The European AI Continent Action Plan

Towards a balanced AI environment?

With the introduction of the AI Act, the European Union (EU) has been at the forefront of developing comprehensive frameworks to regulate artificial intelligence. However, the EU has faced criticism for being overly cautious with its regulatory measures, potentially missing out on economic opportunities that a more agile approach could offer. Critics argue that stringent regulations might stifle innovation and delay the adoption of AI technologies, hindering Europe's ability to compete globally. Rumours involving a possible simplification of the AI Acts obligations have been circulating, mainly because of the publication of leaked versions of the new AI Continent Action Plan. 

On April 9, 2025, the European Commission (EC) presented its new AI Continent Action Plan (the ‘Plan’), setting out a strategic agenda to accelerate the adoption and development of AI throughout the EU. By aligning regulatory measures with investment strategies, focusing on both regulations and development, the EU aims to create a balanced environment where AI can thrive responsibly. The Plan attempts to align with the message conveyed by the President of the EC, Ursula von der Leyen, at the February AI Action Summit in Paris: global leadership in AI is “within reach,” and the EC will do everything in its power to make Europe a serious contender. 

Contents of the AI Continent Action Plan

The Plan is structured around 5 key pillars: 1) computing power and infrastructure, 2) data for AI, 3) strategic AI innovation and adoption, 4) AI skills and talent and 5) regulatory simplification. While the Plan reads as an ambitious investment agenda, critics argue that it largely relies on existing financial frameworks, with few genuinely new resources being allocated. 

1. Infrastructure – AI Factories:

While the Plan reads as an ambitious investment agenda, critics argue that it largely relies on existing financial frameworks, with few genuinely new resources being allocated. An exception is infrastructure. The EU plans on strengthening its technological infrastructure by building AI factories, technological ecosystems with supercomputers, and invest in AI Gigafactories, large facilities designed to train complex AI systems, inspired by CERN. This initiative will be funded through public-private partnerships, combining EU and Member State grants with private investments, supported by the new InvestAI Facility fund. Some critics argue that the emphasis on building massive compute infrastructure through AI gigafactories and advancing frontier AI development, including Gen AI, seems at odds with emerging trends favouring smaller, cost-efficient AI models. European startups, inspired by the success of DeepSeek, are already implementing training techniques that achieve efficiency without the need for extensive computing power.

2. Data Accessibility and Governance

Additionally, the EC wants to create a true internal market for data. High-quality datasets are essential to develop and train advanced AI models. With the upcoming Data Union Strategy, the EC aims at creating Common European Data Spaces to ensure that more data becomes available to train AI systems. The Data Union Strategy is planned for Q3 2025 but two pieces of legislation have already been put into place to protect the rights and interests of citizens while simultaneously fostering industrial and technological development. These are the Data Governance Act, a comprehensive tool designed to oversee the reuse of publicly or protected data across various sectors, and the Data Act, which clarifies ‘who can create value from data and under which conditions’. 

3. Strategic AI Innovation and Adoption

The EC’s third goal is to increase the use of AI among companies within the EU, with a current adoption rate of only 13.5%. The EC particularly aims to promote the use of AI in strategic sectors such as the public sector and healthcare. 

4. AI Skills and Talent

The fourth pilar focuses on strengthening AI skills and talents within the EU. The EU needs to enlarge its AI talent pool in order to keep up with the increasing demand for AI-related expertise. The EC will do so by focusing on education and training, incentivise European AI skilled talent to stay in the EU, and by attracting skilled AI talent from non-EU countries. 

5. Regulatory Simplification

As a first step to facilitate a smooth application of the AI Act, the EC is launching the AI Act Service Desk, which will be an information hub providing practical advice on the AI Act. Furthermore, the EC launched the Apply AI Strategy public consultation to identify where regulatory uncertainty is hindering AI innovation. The results will feed the broader assessment of the AI Act during the first year. Despite these signals of support, the simplification agenda remains relatively modest, with no concrete proposals to structurally alleviate administrative burdens. This is not what was expected after months of rumours around the idea of regulatory simplification of the AI Act. 

Simplification of the AI Act?

Early leaked versions of the Plan suggested of an “opportunity to minimize the potential compliance burden”, talking about a significant simplification effort. Technology Commissioner Henna Virkunnen also announced that she is looking whether there are reporting requirements or administrative burdens that could be cut. However, the final version of the Plan has significantly toned down this language. A public consultation that has been opened to explore simplification possibilities indicates the EC's intent, though the extent of simplification still remains under assessment. This cautious approach may also be influenced by current transatlantic tensions, with the Trump administration viewing EU digital legislation as “extortion” and  part of broader negotiations around tariffs, potentially prompting the EU to retain flexibility in its regulatory strategy.

Next steps

To what extent the Plan, the follow-up consultation and possible political pressure will lead to a simplification of the compliance rules of the AI Act remains to be seen. For now, it is important that companies continue to meet their obligations under the AI Act. Since February 2025, obligations apply regarding prohibitions on certain AI systems and requirements for AI literacy among staff. The upcoming compliance deadline in August 2025 mandates GPAI providers to disclose details about model training, datasets, and associated risks and the bulk of the law, including the main requirements for high-risk AI systems, will apply from August 2026.

Many thanks to Amber van Asten for her valuable contribution to this article.