to ensure that companies get in tune with the AI rules and are not left stranded, as has already happened with the introduction of the GDPR'.

In short, to face the challenges of competitiveness with countries like the US and China that dominate in their ability to develop and implement AI, Europe must work to ensure that the model of rules it has given itself is not a brake, but an enabler. At that point, as repeated almost in chorus by Benifei and Edoardo Carlo Raffiotta, Professor of Economic and Business Sciences and Economic Law at the Bicocca University of Milan, 'we will discover that European rules are an added value, also as a guarantee for companies'.