Chancellor Merz: "Make European AI regulation easier"
Chancellor Merz advocates for changes to the AI Act at the Hannover Messe, meeting industry demands for reforms.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) on Monday at the Hannover Messe.
(Image: Deutsche Messe AG)
At the start of the Hannover Messe on Sunday evening, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) spoke out in favor of easing European rules for the industrial application of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Chancellor is thus meeting demands from industry.
“AI plays a significant role, especially in industrial applications,” said Merz at the opening of the world's largest industrial trade fair in Hanover on Sunday. “I will advocate for making European AI regulation easier and, if possible, for freeing industrial AI from the current, too narrow corset of the European Union's AI regulation.”
“We can't do it this way”
The first parts of the European “AI Act” came into force in August 2024 after three years of negotiations. The regulation sets the guardrails for risk assessment, safety, and consumer protection in the application of AI. In Germany, the implementation law is in the making, which designates, among other things, the Federal Network Agency as the responsible supervisory authority.
In the years of the regulation's development, it was not yet possible to estimate how AI is used today, Merz explains his initiative. “We can't do it this way, as was planned in Brussels many years ago, without even anticipating the dimension of AI's application area,” said the Chancellor.
“AI will contribute to greater efficiency and productivity, to optimized resource utilization, and above all to reduced costs,” Merz emphasized in Hanover. “It will thus strengthen the competitiveness of industrial production.”
Industry demands reforms
The Chancellor is preaching to the choir when it comes to industry. The Association of the Electrical and Digital Industries (ZVEI) has been complaining about bureaucratic double regulation for some time and is calling for a reform of the AI Act about the industrial application of AI.
“AI regulation in the EU AI Act must become more industry-friendly,” explained ZVEI President Gunther Kegel in the run-up to the Hannover Messe. “Only in this way can the domestic industry play to its strengths in global competition.”
Industry associations are now calling for decisive action from the federal government – also in view of the consequences of the Iran war for energy supply and supply chains. However, it should not be limited to acute crisis management, is the general sentiment.
“Good policy to strengthen the competitiveness of the location must be broadly effective,” demanded Bertram Kawlath, President of the Association of German Mechanical and Plant Engineering (VDMA). “Thought-out, structural reforms that create lasting growth impulses must replace short-term crisis management.”
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"Location not competitive”
The Federation of German Industries (BDI) speaks of serious structural problems. “The costs at the location are simply too high. We are no longer competitive as a location,” warns BDI President Peter Leibinger. The federal government must agree on a reform package by the summer. “What has been announced so far is disappointing, timid, and misses the point.”
“We need a major breakthrough now, not patchwork,” ZVEI CEO Kegel also reiterated his warning at the opening ceremony of the trade fair. Lower taxes, a leaner social welfare state, flexibility in the labor market, and finally a noticeable reduction in bureaucracy are needed. Companies must also do their part, Kegel emphasized. “We, the companies, also have an obligation to do our homework.”
(vbr)
