France joins Germany in calling for a one-year pause on EU high-risk AI rules
Speaking at the summit on European digital sovereignty in Berlin, French digital minister Anne Le Hénanff backed a 12-month freeze on obligations for high-risk AI systems, arguing that a temporary halt is necessary to give companies time to adapt and to avoid legal uncertainty during the transition.
France has publicly aligned itself with Germany’s call to delay enforcement of high-risk provisions under the EU’s AI Act, adding momentum to a growing coalition of member states urging a temporary pause while the Union considers broader digital simplification measures. The shift comes as French digital minister Anne Le Hénanff used a digital sovereignty summit in Berlin to voice support for giving regulators and businesses more time before the most stringent parts of the AI Act take effect.
Her intervention mirrors earlier German statements pushing to “stop the clock” on high-risk requirements. Several countries, including Sweden and Czechia, have argued for months that the enforcement timeline should be pushed back to avoid disproportionate burdens during the early rollout phase of the law. Others, such as Spain and the Netherlands, maintain that delaying a core part of the EU’s flagship AI legislation would weaken safeguards before they have a chance to operate.
The debate is taking place just as the European Commission prepares to unveil its Digital Omnibus package, a legislative proposal expected to streamline and consolidate requirements across the EU digital rulebook. At the Berlin summit, leaders framed simplification as essential for competitiveness, while Commission officials reiterated that any streamlining would need to preserve clarity and predictability rather than dilute protections. The Omnibus proposal, to be presented shortly, will set the stage for negotiations between Parliament and Council over whether and how to adjust the implementation timelines of existing laws.
For now, France’s position strengthens the political case for re-examining the AI Act’s enforcement schedule, but it does not amount to a formal decision at EU level. Any change to the legal timeline would require agreement from both co-legislators. With positions still divided, the coming months will be decisive in determining whether the EU proceeds with the current 2026 start date for high-risk AI obligations or opts for the delayed approach advocated by France, Germany, and several other capitals.
