Joint position on artificial intelligence regulation

Representatives of 15 employer’s associations and artificial intelligence platforms from 10 Central and Eastern European countries have signed a joint position on the White Paper on Artificial Intelligence and submitted it into the public consultation. This important step, coordinated by the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, was then presented to the Brussels audience in the form of an online meeting on June 16. Vice-President of the European Commission Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Parliament Marcel Kolaja, MEP Dragoş Tudorache, and representatives of the national associations participated in the event. 

The joint position was signed last week following the coordination meeting in May 2020. Representatives of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Croatia, who formed the group of so-called AI Challengers, discussed there what the key priorities of various associations in AI are and how to ensure that the future EU regulatory framework will not hamper its development and competitiveness of companies in the EU. The joint priorities include supporting SMEs, supporting the research and innovation community, or ensuring that the population has the right set of advanced digital skills.

The online meeting started with the opening remarks of Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová which were followed by the presentation of the joint position by Bojan Hadžisejdić, representative of the Croatian Employers' Association. AI Challengers were then joined by Vice-President of the European Parliament Marcel Kolaja (Greens/EFA) and member of LIBE Dragoş Tudorache (Renew Europe) in a panel discussion covering topics such as the role of the CEE region in the decision-making and the importance of the future AI regulation.

“Central and Eastern European countries have shared their common position on regulatory questions surrounding AI. We hope this will be reflected in the upcoming proposal of the European Commission,” emphasized Milena Jabůrková, Vice-President of the Confederation of the Industry of the Czech Republic, in her closing remarks. The AI Challengers agreed that they are prepared to continue in their efforts to help to shape a viable and long-lasting AI regulatory framework.

Joint position of 15 employer’s associations you can read here.