The EU AI Act in Practice
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the EU's harmonized rules on artificial intelligence. Classifies AI systems as prohibited, high-risk, limited-risk, or minimal-risk and imposes obligations proportionate to the tier.
- Instrument
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1689
- Kind
- Binding EU regulation, phased enforcement
- Full applicability
- August 2027
- In the check
- Not cited directly by a question
The four risk tiers
Obligations scale with the tier. The high-risk list is where the work is.
| Tier | What falls in it |
|---|---|
| Prohibited | Social scoring, real-time biometric identification in public spaces (with narrow exceptions), exploitative practices targeting vulnerable groups. |
| High-risk | AI systems used in critical infrastructure, education, employment, essential services, law enforcement, migration, justice, democratic processes. Includes specific AI products (medical devices, autonomous vehicles). |
| Limited-risk | Chatbots, deepfakes, emotion-recognition systems. Transparency obligations apply. |
| Minimal-risk | Most AI applications. No specific obligations beyond existing law. |
High-risk obligations
What a provider or deployer of a high-risk system has to show.
Risk-management system
Data governance
Technical documentation
Record-keeping
Transparency to deployers and users
Human oversight
Accuracy, robustness, and cybersecurity
Conformity assessment
Registration in EU database
Post-market monitoring
Enforcement timeline
The Act applies in phases. The dates below are when each set of obligations becomes enforceable.
| Applies from | Obligations |
|---|---|
| February 2025 | Prohibited practices |
| August 2025 | General-purpose AI obligations |
| August 2026 | Most high-risk obligations |
| August 2027 | Full applicability |
Where the check cites it
The AI Posture Check gives a first read on EU AI Act exposure. Article-level gap mapping is part of the paid Standard Audit.
The questions cite the control frameworks a regulator would expect you to hold: NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001 and the OWASP LLM Top 10. Your stage on the check is a starting point for an EU AI Act conformity review, not a substitute for one.
Other frameworks the check cites
Score yourself against this framework.
Five questions, each citing its source. You get your stage, your place on the chart and the one move that matters next.
- A few minutes for most people
- Free, from CWS
- Your stage, the chart and the next move, by email or live with an engineer