Coordinated plan on artificial intelligence

EESC opinion on the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Fostering a European approach to Artificial Intelligence.

Key points

The EESC:

• welcomes this revised coordinated plan and calls for its expedited implementation by all stakeholders playing their part;
• is convinced that the plan must inject new momentum into education by incorporating ethical and environmental issues, lifelong learning and skills development;
• believes that social dialogue and the social partners are key players in anticipating change in skills and jobs and recommends that the Commission strongly encourage Member States to strengthen social and civic dialogue on AI issues and tools;
• points out that the new coordinated plan must be part of the requirement of transparency and explicability, inseparable from the right of every citizen to challenge decisions taken solely by an algorithm;
• is concerned about the risk of fragmentation linked to the different national strategies and calls on the Member States to step up their cooperation and the sharing of knowledge, expertise and best practices;
• recommends to strengthen the initiatives put in place to support MSMEs' access to AI (the testing and experimentation facilities, Digital Innovation Hubs and AI-on demand platform) and to assess their practical impact on MSMEs, with a view to improving them;  
• calls for a scheme providing for ongoing monitoring of progress using performance indicators devised by all stakeholders.

For more information please contact the INT Section Secretariat.