EU countries miss deadline to appoint AI Act regulator

EU member states are failing to meet key artificial intelligence (AI) safety and infrastructure milestones ahead of a leaders' summit in Dublin.

Currently, sixteen member states have failed to appoint national authorities to enforce the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act). With the appointment deadline having passed in August 2025, six countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, and Slovakia) have not selected any regulatory authority, while ten others have made only provisional choices.

MEP Sergey Lagodinsky has written to the European Commission to request that it commence formal proceedings against these countries, arguing that administrative inaction undermines EU credibility.

The delays coincide with growing urgency about technological safety following recent cyberattacks and disruptions involving autonomous AI agents. António Costa, President of the European Council, confirmed that the summit will also examine reducing strategic dependence on the US and China. 

However, the EU has delayed several planned infrastructure projects, including a deferred €30 billion initiative to establish seven AI compute hubs and large-scale data centres. This has led officials to postpone the deadline for consortia expressions of interest from November to February, allowing member states to complete national budgetary processes and submit financial commitments.

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