The AI Act is a particularly complex piece of EU legislation, comprising 113 articles, 180 re-citals and thirteen annexes. The intricacy of the legal framework is further compounded by the presence of numerous provisions on technical standards and empowerments for executive rule-making. The AI Act authorises respectively obliges the European Commission to adopt not only binding delegated and implementing acts, but also non-binding guidelines in numerous cases. For instance, the Commission is required to issue guidelines on the practical implementation of the requirements for high-risk AI systems, the provisions on prohibited AI practices, and the application of the definition of AI systems. In his presentation, Sebastian Scholz examines whether the optimism expressed in legal literature that such soft law measures can ensure legal certainty in implementing the AI Act is justified.
Speaker:
Sebastian Scholz is Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) of Technology and Innovation Law at the Department of Public Law and Political Science at the University of Graz. He obtained his habilitation in 2024 at the University of Graz in the fields of public law and European law, with a thesis on the subject of 'Steering the Implementation of EU Law through Soft Law'. His research focuses on technology and innovation law, public business law, the relationship between EU law and state law, the effective judicial protection in integrated administration and parliamentary law. From February 2014 to August 2017, Sebastian Scholz gained practical legal experience in the Austrian Parliamentary Administration, the Austrian Federal Chancellery Constitutional Service and in two leading Viennese law firms.