Activities of Maria-Manuel LEITÃO-MARQUES related to 2020/2216(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on shaping the digital future of Europe: removing barriers to the functioning of the digital single market and improving the use of AI for European consumers
Amendments (77)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 29 a (new)
Citation 29 a (new)
- having regard to its resolution of 20 January 2021 on strengthening the single market: the future of free movement of services,
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Highlights that European leadership can be a reality; notes that a second wave of digitalisation lies ahead; underlines that a common EU approach can make Europe the most innovative region in the world by 2030; stresses that digital revolution must contribute to sustainable development and benefit all citizens, while balancing the economic, ethical and environmental dimensions; further recognises that AI is an engine for sustainable transformation;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Stresses that gender stereotypes greatly influence study choices and hence, career choices: less than 3% of teenage girls in EU Member States express an interest in working as an ICT professional at the age of 301a; _________________ 1a2018 International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas a dismantling of online and offline rules in the European Single Market and the DSM, respectively, has to be prevented at all costs and whereas the principle “what is illegal offline is illegal online” has to be respected;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Recalls that globally only 22 % of AI professionals are female; whereas the lack of women in AI development not only increases the risk of bias, but also the risk that the products developed are not specially catered to the needs of female consumers;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Demands that digital connectivity should be a key element to address; calls to the Commission to urgently address the existing digital divide and analyse the impact of digital technologies with regards to unequal access to technology, on the depopulation phenomenon and disparities in connectivity across the Member States;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1 c. Highlights that one of AI’s biggest weaknesses relates to conveying certain types of biases, such as the ones related to gender, as a result of humans’ inherent biases being reproduced and magnified through the design, input and use of AI systems; considers that AI has great potential to promote gender equality provided that the transformation of human biases and prejudices into digital ones through algorithms is fought and this requires high data quality standards for the training and validation of AI systems;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1 d. Takes note that 30% of entrepreneurs, in the EU, are women, but they only receive 2% of the non-bank financing available1a, making it harder for them to participate in the digital economy; _________________ 1aFunding women entrepreneurs. How to empower growth. European Commission, 2018
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1 e. Recalls that the ICT sector is the sector with the highest percentage of all- male company boards; and welcomes the Commission’s intention to encourage the adoption of the 2012 proposal for a Directive on gender balance among non- executive directors of companies listed on stock exchanges (the Women on Boards Directive);
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 f (new)
Paragraph 1 f (new)
1 f. Stresses that the Fundamental Rights Agency’s survey on violence against women shows that high incidences of sexual harassment have been reported in STEM education sites, including in schools, universities and workplaces, which further excludes women from the sector;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. The shaping of a fair digital sector must go hand-in-hand with educational aspects, socialisation, fair working conditions, work-life balance, democracy, good governance and strong public services;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Highlights that gender equality is a core principle of the European Union and should be reflected in all EU policies; underlines the importance of ensuring gender mainstreaming in digital education at all levels; recalls that women’s participation in the digital economy is crucial to shaping a flourishing digital society and to boosting the EU’s digital internal market;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1 c. Highlights that science, innovation and R&D will be indispensable to attain the objectives of inclusive digital transformation and European digital sovereignty;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Asks for, in what concerns measures in education, the Commission and the Member States to set up mentoring schemes with female role models in ICT within all levels of education starting from an early age; also calls on the Commission and the Member States to support lifelong learning, as well as training and schemes to boost the e- skills, upskilling and reskilling of girls and women;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Asks for, in what concerns measures in employment, the Council to unblock and adopt the Woman on Boards directive; urges Member States to fully transpose and implement the work life balance directive; calls on the Commission and Member States to reduce the gender gap in the digital economy through targeted measures, including European funds to finance female-led projects in the digital sector, the promotion of a minimum number of