The EU Commission is trying to use AI to draft legislation

In Brussels digitalisation is progressing cautiously but swiftly. And artificial intelligence does not seem to arouse too much suspicion. Indeed, it is being used as a driving force behind a much-needed simplification of bureaucracy. This is confirmed by the latest initiative undertaken by the European Commission, which has decided to use AI in the drafting of new legislation and in the simplification of existing legislation.

The initiative, described in detail in the annual report drawn up by the Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council and presented on Wednesday 4 November, forms part of the measures adopted to streamline administrative tasks and costs for businesses across a wide range of sectors, from technology to agriculture, from taxation to environmental protection. Right up to, of course, a particularly sensitive process such as that of regulation.

But, in practical terms, what is actually happening? The European Commission is rolling out new internal digital tools – powered by artificial intelligence – to modernise procedures and, in particular, to help identify similarities, spot potential overlaps and root out ambiguities and duplicates in draft legislation currently being prepared. But that’s not all: the tools will also be used to streamline and simplify draft legislation and regulatory frameworks that have already been approved – and which are often already in force.

Specifically, Edit, the collaborative platform used for law-making, has been enhanced to assist practitioners in processing legislative acts. The Acquis management tool, on the other hand, will provide a comprehensive and rapid means of accessing the entire relevant body of legislation to facilitate the definition of obligations, principles and policy objectives. Finally, AI-driven analytical tools will help to carry out comparative analyses, in order to eliminate any risk of inconsistency.

This is not, of course, a new measure introduced without due caution: in parallel, the Commission is working on strengthening the training of legal staff to ensure that the application of the new rules is not vague and does not create problems that are difficult to resolve. It remains, in fact, essential not to get carried away by enthusiasm: the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola has urged legislators not to blindly embrace the adoption of artificial intelligence technologies in decision-making processes, insisting that ‘they should not replace critical thinking” and that, now more than ever, “democratic accountability in the legislative process” is necessary.