JUL 23, 2026 | EUROPEAN UNION | EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
BSA Urges the European Commission to Preserve Risk-Based Approach in AI Act Guidelines
BRUSSELS — The Business Software Alliance (BSA) calls on the European Commission to ensure its final Guidelines on the AI Act's high-risk classification rules preserve the Act's risk-based approach, warning that several provisions in the draft guidance could expand the scope of high-risk AI systems beyond what the legislation provides.
"The AI Act established a clear risk-based framework for regulating AI," said Hadrien Valembois, Director, Policy—EMEA, Business Software Alliance. "The Commission's Guidelines should reinforce that framework by providing practical guidance without broadening the scope of high-risk AI systems. That will give companies the certainty they need to innovate while maintaining strong safeguards."
In its submission, BSA urges the Commission to confirm that only genuinely high-risk uses trigger the AI Act's most stringent obligations. BSA also recommends clarifying that AI components should not automatically become high-risk because they are incorporated into larger systems, and that AI systems should qualify as safety components only where they have a direct impact on the health and safety of people or property.
ABOUT BSA
The Business Software Alliance (www.bsa.org) is the global trade association of the enterprise software industry, representing companies that are leaders in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, cloud computing, quantum, and other breakthrough technologies. We work in over 20 markets in the US, Europe, and Asia, advocating for policies that build trust in technology so that every industry sector and the public can benefit from innovation.