women researchers participating in ICT projects, training courses for HR departments on ‘unconscious gender- discriminatory bias’ to promote gender- balanced recruitment, adoption of public procurement policies and/or guidelines on the purchase of ICT services from providers that apply a gender balance in the composition of their companies and boards, and facilitating the distribution of European funds to companies that take into account gender balance criteria;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recognises that the EU has an enormously strong SME sector; recalls that this second wagve of digitalisation could lead to a strong industrial development of SMEs; reinforces the need to accelerate the digitalisation of SMEs and help them overcome barriers in adopting AI applications; calls for a goal of 500 digital unicorns within 10 years;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Recognizes that the less digitally mature sectors are facing both internal and external barriers to the adoption of the AI that need to be clearly identified; stresses that for the most part, and especially for SMEs, barriers to the adoption of AI are similar to those hindering digitalisation;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Emphasises that the AI development in the EU needs to remain "human-centric", people should always be responsible for decision-making; stresses that when citizens are interacting with an automated system they should always have the possibility of human control in order to ensure that an automated decision can be verified and corrected; stresses that in order for citizens to understand, trust, examine and oversight the decision made, the transparency of AI systems and the logic of the algorithms is utmost important when the technology is used in public services;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Considers that AI can significantly contribute to promoting gender equality, provided that an appropriate legal and ethical framework is developed, conscious and unconscious biases are eliminated and the principles of gender equality are respected; stresses the lack of diversity in the AI sector within teams of developers and engineers, and the importance of using sex- disaggregated data when developing products, AI standards, algorithms and applications; encourages the relevant actors to take action and promote a greater participation of women in the design, development and implementation of machine learning, natural language processing and AI;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2 c. Stresses that the successful development and deployment of AI in Europe is dependent on increasing the availability of high-quality data; highlights that using biased data sets can inadvertently lead to biased AI applications and notes especially the risk for reproducing gender, cultural, ethnic, social, disability or sexual orientation biases; underlines the need to acknowledge and address all bias in data- based systems both in their development and use;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Highlights that the Commission should adopt a balanced approach to legislation in order to create a digital single market thatcreate a digital single market that ensures the provision of public services, is competitive, fair, accessible, technologically neutral, innovation- friendly, consumer-friendly, human- centric and trustworthy, and that builds a secure data society and economy and ensures that equal conditions prevail as regards tax payment, meaning in particular that leading internet companies pay their taxes where their profits are generated;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Emphasises that the COVID crisis provides an opportunity to speed up digitalisation; calls for financial incentives for SMEs that want to enter new markets; calls for new and open frameworks of access to data for European SMEs and start-ups in order to support their growth by empowering the training, testing and development of AI-enabled systems and applications. Calls for an inclusive digitisation of our societies that will serve the interests of the citizens by taking into account accessibility and affordability considerations. Calls for coordinated actions to address Europe’s digital divide that has been worsened due to the COVID and for a fair and cooperative digital modernisation of the public sector that would aim at a value-based digital transformation by promoting fundamental rights and democratic values.
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Emphasises that the COVID crisis provides an opportunity to speed up digitalisation; calls for financial incentives for SMEs that want to enter new markets; recognises the concern that large firms have better capabilities to take advantage of the opportunities provided by AI which could lead to overconcentration in the market of large firms and multinationals;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls for special attention to be paid to women as vulnerablethe needs of women consumers and to the rise in cyber violence against women in the digital world, and welcomesasks for the Commission’s proposal on the digital services act (COM(2020)0825), which is addressing these issu to address these issues; calls for campaigns to raise awareness and educate women in how to protect themselves online, and to combat gender-based violence and gender stereotypes; urges the Commission and the Member States to work closely with and involve women’s civil society organisations in order to better respond to and alleviate the concerns that exist in the everyday life of women and girls when designing and implementing consumer and public tech policies.
