AI, Democracy and the Role of the European Parliament

As a regulation of the European Union, the AI Act establishes a common regulatory and legal framework for the use of artificial intelligence within the EU. It is built on seven fundamental principles: human oversight and intervention; technical robustness and safety; privacy and data governance; transparency; diversity, non-discrimination and fairness; social and environmental well-being; and accountability.
The regulation entered into force on 1 August 2024 and will be phased into national legal systems over the next 6 to 36 months.

Artificial intelligence has emerged as one of the most influential forces shaping political, economic and social life in the 21st century. From algorithmic decision-making in public administration to AI systems capable of producing persuasive political content, artificial intelligence affects citizens’ work, communication, access to information and participation in democratic processes.

The AI Act is the first fully fledged regulatory framework in the world to govern AI systems and marks the European Parliament’s most significant achievement in the field. By doing so, Europe positions itself as a global rule-setter in digital governance, while the European Parliament stands out as the democratic institution guiding AI regulation towards transparency, accountability and ethical innovation.

Democratic governance as a prerequisite for artificial intelligence

While AI offers immense potential-improved efficiency, scientific advancement, personalised services, economic growth, support in medical diagnostics, industrial automation, traffic optimisation and large-scale data analysis-its risks must not be overlooked. These include opaque decision-making processes, algorithmic control of digital platforms and training data, surveillance capabilities that may threaten privacy, misinformation and disinformation, and the concentration of technological power in the hands of a few global companies.

These challenges create a clear need for democratic oversight. The European Union addresses this complexity through its legislative and regulatory institutions. AI requires specialised governance—one that cannot be left solely to profit-driven private companies or to individual national governments, given the global nature of digital markets.

The European Parliament as a Democratic Pillar of AI Regulation

Representing more than 400 million citizens, the European Parliament is the EU’s only directly elected institution, tasked with safeguarding European citizens’ rights and embedding democratic values into regulatory frameworks. In the creation of the AI Act, the Parliament acted as a legislator, a guardian of fundamental rights and a vehicle of participatory democracy.

As a legislator, co-deciding with the Council, the Parliament shaped the content of the Act by strengthening accountability requirements and prohibiting harmful AI uses, ensuring that fundamental rights remain at the centre.

As a guardian of Fundamental Rights, the Parliament-hrough committees such as Civil Liberties, Legal Affairs, the Internal Market and Consumer Protection-evaluated AI through the lens of non-discrimination, privacy, consumer protection and workers’ rights.

As a promoter of participatory democracy, the Parliament ensured public hearings with civil society organisations, academics, trade unions and youth groups, integrating their feedback and securing broad legitimacy for the final legislation.

Through these actions, the Parliament ensured that the AI Act became not merely a technical regulation but a rights-based, democratically grounded framework.

Structure and Philosophy of the Law

The AI Act represents the world’s first major attempt to regulate artificial intelligence. Its philosophy is based on a risk-based approach: the greater the potential risk to individuals or society, the stricter the rules.

It establishes four distinct categories:

1. Unacceptable-risk systems-those threatening fundamental rights or democratic values. The Parliament strongly advocated the prohibition of such systems. Examples include government “social scoring,” certain types of biometric surveillance in public spaces, predictive policing based on individual profiling, and emotion-recognition systems in workplaces and schools.

2. High-risk systems, used in sensitive sectors such as health care, education, employment, critical infrastructure, migration and public services. These systems must comply with strict requirements relating to transparency, data quality, human oversight, documentation and traceability. The Parliament also ensured mechanisms for challenging algorithmic decisions, such as AI used for disease diagnosis, recruitment, student assessment for higher education, border control systems and the management of critical infrastructure like energy networks.

3. Limited-risk systems, subject to transparency obligations. In response to concerns about political manipulation and disinformation, the Parliament strongly supported these measures. This category includes AI-generated manipulated content (deepfakes), chatbots and similar tools. Providers must inform users when they are interacting with AI, and training data must respect copyright and exclude illegal content.

4. Minimal-risk systems, such as spam filters, AI in video games, spell-checkers, image-enhancement tools and file-classification software.

The Parliament’s Contribution

Although the AI Act was initially proposed by the European Commission, the European Parliament significantly shaped the final version. Its contributions include:

● Stronger prohibitions and fundamental rights protections, placing human dignity at the core of AI governance

● Regulation of general-purpose AI and large language models, ensuring accountability for powerful systems

● Protection of workers, including mandatory notification when AI is used and rights to contest automated decisions

● Creation of the European AI Office, ensuring consistency among Member States and effective enforcement

● The right to explanations regarding algorithmic decisions and avenues for redress

● Safeguards for the information ecosystem, addressing disinformation, targeted political advertising, deepfakes and micro-targeting-areas where the Parliament has already secured political advertising regulation, algorithmic transparency requirements, deepfake labelling and digital literacy funding.

The Parliament views the AI Act not only as a regulatory milestone but also as a geopolitical strategy aimed at establishing global standards. However, major challenges remain: ensuring consistent implementation across Member States, addressing the environmental impact of AI infrastructure, protecting cultural diversity in the digital space, and incorporating the perspectives of young people and minorities into policy-making.

The European Parliament has delivered the first comprehensive AI regulation grounded in democratic values, fundamental rights and a human-centred approach-demonstrating that technology can be shaped by democratic will rather than other interests.

As AI continues to evolve, it must remain aligned with the citizens it serves-and the European regulatory framework must evolve accordingly. The European Parliament, the democratic heart of the EU, continues to protect and guide the development of a fair, ethical and human-centred digital future.