On 7 May 2026, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU (the "Council") reached a provisional agreement on the Digital Omnibus on AI (the "AI Omnibus") – a package of targeted amendments to the EU AI Act.1 Although not yet formally adopted, the agreement provides greater certainty to businesses by signalling, for example, that key enforcement deadlines for certain rules relating to high-risk AI systems will be extended.
Background
The AI Omnibus is part of a broader Digital Omnibus legislative package published by the European Commission (the "Commission") on 19 November 2025, which aims to simplify the EU's digital regulatory framework. The broader Digital Omnibus package also proposes amendments to a range of instruments other than the EU AI Act, including the GDPR, the ePrivacy Directive, the NIS2 Directive, and the Data Act.2
Key Amendments
As the full text of the proposed amendments is not yet available, this article draws on announcements from the European Parliament and the Council.
High-risk AI Systems
The provisional agreement introduces a fixed timeline for the delayed application of the bulk of the rules governing high-risk AI systems,3 which will apply from:4
- 2 December 2027, for stand-alone high-risk AI systems (i.e. those deployed in specific high-risk areas under Annex III of the EU AI Act).
- 2 August 2028, for high-risk AI systems used as a safety component of a product (or otherwise subject to EU health and safety harmonisation legislation).
This delayed timeline is intended to help ensure that technical standards and other support tools (many of which are behind schedule) can be put in place before enforcement of the relevant rules begins.
Additional Prohibition
The provisional agreement adds to the EU AI Act's prohibited AI practices, by banning AI systems that create child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or that depict, without that person's consent, the intimate parts of an identifiable person or an identifiable person engaged in sexually explicit activities. The prohibition applies to images, video or audio content, and the provisional agreement envisages compliance by 2 December 2026.
Other Amendments
A number of further amendments have been announced, including:5
- Delaying the application of watermarking obligations on AI-generated content until 2 December 2026;
- Clarifying the term "safety component", meaning that AI systems that only assist users or optimise performance will not automatically face high-risk obligations
under the EU AI Act, if their failure or malfunction does not create health or safety risks; - Addressing overlaps between EU AI Act requirements and requirements contained in sectoral legislation (e.g., medical devices, toys, lifts, machinery) by: (i) clarifying that machinery products "only need to comply with sectoral safety rules (instead of both the AI Act and sectoral rules)";6 and (ii) allowing for the
limitation of the EU AI Act's application in other cases where sectoral law contains similar AI-specific requirements to the EU AI Act, through implementing acts; and - Reinstating the obligation for providers to register AI systems in the EU database for high-risk AI systems, where they consider their AI systems to be exempted from classification as high-risk under Article 6(3) of the EU AI Act.
Next Steps
The European Parliament and the Council must now formally adopt the provisional agreement. Formal adoption is expected before 2 August 2026 – the date on which the current rules on high-risk AI systems would otherwise become applicable.7 Upon adoption, the amendments will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and enter into force three days later.
Practical Implications for Businesses
Businesses should continue to monitor legislative developments, review their use of AI systems for compliance with the EU AI Act, and develop a roadmap to achieve compliance.
In the interim, the provisional agreement provides welcome clarity by providing for delayed enforcement and allowing businesses more time to analyse and implement applicable guidelines and standards.
Jelena Solovjova, a Trainee Solicitor at White & Case LLP, assisted in the development of this publication.
1 Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (the "EU AI Act"). See the Council's press release, "Artificial Intelligence: Council and Parliament agree to simplify and streamline rules", 7 May 2026, here; the European Parliament's press release, "AI Act: deal on simplification measures, ban on "nudifier" apps, here; and the Commission's press release, "EU agrees to simplify AI rules to boost innovation and ban'‘nudification' apps to protect citizens", here.
2 Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (the "GDPR"), Directive (EU) 2002/58/EC (the "ePrivacy Directive"), Directive (EU) 2022/2555 (the "NIS2 Directive"), and Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 (the "Data Act").
3 The timeline for enforcement of the EU AI Act is complex, but it should be noted that not all of the provisions that are relevant to high-risk AI systems have been delayed – in particular, enforcement of most of the transparency requirements set out in Art.50 EU AI Act will start on 2 August 2026, as originally scheduled.
4 "High-risk AI systems", which are systems that present a "high" risk, fall within two categories: (i) AI systems used as a safety component of a product (or otherwise subject to EU health and safety harmonisation legislation); and (ii) AI systems deployed in eight specific areas,
including (among others) education, employment, access to essential public and private services, law enforcement, migration, and the administration of justice (Art. 6(1)-(2) and Annex III EU AI Act).
5 See the Council's press release, "Artificial Intelligence: Council and Parliament agree to simplify and streamline rules", 7 May 2026, here;
the European Parliament's press release, "AI Act: deal on simplification measures, ban on "nudifier" apps, here; and the Commission's press release, "EU agrees to simplify AI rules to boost innovation and ban ‘nudification' apps to protect citizens", here.
6 See the European Parliament's press release, "AI Act: deal on simplification measures, ban on "nudifier" apps", here.
7 See Article 113 EU AI Act.
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