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Recognises that the EU is lagging behind in the AI global competition; emphasises that the focus on services for citizens and businesses creates a global market segment in which the EU can lead, respecting its structural principles and values , including our Digital Identity, which are focusing on upholding fundamental rights, strong ethical aspects, legal safeguards and liability, thus protecting our democratic societies and citizens;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Asks the Commission to ensure properan ambitious enforcement of both current and any new legislative requirements; believes that enforcement needs to work effectively across borders and across sectors, with greater cooperation between authorities, and with due regard for the expertise and relevant competence of each authority; believes that the Commission should provide a guiding framework to ensure coordination for any new regulatory requirements on AI or related fields;
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Calls for Commission to develop innovative and proportionate rules for a trustworthy digital society, ensuring it should be fully inclusive, fair and accessible for all;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3 c. Highlights that we need a European legal framework on AI, robotics and related technologies that addresses ethical principles and fundamental rights in their development, deployment and use; notes that such framework should agree on ethical and technical standards to govern the use of new technologies, such as AI;
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3 d. Stresses that AI products and services may deliver different experiences to different consumers; highlights the importance of gender and ethnic diversity in digital careers to achieve digital products and services that fully address and represent the diverse set of experiences and needs of European consumers;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes that there is a significant lack of European venture and seed capital, as well as of private equity funding, when compared to its two biggest competitors; believes that this both prevents the EU from realising the full potential benefits of new technology, and also hinders the EU from influencing the global governance of new and emerging technologies; calls on the Commission and the Member States to propose a comprehensive European approach to increase sources of capital for technological investments in the EU as well as to ensure the availability of venture and seed capital for European companies and start-ups;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to stop funding big companies and distributing the remaining funds by a shotgun approach; calls for winners to be picked and grown larger; suggests prioritising future areas for digital economic structureshighlights that large technology companies and platforms with strategic market status in the DSM may leverage their positions not only in terms of the market but also in terms of access to and control of data, resulting in possible concentration of AI innovation and future imbalances in the DSM; calls for winners to be picked and grown larger; suggests prioritising future areas for digital economic structures; Highlights the need to support SMEs to master the twin transition to sustainability and digitalisation by safeguarding that they have access to the right skills, expertise and funding. Highlights the need for this support to acquire abroad geographical coverage across Europe, including remote, rural and island areas and aim at strengthening the digital capabilities and infrastructure in smaller places at the periphery of Europe;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Regrets, that the Digital Europe programme as well as the Horizon Europe and Connecting Europe programmes do not dispose over higher budgets; urges the Commission to ensure that these programmes are deployed as soon as possible;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission to work to position the EU as leader in the adoption and standardisation process for new technologies ensuring that “AI made in Europe” is based on European values and norms in order to promote not only economic development but especially social welfare; highlights the need to work with industry and also with international partners on setting global standards;
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Warns against the use of predictive technologies or perception manipulation techniques for market purposes from Big tech companies and pledges to safeguard that sensitive personal data, transactions data and metadata will not be used for profit by big corporations without citizens awareness and clear consent. Calls for these techniques to be classified in the highest category of the risk level scale proposed by the Commission given their specific and extremely sensitive nature as well as their potential misuses Calls the European Data Protection Board to issue Guidelines on this issue and highlights the need to safeguard algorithmic transparency of AI technologies and applications. Stresses the need for the establishment of a thorough system of traceability of AI systems that will be under human oversight, understandable by the consumers and which meets data subjects’ reasonable expectations;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls for massive investment in clusters of excellence; calls to the Commission to facilitate the development of digital innovation hubs across the Member States in order to ensure the capacity-building, sharing of best practices in AI development and deployment and to mobilise the research and innovation along the entire value chain; recognises that such digital innovation hubs can also contribute to attract the access to talent and research capabilities in AI;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Recalls that we need a data economy that works for the entire EU, as it is a key enabler of digitalisation; believes that it is important for the EU to guarantee a high degree of control over data, with clear and balanced rules on inter alia intellectual property rights (IPR), but considers it essential to maintain openness towards third countries, and that the free flow of non-personal data across borders is important;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Recalls that we need a data economy that works for the entire EU, as it is a key enabler of digitalisation; believes that it is important for the EU to guarantee a high degree of consumers’ control over data, with clear and balanced rules on intellectual property rights (IPR), but considers it essential to maintain openness towards third countries, and that the free flow of non-personal data across borders is important;
