Federal Council wants to adopt AI conventions of the Council of Europe
Keystone-SDA
The Swiss government wants to incorporate the Council of Europe’s conventions on artificial intelligence (AI) into Swiss law. Where legislative amendments are necessary, these should be as sector-specific as possible.
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The government announced on Wednesday that general, cross-sector regulation would be limited to central areas relevant to fundamental rights, such as data protection. Regulatory activities in individual areas such as healthcare and transport are to be continued.
Regulation in the field of AI should strengthen Switzerland as a location for innovation, protect fundamental rights, including economic freedom, and strengthen the public’s trust in AI, according to the government.
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To this end, the justice ministry, together with the foreign ministry and the environment, transport, energy and communications ministry, will prepare a consultation draft by the end of 2026, it added. This should implement the Council of Europe conventions by defining the necessary legal measures in the areas of transparency, data protection, non-discrimination and supervision.
In November 2023, the foreign ministry and the environment, transport, energy and communications ministry presented various analyses on possible regulatory approaches on behalf of the government. The justice ministry was also closely involved in the work. The analyses examined the impact of the Council of Europe’s AI Convention, provided an overview of existing and planned changes to federal law in various sectors and showed the regulatory developments in 20 selected countries.
The Council of Europe adopted the AI conventions in May of last year. They are intended to regulate the use of AI in the public and private sectors.
Translated from German by DeepL/ts
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