On September 7th, 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) upheld the decision of the General Court according to which the public can partially access documentation on the EU’s emotion recognition project (iBorderCtrl) in which it discusses the general reliability, ethics and legality of such technology.

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems can undoubtedly bring societal benefits, enhance economic growth, support innovation, and reframe global competitiveness among businesses and governments. At the same time, it is commonly acknowledged that certain characteristics of AI systems are concerning, especially regarding safety, security and fundamental rights protection. The latter has also been acknowledged by EU institutions (such as the European Parliament). The same threats have also been acknowledged at the US level (the White House, fact sheet, September 12, 2023).

The adoption of the negotiating position by the EP at the Stratsbourg’s plenary session of June 14th, 2023, was preceded the previous day by a debate on the report from the leading joint committee on the matter – the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). According to the debates, it should be stressed that the principle desire of the EP concerning the AI Act is to make the European Union (EU) a leader as regards regulation and innovation in AI as well as a body that takes into consideration open letters published since Open AI first released its groundbreaking AI tool. The debate’s keynotes therefore revolved around three principle themes.

On May 17th, 2023, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) published its final report on the use of facial recognition technologies (FRTs) by Law Enforcement Authorities (LEAs). This report opposes mass surveillance, and, according to the EDPB, ‘the use of facial recognition by law enforcement agencies must be necessary, limited, and proportionate’.