Amendment 79 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Calls to the Commission to initiate cross-sectoral dialogues, giving priority to healthcare, rural administrations and public service operators in order to present an action plan to facilitate the development, research and adoption of AI applications;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Welcomes the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act proposed by the Commission; believes that this should contribute to supporting innovation, and removing unjustified and disproportionate barriers and restrictions to the provision of digital services while improving consumer protection;
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7 b. Calls for more investment in research, innovation, science and the scientific community, which is the driving force of the technological and digital revolution;
Amendment 85 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Demands measures to end to the brain drain and attract the best minds to the EU; considers that the new Skills Agenda for Europe must address the challenges of adapting and raising new qualifications that reinforce the green and digital transition, including ethical aspects of AI;
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Recognizes the need to protect the citizens and workers potentially at risk of displacement due to AI; calls to the Commission to develop strategies to manage digital transition by supporting reskilling programs, improving professional education, ensuring greater access to talent and provide long-life trainings for the current and future workforce with particular focus on SMEs; notes that education and transparency of new data driven technologies is important for the workforce to be able to understand, and be part of, the fair implementation; stresses the right of employees to know where and how their data is collected; Calls on social partners to explore the potential of digitalisation, data and AI to increase sustainable productivity, improve the well-being of their workforces while respecting workers’ rights as well as investing in awareness rising and digital literacy schemes;
Amendment 88 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Suggests that the EU must ensure minimum standards of fair working conditions for platform workers in line with the European Pillar of social rights as a requirement to allow access of platforms to the EU Digital single market. Suggests that the EU should introduce rules that control the growing digitisation of workplace monitoring and also to introduce mechanisms and methodologies that assess the relevant risks that have been augmented due to the increasing blurring between office and home environments. Calls for the EU to establish collective bargaining agreements and umbrella protection mechanisms for all platform workers;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Recalls that the geo-blocking of online services constitutes a significant barrier to the Single Market, a derogation from the European economic freedoms on which the EU integration is based and an unjustified discrimination between European consumers; notes the Commission’s first short-term review of the Geo-blocking Regulation and urges the Commission to continue its assessment with a pro-consumer approach and to consider proposing follow-up appropriate measures to approach the problems related to copyright-protected content such as audio-visual, music, e-books, and games;
Amendment 93 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Stresses that 90% of jobs require basic digital skills while 42% of EU citizens lack basic digital skills1a; _________________ 1a https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single- market/en/digital-economy-and-society- index-desi
Amendment 94 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 c (new)
Paragraph 8 c (new)
8 c. Calls for promoting the creation and expansion of digital knowledge and support the research programmes and networks created among European universities in order to help European businesses and entrepreneurs attract the best talent and become the vanguard of digital innovation worldwide. Skills shortages and mismatches can be prevented by improving and facilitating connections between the education and training systems and the needs of companies to innovate;
Amendment 96 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 d (new)
Paragraph 8 d (new)
8 d. Stresses that in order for new digitalisation wave to be successful, one of the crucial challenges is to provide sufficient digital skills for European digital sector; recalls that women are under-represented at all levels in the digital sector in Europe, from students (32% at Bachelor, Master or equivalent level)up to top academic positions (15%) and that the gap is largest in ICT specialist skills and employment, where only 18% are women in the EU2a _________________ 2a https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single- market/en/news/digital-economy- scoreboard-shows-women-europe-are- less-likely-work-or-be-skilled-ict
Amendment 97 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recognises that AI deployment is key to European competitiveness in the digital era; highlights that to facilitate the uptake of AI in Europe, a common European approach is needed to avoid internal market fragmentation; calls for promoting AI technologies aimed at improving public services with collective benefits; stresses that AI can help to break down the silos by linking and streamlining public services to improve administration for the benefit of citizens and businesses as well as provide real- time data bases for services and decision making;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Strongly believes that AI canIs of the view that AI can, if developed adequately, be a force for good for all European citizens, and offer significant benefits and value for the economy, safety, security, education, healthcare, transport and the environment; believes the security, inclusiveness, accessibility and fairness, especially for groups in vulnerable situations,of consumers considered as vulnerable of AI- driven products and services need to be ensured;
Amendment 99 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recognises that AI deployment is key to European competitiveness in the digital era; highlights that to facilitate the uptake of AI in Europe, a common European approach is needed to avoid internal market fragmentation, ensure the safety of data of Europeans and guarantee that they will not be processed by non-EU bodies for profit-making and/or political purposes or used to train algorithms shared with authoritarian regimes;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Supports the expected Revision of the General Product Safety Directive announced in the Commission’s New Consumer Agenda, underlines that the revision of the Directive must go hand in hand with a revision of the Product Liability Directive in order to adapt both Directives to the digital economy;
