The European Commission has published its final guidelines on transparency obligations under the AI Act only 13 days before they come into application. In the view of eco – Association of the Internet Industry, this is far too late. Companies now have to analyse complex requirements, adapt internal processes and implement technical solutions within a very short period of time.
There will be no general postponement of the transparency obligations. For AI systems placed on the market from 2 August 2026, the requirements will apply immediately. Systems that are already being offered are also not generally exempt.
In an initial assessment, eco welcomes the fact that the guidelines use concrete examples to explain which systems fall under the transparency obligations and where exceptions may apply. This makes an initial legal classification easier. However, it is not enough for reliable and practical implementation.
Generally recognised, robust and interoperable standards for labelling AI-generated or manipulated content are still lacking. Neither the guidelines nor the voluntary Code of Practice provide definitive answers to key technical and legal questions. The reference to alternative, equivalent solutions also fails to provide sufficient certainty as long as it remains unclear which uniform criteria the competent authorities will use to assess them.
Different national interpretations would further increase legal uncertainty and deepen a European patchwork.
The gaps are particularly evident when it comes to hybrid content. In practice, texts, images or audio files are often created through a combination of human and machine processing. In many cases, it remains unclear when supportive editing ends and labelling-required AI generation begins. There is also no clear and practical answer for AI assistants as to when, and how often, users must be informed that they are interacting with an AI system.
This can have significant implications for the design of services and for the user experience.
eco is therefore calling for uniform, media-specific and technically implementable standards to be introduced as quickly as possible, together with a coordinated and proportionate enforcement practice across Europe. Binding obligations require binding guidance in good time. Otherwise, companies and users will pay the price for regulation whose practical implementation is only clarified after it has already come into force.
