Photo : Council of Europe
IN FOCUS
By Harini Madhusudan
Regulations for Artificial Intelligence and the Council of Europe (CAHAI)
On 14 December 2021, an ad hoc committee of the Council of Europe released a publication titled ‘towards regulation of AI systems’ after examining the potential elements and feasibility of Artificial Intelligence on human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. It is considered the first legal framework that is prepared on the basis of a broad multi-stakeholder consultations, and prepare a document for the development, application, and design of artificial intelligence for the Council of Europe’s Standards.
In the early weeks of December, the CAHAI, completed its recommendations for a legally binding treaty. The treaty will now have to be ratified by the Council of Europe’s 47 member countries, and include Russia and Turkey. Additionally, the US, Canada, Japan and Mexico have also been involved in the AI initiative. The CAHAI recommends that the treaty could include risk clarifications, impact assessments, and principles for AI development. In the case of AI in healthcare, education, and granting social benefits, the committee believes that it would be better addressed through sectoral rules.
The CAHAI has called for a complete or partial moratorium on applications that stand as an “unacceptable” risk to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. Features such as facial/emotion recognition, and social scoring would be a threat in this case. Barring a few exceptions, the treaty effectively targets the growing concentration of economic power and of big data. The CAHAI recommendations would be discussed among the ministers of member countries in February 2022, and the negotiations are expected to begin by May. A new committee named Committee of Artificial Intelligence (CAI) would be formed to negotiate the text. It is estimated that the negotiations would wrap before November 2023, and would be ratified by 2024, if all goes according to the schedule.
Online platforms have not positively welcomed the proposal. The regulations are part of the larger set of directives to regulate online platforms and their activities. The regulations on AI would lay emphasis on the platforms to oversee the impact of their automated services and would ensure a human review of significant outcomes, thereby setting a code of conduct and placing the burden of proof on the online platforms.
For several years, the Council of Europe has been anticipating increasing challenges from, and assessing the impact of digital technologies. They have worked towards developing relevant legal strategies and internet governance instruments. The initial responses by the civil society groups, said that the treaty has been massacred by member countries with exceptions that are similar to the European Union’s AI act. The biggest concern raised is that the treaty excludes military AI, which would necessarily allow the member countries to include dual-use technologies if they needed to.
References:
Melissa Heikkila, “AI Decoded: the World’s First AI treaty,” POLITICO, 08 December 2021.
Luca Bertuzzi, “Digital Brief powered by Facebook: gig economy, roaming extension, battle of amendments,” Euractiv, 10 December 2021.
Geneva Internet Platform, “Council of Europe’s CAHAI releases publication titled “towards regulation of AI systems,” DigWatch, 14 December 2021.
IN BRIEF
By Joeana Cera Mathews, Ashwin Dhanabalan and Padmashree Anandhan
GERMANY
Chancellor Olaf Scholz's first meet with the EU
On 16 December, Germany's new Chancellor Olaf Scholz met the European Union members in Brussels. Russian tensions dominated the Chancellor's first summit in Brussels. Scholz discussed the rising energy prices and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the EU debated potential sanctions on Russia if it were to increase its aggression along the Ukrainian borders. The EU was wary of Russia's intentions comprehending how it had annexed Crimea in 2014. Germany already had issues going on domestically with Russia, as in 2019 an ethnic Chechen was murdered in a park in Berlin. The court recently ruled a life imprisonment sentence for the Russian national and in response to the verdict, Germany expelled two Russian diplomats. Speculations arose about the Russian national being an FSB agent. ("Olaf Scholz at first EU summit with fresh Russia tension in tow," Deutsche Welle, 16 December 2021)
GREECE
Protests demanding a raise of wages and pensions