Amendment 105 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. States that increased digitalisation will bring new energy needs but also contribute to bring efficiency with providing better understanding of processes and leading to their improvements; recognises that AI can help to identify where energy improvements can be made for energy and costs savings; furthermore AI can better help to measure energy efficiency, improve energy management and access to renewable storage;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes that while AI offers great potential, it can also present certainhigh risks due to issues such as bias and opacity;
Amendment 115 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Considers that access to big data is key for the development of AI; calls for a new approach to data regulationreiterates the need for a new approach to data ownership by data subjects in the context of AI-enabled systems to ensure privacy and control of aggregated data or metadata built on data points containing information including, but not limited to, time, location, transactions; calls for a new approach to data regulation; stresses that privacy and data protection must be guaranteed at all stages of the AI system’s life cycle and notes that any big data processing operation should be subject to an ex-ante and extensive Data Protection Impact Assessment;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Considers that a lack of consumer trust and confidence can holds back the widespread adoption of AI;
Amendment 116 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Considers that access to big data is a key for the development of AI; calls for a new approach to data regulation; underlines the importance of level playing field and EU wide interoperability when using the exponentially increasing amount of the industrial and public data; recalls that success of the Union’s data economy as well as AI development and deployment primary depends on the wider ICT ecosystem, closing the digital divide, upskilling and reskilling of workforce, developing the IoT, fibre, quantum, block;
Amendment 118 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Amendment 120 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Recalls that access to data must result from a transparent trade-off with citizens; recognises that when citizens authorize the use of the data, receiving as counterpart better services of general interest and a more competitive offer from the market; states that transparency and monitoring of the use of data must be ensured;
Amendment 122 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10 b. Demands that any artificial intelligence, robotics and related technologies system, shall be developed, deployed or used with "privacy by default" and in a manner that prevents the possible identification of individuals from data that were previously processed based on anonymity or pseudonymity, and the generation of new, inferred, potentially sensitive data and forms of categorisation through automated means (metadata). Calls the Commission to develop robust anonymisation and pseudonymisation techniques and identify best practices that will meet the processing requirements of the GDPR;
Amendment 126 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 c (new)
Paragraph 10 c (new)
10 c. Strongly emphasises the need to protect consumers from microtargeting practises and suggests that it should be flagged and coupled with their right to request a report on the use of behavioural analytics that were used to achieve consumers targeting. Is of the opinion that targeted advertisement practises should be explainable and offer to consumers options of choosing the desired personalization level/percentage of microtargeting. (ex. on a scale 0-100%). Strongly considers that the use of these practices should be subject to specific safeguards such as the informed and explicit consent of their owner, who should have the right to access effective remedies in case of misuse;
Amendment 129 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Warns against overregulating AI and discourages any "one-size-fits-all" approach to regulation; recalls that regulation must be balanced, agile, permanently evaluroportionated , and based on soft regulation except for high-risk areasthe current legislative instruments and best practices except for high-risk areas where a new regulatory approach should be devised;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Notes that, while to varying degrees, AI is already subject to current European legislation, andAI raises new, so far unresolved, legal questions that affect consumers and thus calls on the Commission to issue clear guidance on the functioning and synergy between any current applicable legislation and any proposed new measures; considers it important not to over-regulate AI;
Amendment 134 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Warns against overregulating AI; recalls that regulation must be balanced, agile, permanently evaluated, and based on soft regulation except for high-risk areas; recognises that a regulatory approach to the definition of risk focusing only on high-risk sectors (healthcare, transport, energy and parts of the public sector) and high-risk uses or purposes can lead to potential loopholes;
Amendment 135 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Recommends that determining the risk level and the classification of sectors as high or low-risk, should always derive from an impartial, regulated, inclusive, independent and external assessment that considers ethical harms that can arise from artificial intelligence, robotics and related technologies in society, either because of poor (unethical) design, inappropriate application, or misuse; Such an assessment needs to balance attention to abstract principles with specificity; Recommends that determining the risk level and the classification of sectors as high or low-risk, should always derive from an impartial, regulated, inclusive, independent and external assessment that considers ethical harms that can arise from artificial intelligence, robotics and related technologies in society, either because of poor (unethical) design, inappropriate application, or misuse; Such an assessment needs to balance attention to abstract principles with specificity; Strongly recommends that a broad and inclusive debate and stakeholder consultation will contribute to creating trust among citizens regarding the assessment and classification of risks;
