EU Clinches Deal to Roll Back AI Act Restrictions on Industry

May 7, 2026

EU ambassadors agreed on May 6, 2026 to exempt machinery from the EU AI Act, marking the first major rollback of digital rules amid U.S. and industry pressure. Germany secured France's backing for the exemption to ease pressure on struggling industrial companies including Siemens and Bosch. The deal delays restrictions on high-risk AI uses by more than a year and shifts industrial AI applications to machinery rules instead of the AI Act.

Germany's industrial AI exemption push

▪Dariusz Standerski, Polish secretary of state for digital affairs, stated that if a member state has any concerns about EU legislation, they should raise them earlier.
▪German Chancellor Friedrich Merz personally promised German CEOs to fight for a more supportive AI regime at the EU level.
▪Germany's push for AI exemptions aims to ease pressure on struggling industrial heavyweights such as Siemens and Bosch.
▪Germany launched a last-ditch effort over the past few weeks to secure less stringent AI rules for its industries.
▪Germany pushed to exempt machinery from the EU's artificial intelligence law.

EU ambassadors agreement

▪More than a dozen EU ambassadors backed the machinery exemption change on May 6, 2026.
▪The Cypriot presidency of the Council of the EU proposed changing the AI Act's annex to exempt machinery.
▪EU ambassadors agreed on May 6, 2026 to support Germany's push to exempt machinery from the EU's artificial intelligence law.
▪Reluctant EU countries obtained additional safeguards in the May 6, 2026 ambassadors' deal designed to ensure industrial AI applications will still have to meet requirements such as keeping a human in the loop.
▪Under the proposal agreed by EU ambassadors, industrial AI applications would have to meet AI requirements set out in machinery rules instead of the AI Act.

AI Act restrictions rollback

▪The machinery exemption marks a dramatic departure from the EU AI Act's initial form, which was designed to cover all sectors and uses of artificial intelligence.
▪The EU AI Act review will delay restrictions on high-risk uses of AI in the EU by more than a year.
▪The May 6, 2026 EU AI Act deal would be the first significant rollback of rules in the digital space as the EU faces pressure from the U.S. over its tech legislation.

French government backing

▪Top executives of companies including Dutch chip-tool supplier ASML and German engineering company Siemens issued a plea on May 4, 2026 asking to enable industrial AI applications without overlapping constraints.
▪Germany secured France's backing for the machinery exemption ahead of the May 6, 2026 meeting of EU ambassadors.
▪Thomas Courbe, director general for enterprises at the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance, stated that France shares in principle the views of Germany on machines.

Parliamentary negotiations timeline

▪The European Parliament had previously asked that a series of products covered by sectoral legislation be subject only to those laws, not to the EU AI Act.
▪Final negotiations on the EU AI Act between the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the Council of the EU were scheduled for the evening of May 6, 2026.
▪Rules on high-risk uses of AI in the EU AI Act are set to kick in August 2026.
▪EU legislators set an end-of-April deadline for AI Act reforms to ensure companies face no legal uncertainty.

Perspective of Germany and supporting industrial nations

▪German Chancellor Friedrich Merz personally promised German CEOs to fight for a more supportive AI regime at the EU level.
▪Germany's push for AI exemptions aims to ease pressure on struggling industrial heavyweights such as Siemens and Bosch.