European Commission Proposes Easing AI Act Rules for Startups and SMEs

The European Commission is working to ease the EU's artificial intelligence law, the AI Act, in the parts covering obligations imposed on startups and small and medium-sized enterprises. The changes are meant to reduce bureaucratic burdens before August 2026, when the most demanding rules for high-risk systems take effect.

What Brussels Is Proposing

The digital omnibus package includes several concrete changes to how companies must fulfill their obligations under the AI Act. The Commission wants to reduce the number of required reports and guidelines, simplify technical documentation and quality management systems, and clarify the legal texts so that businesses understand more clearly what is expected of them.

A separate element of the proposal is taking into account the economic situation of smaller entities when imposing penalties for violations. The current wording of the rules did not in practice differentiate the severity of sanctions based on company size, which drew criticism from startups and smaller software producers.

Competitive Pressure From the US and China

Behind the proposal to ease the regulation lies above all concern about the competitiveness of European tech companies against the United States and China. The Donald Trump administration has been systematically reducing regulatory burdens for AI companies, which, according to some European politicians, makes it easier for American startups to roll out new systems faster than their counterparts in the EU.

The regulation is to a very large extent harmful to the development of the latest technologies in Europe - Tobiasz Bocheński, PiS MEP, ECR group

Bocheński also points to the practical effects of the current rules on companies that have already implemented compliance systems for the original version of the AI Act.

Companies knew what their obligations were. Now they don't - Tobiasz Bocheński, PiS MEP, ECR group

Calls for Further Deregulation

The MEP does not limit himself to supporting the Commission's proposal but calls for it to be significantly strengthened and expanded, arguing that this is necessary to compete with China, the United States, Japan and South Korea. The AI Chamber organization took a similar position, appealing in December 2025 for the EU proposals to be substantially strengthened rather than merely formally approved.

Critics of fully easing the rules warn, however, that concessions that go too far could undermine the purpose of the AI Act as a protective framework against risky applications of artificial intelligence, especially in the area of high-risk systems, where key implementation deadlines fall on August 2, 2026 and 2027.

What This Means for Polish Companies

Data from the EY survey "How Polish Companies Are Implementing AI" show that the process of adapting to EU regulations is already underway, but far from complete. 31 percent of medium and large enterprises have begun implementing AI Act requirements, another 40 percent are in the process of doing so, and a third consider the process labor-intensive.

For Polish startups and smaller tech companies, easing the rules would mean less paperwork and potentially lighter penalties for formal mistakes, especially in the initial period of the new obligations. However, the final shape of the changes depends on further negotiations in the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, which could either weaken or adjust the Commission's proposals.