EU AI Act clears trialogue
The European Parliament endorsed its negotiating position on the EU AI Act, clearing the way for final trialogue talks and a rules start date of August 2, 2026 with full compliance pushed into 2027 — and the package even targets controversial “nudify” apps. ( ) Member states are scrambling to align national law — Ireland published the General Scheme of its Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026 — while the U.S. is taking a very different tack, pushing federal preemption in its National AI Policy Framework and prompting warnings it could weaken oversight. ( ) That regulatory divergence matters because businesses face a big trust gap—marketers are bullish but consumers remain skeptical by about 40 points—just as cities and sector regulators push education and vehicle-AI governance measures. ( )
IMCO and LIBE adopted a joint negotiating position on the Digital Omnibus on AI on March 18, and the European Parliament plenary approved the co-rapporteurs’ report A10-0073/2026 on March 26; the co-rapporteurs are Arba Kokalari (IMCO) and Michael McNamara (LIBE). (aiacto.eu) The Parliament’s draft replaces the Commission’s trigger mechanism with fixed long-stop application dates: 2 December 2027 for systems listed in Annex III and 2 August 2028 for systems covered by Annex I. (europarl.europa.eu) The Digital Omnibus proposals would expand the European AI Office’s exclusive supervisory remit to AI systems based on general‑purpose AI models provided by the same entity and to AI embedded in designated very large online platforms and very large search engines. (europarl.europa.eu) Ireland’s General Scheme of the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026 proposes a distributed enforcement model that leverages sectoral competent authorities with a single designated central authority for coordination and certain centralised functions. (enterprise.gov.ie) The U.S. National AI Policy Framework released by the White House on March 20, 2026 explicitly recommends federal preemption of state AI laws, and U.S. legal commentators warn that the Framework’s preemption push could limit state-level oversight and create regulatory gaps. (whitehouse.gov) Industry groups including CCIA Europe called for swift trilogue agreement to preserve the Omnibus’ simplification goals, while law firms and compliance advisers are urging companies to continue readiness work because key standards, guidance and enforcement arrangements remain unsettled. (ccianet.org)
