In more detail, the AIA is the major element so far towards introducing new rules and legislation for trustworthy AI in Europe. After the AIA, Europe is now in pursuit of a new legislative framework for AI development of products and services. In this regard, AI standards play a major role. To this extent, the EC published in March 2022[11] their standardisation strategy towards promoting the EU values and rules, accompanied by a proposal for amending the legislation about standards to ensure the participation of national delegates and avoid undue influence in the decision makers from external actors. It is important to point out that the EU legislation will be supported using Harmonized Standards, which are standards being developed by European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs) over formal requests issued by the EC. These harmonized standards are not legislation per se but support the legislation and will be in most cases mandatory. The standards will include specifications, methods, and a framework for AI products and service developers to achieve regulatory compliance. An in-depth analysis of the standardisation landscape in Europe can be found in the AI Watch document[12].

The main ESOs for harmonised standards in Europe are CEN/CENELEC, and more in particular the technical committee JTC 21[13], and ETSI (check for instance the White Paper No. #34[14] on AI and the future directions).

Keep an eye on harmonised European Standards, as they will play a key role in the implementation of AI products and services in line with European values and legislative framework.