On 16 December, labour unions staged a protest in Athens demanding a return of wages and pensions. Their wages were cut due to the International bailouts as Greece was on the brink of bankruptcy between 2010 and 2018. The protestors gathered in front of the Parliament building as the Parliament was discussing the budget for 2022. Due to the pandemic Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said: “despite 6.9 percent growth forecast for this year, spending on the health service and income support during the pandemic allow for only modest increases in social spending.” Thus the budget included a minimum 2 percent wage increase. According to Euronews, Greece still has a public debt of “197.1 percent of gross domestic product this year, with a 7.3 precent budget deficit before debt obligations”, and due to the pandemic there has not been a significant increase in state revenues. (“Greece: Protest against budget constrained by pandemic costs,” Euronews, 16 December 2021)
POLAND
Parliament votes in Media Reform bill targeting TVN
On 17 December, the Polish parliament ratified a media reform bill aimed at the Discovery-owned TVN. The bill is intended to reduce the media companies being foreignly owned. However, critics claim that the bill is directed at TVN which openly criticizes the Polish government. This bill has been a source of tension in the Poland-US relations. Polish President Andrzej Duda is expected to sign the bill for it to come into effect. Duda’s ratification would mean the bill becomes a law implying foreign firms would no longer have a say in Polish television and radio. The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has upheld the bill stating the ban would allow for less foreign influence over public opinion. (“Poland: Parliament approves controversial media reform bill,” Deutsche Welle, 17 December 2021)
SERBIA
Serbia moves closer to EU membership
On 14 December, Serbia opened a series of talks with the European Union on environmental policies. The steps taken by Serbia helped it to move closer to joining the European Union; as the EU’s Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi said: "Serbia is taking another very important step forward in joining the European Union." Belgrade discussed energy, transport, trans-European infrastructure networks, and climate change. But, the only impediment Serbia would face soon was concerning its relations with Kosovo. Slovenian Foreign Minister Gasper Dovzan said: "Serbia's progress on the rule of law and the normalization of relations with Kosovo remains essential and will continue to determine the overall pace of the negotiations." All countries who want to join the EU have to conform to its standards. Serbia had refused to recognize Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008. After a conflict between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serbian forces, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. ("Serbia a step closer to EU membership but Kosovo relations remain key," Euronews, 14 December 2021.
REGIONAL
Hike in energy prices cause rift between the EU and Poland
On 16 December, the EU leaders met in Brussels to discuss various issues including the spiral in energy prices. When the talks began on energy, it was paused as Poland, Czech Republic, Spain and a few other countries called out to curb the role of financial speculators responsible for volatile prices in the energy market. The Prime Minister of Poland said: “ETS prices should be fairly constant and reasonably predictable, not in spikes.” He also added that the Polish government had proposed to the European Commission on changes to be made with regard to the carbon market. The carbon prices of the EU have shot up by more than 50 per cent. Carbon market has been one of the core policies of the EU to cut down the greenhouse gas emissions and the commission has proposed to expand the scheme on enforcement on factories to buy a permit for every ton of CO2 emitted. (Kate Abnett, “EU energy talks paused as Poland seeks carbon market curbs,” Reuters, 17 December 2021)
INTERNATIONAL
Germany signs controversial arms deal with Egypt
On 16 December, as reported by Deutsche Welle, "Former Chancellor Angela Merkel's government approved controversial weapons exports to Egypt before leaving office". The move was criticized by a few political leaders as Egypt had a poor human rights record. The current Chancellor Olaf Scholz was the former Finance Minister under the Merkel government; thus, he knew about the deals. The government would be delivering three MEKO A-200 EN frigates and 16 air defence systems made in Kiel and Baden-Württemberg. The agreement also discloses Germany was increasing its exports to non-EU countries, which has brought it to international attention. Germany's new coalition government has decided to accept a "restrictive weapons export policy," to tackle the backlash received under the former government's deals. (Wesley Dockery and Sabine Kinkartz, “Germany: Merkel government greenlit controversial arms deal with Egypt,” Deutsche Welle, 16 December 2021)