Draghi Calls for Pause on Implementing EU’s AI Act, ‘Radical Simplification’ of GDPR

“In my view, implementation of this stage should be paused until we better understand the drawbacks,” Draghi said Tuesday at a conference in Brussels hosted by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

The AI Act came into force in August, but some of its toughest rules do not take effect until 2027 to give AI companies time to adjust their operations.

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“The first rules—which included the ban on ‘unacceptable-risk’ systems—landed without major complications. Codes of practice signed by most major developers, together with the Commission’s August guidelines, have clarified responsibilities,” Draghi said in his keynote speech. “But the next stage—covering high-risk AI systems in areas like critical infrastructure and health—must be proportionate and support innovation and development.”

Draghi also called for “radical simplification” of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

“Training AI models requires vast amounts of public web data,” he said. “Yet legal uncertainty over its use creates costly delays, slowing deployment in Europe.” Research “backs that up,” he added. “GDPR has raised the cost of data by about 20% for EU firms compared with US peers. Yet the only change on the table so far is an easing of record keeping and extending SME derogations to mid-caps.”

Per Euronews, Draghi’s call to delay implementation of the final phase of the AI Act echoes that of leading technology figures within the EU. In July, the CEOs 40 European tech companies, including ASML, Philips, Siemens and Mistral, sent a letter to von der Leyen asking for a two-year “stop-the-clock” order on implementing the law.

Tuesday’s conference was called to mark one year since the release of the Draghi report. In her opening remarks, von der Leyen said Europe “is well positioned in the world of AI adoption,” pointing to a 67% increase in the number of European companies adopting AI in 2025. “But we need to capitalize on our strengths and put our digital infrastructure at the service of industry and innovators,” she added. “The aim is that our amazing innovative start-ups can access the computing power and test and train their models, especially thinking about sectorial applications.”

Von der Leyen also echoed Draghi’s call to dramatically simplify many EU regulations, particularly on technology. “We need urgent action to face urgent needs. Because our companies and workers can no longer wait,” she said. “Take our simplification efforts. In every meeting I have with businesses, this is always their top request. And in 9 months, we have presented six simplification packages – the so-called omnibuses. Two more are on their way – on digital and military mobility. They will make a real difference. With less paperwork, less overlaps, less complex rules.”

European Commission technology chief Henna Virkkunen said the Commission will present the digital omnibus package in December, addressing all existing tech regulations, including the AI Act.