The European Union must set national AI investment targets
The European Commission should reassess its investment targets for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and set national investment targets to keep pace with global leaders in the field, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) recommends today.
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In the special report “The European Union’s (EU) ambitions on artificial intelligence”, published today, the auditors conclude that the bloc “is not on track to develop Europe’s AI ecosystem and invest in AI at the same pace as global leaders in the field”.
As such, the ECA recommends, among other things, that the Commission reassess, by 2025, the investment targets, taking into account international and technological developments.
Also this year, the auditors say, the Commission needs to improve the coordination instruments of the EU AI plan by agreeing on national AI investment targets “to feed into the next revision of the plan”.
From January, Brussels will also have to regularly monitor the progress made in implementing the EU plan, increase the accessibility of and support for innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the field of AI and assess the possible need for a dedicated funding scheme under the current programmes.
By mid-2026, EU SMEs should have facilitated access to AI facilities in the bloc and, by mid-next year, Brussels should strengthen its action to support the exploitation of AI research and innovation results under Horizon Europe.
The audit found that the EU is not investing in AI at the same pace as global leaders, does not always follow up on the results of the AI projects it funds and that coordination between the EU and the Member States is not effective, because there are no instruments to manage it.
The ECA examined the Commission’s actions aimed at coordinating the measures in the 2018 and 2021 EU AI plans and at adopting a common legal framework for data sharing and trustworthy AI.
It also assessed the setting-up of EU-funded infrastructures facilitating access to and experimentation with AI technologies for SMEs (through the Digital Europe Programme).
In addition, it analysed the implementation of the Union’s funds for research in this field over the 2014-2022 period (through the Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programmes).
Read Also: European Court of Auditors warns EU that it may lose the AI race (Portuguese version)
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