Coordinated Plan on Artificial Intelligence

The Coordinated Plan on Artificial Intelligence aims to accelerate investment in AI, implement AI strategies and programmes and align AI policy to prevent fragmentation within Europe.

The Coordinated Plan on Artificial Intelligence (AI) was published in 2018. It is a joint commitment between the Commission, EU Member States, Norway and Switzerland to maximise Europe’s potential to compete globally. The initial Plan defined actions and funding instruments for the uptake and development of AI across sectors. In parallel, Member States were encouraged to develop their own national strategies.

The plan’s latest update was published in 2021. It shows Europe’s commitment to creating global leadership in trustworthy AI. The 2021 plan is also closely aligned with the Commission’s digital and green priorities, and Europe’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Coordinated Plan of 2021 aims to turn strategy into action by prompting to:

• accelerate investments in AI technologies to drive resilient economic and social recovery, aided by the uptake of new digital solutions
• fully and promptly implement AI strategies and programs to ensure that the EU maximizes the advantages of being an early adopter.
• align AI policy to remove fragmentation and address global challenges.

To achieve this, the updated plan establishes four key sets of policy objectives, supported by concrete actions. It also indicates possible funding mechanism, and establishes a timeline to:

• set enabling conditions for AI development and uptake in the EU
• make the EU the place where excellence thrives from the lab to market
• ensure that AI technologies work for people
• build strategic leadership in high-impact sectors

The 2024 Communication on boosting startups and innovation in trustworthy AI builds on both the 2018 and 2021 coordinated action plans on AI. This shows a policy shift to Generative AI in response to the latest technological developments. Similarly, the adopted version of the AI act also includes provisions on Generative AI. These rules expand on the Commission’s original proposal from 2021, which aimed to build a trustworthy AI ecosystem for the present and future.

The 2024 Communication proposes:

• a strategic investment framework to leverage the EU's assets - such as supercomputing infrastructure - to foster an innovative European AI ecosystem.
• collaboration between startups, innovators, and industrial users, aiming to attract investments to the EU and provide access to key AI components like data, computing power, algorithms, and talent.
• actions and investments to support startups and industries in Europe to become global leaders in trustworthy advanced AI models, systems, and applications.
• a package of measures (Under GenAI4EU) to support European startups and SMEs in developing trustworthy AI that adheres to EU values and regulations, including respecting privacy and data protection rules.

Investment

The Commission proposed a minimum of €1 billion annual investment in AI from Horizon Europe and Digital Europe programmes which was achieved for the years of 2021 and 2022 EU funding for AI aims to draw and consolidate investments, fostering collaboration among Member States maximises its impact.

The Recovery and Resilience Facility provides an unprecedented opportunity to modernise and invest in AI. Through this the EU can become a global leader in the development and uptake of human-centric, trustworthy, secure and sustainable AI technologies. By September 2023, it had already invested 4.4 billion Euros into AI. More information can be found in the Report Mapping EU level funding instruments to Digital Decade targets.

The actions outlined in the plans have been actively implemented by both the Commission and Member States and progress was made in all chapters. Notably, the EU is fostering critical computing capacity through several successful actions:

1. The Chips Act establishes a legislative foundation to enhance the semiconductor industry’s resilience.
2. The Chips Joint Undertaking (Chips JU) accelerates semiconductor technologies in Europe.
3. The EuroHPC JU develops advanced computing capabilities accessible to European SMEs.
4. The Testing and Experimentation Facilities (TEFs) support AI technology development for Edge AI Components and Systems.
5. The Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) promote collaboration among Member States in cutting-edge microelectronics and communication projects.

Together, these initiatives create a synergistic ecosystem for advancing microelectronics and computing capacity in Europe. The Commission is also monitoring and assessing the progress of these actions and will - in collaboration with Member States - report on the monitoring during 2024.

Background

Member States and the Commission have collaborated closely and met regularly to work on the actions under the different plans. They progressed in all areas of the plan including by proposing a data strategy, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and creating conditions for excellence in research and development and uptake of AI in Europe.

Overall, the first two years of implementation confirmed that joint actions and structured cooperation between Member States and the Commission are key to the EU’s global competitiveness and leadership in AI development and uptake. Most Member States have adopted national AI strategies and started to implement them. Investments in AI have increased, and the EU was able to mobilise critical resources to support these processes.