Quick answer
The EU AI Act timeline now needs three tracks. Current published law remains the baseline, the official 7 May 2026 Digital Omnibus provisional agreement creates planning dates for 2 December 2027 and 2 August 2028, and final adopted text remains pending until formal adoption and publication.
Digital Omnibus update, 8 May 2026
EU co-legislators reached a provisional agreement on 7 May 2026 that would change parts of the EU AI Act implementation timeline. Certain high-risk AI obligations would move to 2 December 2027, and product-integrated high-risk AI rules would move to 2 August 2028 if the amendment is formally adopted and published. EU AI Compass keeps current-law and provisional-agreement planning tracks separate.
The three-track timeline view
| Date | Current published AI Act baseline | Provisional-agreement track | Planning status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 February 2025 | Chapters I and II apply, including AI literacy and prohibited-practices provisions. | No change treated as final on this page. | Already applicable. Keep training evidence and prohibited-practices screening. |
| 2 August 2025 | GPAI, governance, notified-body, and penalty framework provisions apply under the current baseline. | No change treated as final on this page. | Already applicable. Keep GPAI/vendor due-diligence records where relevant. |
| 2 August 2026 | Most obligations, including Annex III high-risk rules and Article 50 transparency rules, remain scheduled under the current published baseline. | Certain high-risk timing would be delayed if the provisional agreement becomes final law. | Use as current-law baseline, but mark affected high-risk work as Digital Omnibus watch. |
| 2 December 2027 | Not a current published AI Act application date for Annex III high-risk obligations. | Would become the date for certain high-risk AI obligations if formally adopted and published. | Use as provisional-agreement planning track only. |
| 2 August 2028 | Not the current product-integrated high-risk date under the published baseline. | Would become the date for high-risk AI systems integrated into products such as lifts or toys if formally adopted and published. | Use as product-safety watch track only. |
How deployers should use this page
Use the current-law column for binding baseline planning until final amendment text is adopted and published. Use the provisional-agreement column to avoid wasting work on the wrong sequence. Use the final-adoption column as a placeholder for legal update control, not as a claim that the law has already changed.
The practical move is boring but useful: put a status field in every AI inventory and evidence file. Label it current law, provisional agreement, draft guidance, or final adopted text.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not replace legal review with a press-release summary.
- Do not delete August 2026 planning tasks from project plans without counsel review.
- Do not tell procurement or product teams that deployer evidence can wait until 2027.
- Do not mix Article 50, Annex III high-risk, and product-safety timelines as if they changed in the same way.
Read the Digital Omnibus hub
Understand what the provisional agreement would change.
Open the master timeline
See all current-law and watch-item dates.
Frequently asked questions
What is the current EU AI Act timeline?
Under the current published EU AI Act baseline, the regulation applies progressively. Prohibited practices and AI literacy applied from 2 February 2025, GPAI and governance provisions applied from 2 August 2025, most obligations remain scheduled from 2 August 2026, and some product-integrated high-risk systems remain scheduled from 2 August 2027.
What does the Digital Omnibus provisional agreement change?
The official 7 May 2026 Digital Omnibus provisional agreement would change parts of the implementation timeline if formally adopted and published. Certain high-risk AI obligations would move to 2 December 2027, and product-integrated high-risk AI rules would move to 2 August 2028.
Is 2 August 2026 still relevant?
Yes. 2 August 2026 remains relevant as the current published AI Act baseline until an amendment is formally adopted and published. It is also still relevant for evidence planning because deployers need system inventories, vendor records, human oversight routes, and Article 50 checks regardless of the final transition wording.
What happens on 2 December 2027 if the agreement is adopted?
If the provisional agreement is formally adopted and published, 2 December 2027 would become the planning date for certain high-risk AI obligations. EU AI Compass treats that date as a provisional-agreement planning track, not as final legal text until the amendment enters into force.
Why keep current-law and provisional-agreement tracks separate?
EU AI Compass keeps the tracks separate because teams need a clean audit trail. Mixing current law, provisional agreement, draft guidance, and final adopted text creates bad records. A dated planning note helps legal, compliance, product, and procurement teams explain why a decision was made.
Last evidence review date: 8 May 2026
Source basis: Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 remains the current published EU AI Act baseline. This page also tracks the official 7 May 2026 Digital Omnibus provisional agreement reported by the European Commission and related EU institutional reporting. The agreement still requires formal adoption and publication before it changes the legal text. This page is for operational planning and is not legal advice.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 · European Commission press release IP/26/1024 · Council provisional-agreement press release
Keep the evidence work moving
The Digital Omnibus may change timing, but it does not remove the need to know which AI systems exist, who owns them, which vendor records support them, and what evidence a deployer can show.