The European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB) welcomes the possibility to contribute to the discussion on the proposal for a Directive on adapting non-contractual civil liability rules to artificial intelligence (the AI Liability Directive).
The EACB appreciates the Commission’s proposal as it aims to create a minimum harmonisation approach, designed to help consumers raise damages claims when something goes wrong with the operation of an AI system and to reduce legal uncertainty for businesses developing or using AI regarding their possible exposure. Indeed, the AI Liability Directive lay down minimum uniform requirements (on the disclosure of evidence on high-risk AI systems and on the rebuttable presumption of a causal link in the case of fault) in order not to create frictions with existing and significantly diverse Member State liability frameworks.
Notwithstanding the above, we would like to address a few aspects we believe would need attention from policy makers to improve the proposal. In particular, we ask to:
• Clarify the direct relation between output of AI system and suffered damages by claimant.
• Limit the scope of the ‘relevant evidence’ to be disclosed.
• Clarify the relationship with the AI Act, particularly with regard to sanctions.