The European Parliament voted 423 to 57 on June 16 to wave through the AI Act Omnibus. High-risk system deadlines move to 2027 and 2028, and the watermarking grace period shrinks from six months to three.
Civil society called it a rollback dressed up as simplification. The Council still has to finalise the text, which means the fight over what counts as a safeguard is not over.
Policy & Regulation
Parliament approves the AI Act Omnibus, civil society calls it a rollback
MEPs adopted the Omnibus VII package by 423 votes to 57, with 174 abstentions. The text delays enforcement of obligations for some high-risk AI systems until 2027 or 2028, originally due this year.
It also bans non-consensual "nudifier" apps that generate or manipulate intimate images without consent. Transparency rules survive, but weaker: AI providers can now submit "simplified technical documentation," with the definition of "simplified" left to the Commission to work out later.
Liberties, EDRi, and other digital-rights groups argue the rushed process, no impact assessment, limited consultation, sidelined the people the AI Act was meant to protect. "It delays safeguards before they can take effect, weakens transparency obligations, and creates loopholes that primarily benefit tech companies," said Eva Simon, the group's head of tech and rights.
The counterpoint from Brussels is that the AI Act was written before generative AI's compliance costs were fully understood, and that founders needed the runway. Both things can be true.
The provision that moved a category of AI in machinery out of the AI Act's strictest tier, a direct ask from German industry, is the clause worth watching for how far "simplification" stretches before it stops protecting anyone. (Liberties.eu) (Brussels Signal)
Capital & Investment
EIC Accelerator backs 38 deep-tech start-ups with €292 million
The European Innovation Council selected 38 start-ups and SMEs from 87 interviewed finalists in its latest funding round, announced June 15. Grants alone total €90 million; combined with equity, the package reaches roughly €292 million.
The companies span 16 EU and associated countries, led by France, the UK, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland, with women in the CEO, CTO, or CSO seat at 21 per cent of them. The geographic spread matters more than the headline number: EIC money is one of the few channels that reaches deep-tech founders outside the usual Berlin-Paris-London funding triangle. (European Innovation Council)
A €500 million Franco-German fund bets on Europe building its own defence-tech
Earlybird and AVP launched E2D on June 18, a €500 million growth fund targeting roughly 20 dual-use and defence companies across space, air, land, maritime, and subsurface technology, with an average ticket of €25 million. First close is set for June 30.
The fund's existence answers a specific complaint: most NATO-aligned defence-tech capital has gone to American companies, not European ones. Whether E2D actually shifts that flow depends on deal flow at growth stage, which is thinner in Europe than at seed. (Tech.eu)
Talent & Workforce
Brussels pushes member states to streamline visas for researchers and founders
The Commission held the second meeting of its Talent for Innovation Attraction Platform on June 17, gathering migration, education, and research officials from member states to track progress on a January recommendation urging faster visa and residence procedures for researchers, STEM professionals, and start-up founders.
Implementation is uneven. Finland's fast-track visa for AI specialists processes in 10 to 14 days; other member states have not moved past the recommendation stage.
The platform's job is closing that gap, but a recommendation carries no enforcement teeth, only peer pressure. (European Commission)
One to Watch
The Council's AI Act Omnibus sign-off, and the August deadline behind it
Parliament's vote is not the end of the process. The Council must formally adopt the same text, after which it goes through legal and linguistic review before publication in the Official Journal, all targeted to finish before the AI Act's original August 2 deadline for high-risk systems.
Any divergence between what Parliament approved and what the Council signs off on would force the file back into negotiation with weeks to spare. Watch for the Council's adoption date, expected in the coming weeks, as the signal that the simplified rules are locked in rather than still moving. (European Parliament)