EU’s AI standards process faces probe
European Ombudsman Teresa Anjinho has opened an inquiry into how the European Commission has been developing harmonised standards for artificial intelligence (AI).
Her office said that the probe followed a complaint from the civil-society organisation Corporate Europe Observatory.
In May 2023, the EU body issued a standardisation request concerning the AI Act to two private European standardisation organisations: the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC).
The commission asked them to ensure that the harmonised standards would contribute to minimising risks stemming from AI to safety and fundamental rights.
Minutes
Corporate Europe Observatory expressed concern that the bodies responsible for developing the standards were not required to publicly disclose information about the individuals working on them and did not publish the minutes of their meetings.
The complainant also argued that the EU body had failed to ensure a balanced representation of interests in the standardisation process.
Anjinho to reply to a series of questions about issues such as the composition of the group preparing the standards, the transparency rules applied by standardisation bodies, how the commission is managing and monitoring the standardisation process, and how it will review its outcomes.
She has also asked the commission to provide her inquiry team with a number of documents about the matter.