The Office of the Information and Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC) of Malta communicates on the revision of the application deadlines of the EU AI Act following the adoption by the Council of the EU of the Omnibus legislative package on AI.

The provisions relating to high-risk AI systems, initially scheduled for 2 August 2026, will now apply from 2 December 2027 for autonomous systems. This additional time aims to prepare the market for fundamental rights safeguards, such as data protection. The establishment of regulatory sandboxes for AI by the competent authorities is also postponed by one year, to 2 August 2027. These mechanisms are intended to support innovation through controlled testing. However, most other obligations of the AI Act, notably the transparency requirements on labeling content generated or manipulated by AI, will maintain their entry into force date of 2 August 2026. The IDPC acts as the Maltese Market Surveillance Authority (MSA) for high-risk AI systems in the sectors of law enforcement, border control, justice, and democracy.