Amendment 139 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Notes that data-driven technologies, including AI are becoming the dominant force in the digital economy; states that any regulatory framework will need to address the question of production and use, interoperability, access to and sharing of data, reskilling of workforce and data management, in particularly SMEs;
Amendment 141 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11 b. Requests the Commission to determine the risk level of sectors by taking into account non-quantifiable risks and pay particular attention to the identification and characterisation of the hazard, the assessment of the likelihood of its occurrence and the characterisation of risk. Asks the Commission to pay particular attention to carefully evaluate all the uncertainties and transparently report on them, even when these cannot be modelled or expressed in quantitative terms. Requests the Commission to apply the Ethical Requirements put forward by the High Level Expert Group at the risk management level and consider the need for introducing a precautionary approach towards high level or potentially irreversible risks;
Amendment 143 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11 b. Supports the creation of "ecosystem of trust" as stated in the Commission's White paper on AI that should give citizens sufficient confidence to take up AI applications and provide to companies and public organisation the legal certainty to innovate in AI deployment;
Amendment 151 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to consider the creation of a European regulatory agency for AI and algorithmic decision-making tasked with 1) Auditing the AIAs of high-level impact systems to approve or reject the proposed uses of algorithmic decision-making in highly sensitive and/or safety-critical application domains (private health-care, for instance) 2) Investigating suspected cases of rights violations by algorithmic decision-making systems, for both individual decision instances (singular aberrant outcomes, for example) and statistical decision patterns (discriminatory bias, for instance) 3) Assessing compliance with the proposed Ethics Requirements and conduct periodical ethics reviews and audits;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Believes that such a framework should be based on an ethical, human- centric and principle-based approach throughout the design, development and life cycle of AI products based on the preservation of fundamental rights and the principles of transparency, explainability (when relevant), and accountability;
Amendment 153 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. Highlights that EU continues its international cooperation on AI with like- minded countries and global players with the approach of EU rules and values; calls on the Commission to closely monitor international level playing field in AI development and deployment;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Considers that a voluntary labelling scheme for trustworthy AI, based on clear and common guidance drawn up by the Commission, could improve transparency of AI-based technology and help improve consumer trust;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. cCalls on the Commission and the Member States to makconsider the use of innovative regulatory tools such as ‘regulatory sandboxes’ to help provide a clear path to scale-up for start-ups and small companies, regardless of the risk profile of their productcalls that such tools must be considered by making use of the precautionary principle; believes that these tools canshould help encourageing innovation without any detriment to consumer protection;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Believes that the use of high-risk AI should follow a precautionary approach and be limited to specific and clearly warranted purposes, in full respect of the applicable law and subject to transparency obligations; underlines that this will be decisive for ensuring safety and security, data and consumer protection, public trust and support for the necessity and proportionality of the deployment of such technologies; calls on the Commission to carefully consider whether there are certain use cases, situations or practices for which specific technical standards, including underlying algorithms, should be adopted; deems necessary, should such technical standards be adopted, that these are regularly reviewed and re-evaluated, given the fast pace of technological development;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Calls on the Member States to encourage and support the establishment of specialisEU-certified review boards for AI products and services in the Member States to assess the potential benefits and potential harm stemming from high-risk, impactful AI- based projects;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Calls on the Commission to update the existing liability framework in order to address new challenges posed by emerging digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and urges the Commission to update inter alia the Product Liability Directive, in particular by redefining the terms ‘product’, ‘damage’ and ‘defect’ and reversing the concept of ‘burden of proof’, and calls on the Commission to introduce a liability regime that is based on the proportion of control the party holds over the risk of the operation taking into account the development and the deployment phase and ensure compensation for non-material damages caused by AI;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)
Paragraph 33 a (new)
33a. Notes that the development of AI technologies is expected to take diverse forms depending on the economic sector in question or the intended use; asks the Commission to consider the creation of a European Observatory of AI in order to monitor the different development of AI technologies at European and Member States’ level and better inform authorities and policy makers on emerging social, economic and legal issues to be addressed;
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 b (new)
Paragraph 33 b (new)
33b. Considers that AI can, if developed and deployed adequately, be a formidable enabling technology but which can nonetheless pose serious challenges to the European environmental objectives set out in the Green Deal; highlights that studies have shown that training a single AI model can emit carbon dioxide in amounts comparable to that of five cars over their lifetimes; calls on the Commission to take into account the environmental footprint of AI technologies, including in their development phase, in order to ensure that the development of AI is in line with our European environmental objectives;