A sigh of relief for new AI rules?
TechSverige welcomes the recently presented report Adaptations to the AI Regulation (SOU 2025:101) to implement the EU AI Regulation in Sweden. The investigator presented the proposals as a balance between legal certainty and innovation. It is particularly important that Sweden does not go further in implementing the rules than the AI Regulation requires. Avoiding special Swedish requirements reduces the regulatory burden and increases competitiveness in Sweden, at least to some extent. It also prevents differences from arising in the internal market.
It is also positive that the investigator agrees with TechSverige and gives the main responsibility for the authorities' work on the regulation to the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS). It is important that digitization issues are kept together. The government has now taken several steps in the right direction with the merger of PTS and the Agency for Digital Government (Digg) and the division of responsibilities for other EU proposals.
It is also right that public authorities can also be subject to sanctions, as the investigator proposes. The risks of state abuse should not be downplayed. Equal treatment of public and private actors increases trust and drives effective compliance - with possible tools such as reprimands and penalties for non-compliance. Here, the proposals also seem to provide some flexibility. This is a good thing - there are many who now have to test the waters in the emerging AI landscape.
The EU requires at least one sandbox per Member State"
Finally, a national regulatory sandbox for AI can help speed up the deployment of safe, competitive solutions. The EU requires at least one sandbox per Member State, and the report concludes that Sweden should establish its own - preferably with a horizontal scope and with PTS as the responsible authority.
Our calls for implementation: 1) provide PTS with sufficient resources for expertise, standards, guidance and operation of the sandbox, 2) ensure good access for SMEs, 3) build strong collaboration with other relevant authorities and 4) stick to minimum implementation in all supplementary rules. This will create clarity, equal treatment and a faster path from test to scale - with Sweden as a safe and competitive AI market.
Almost at the same time, it was announced that the European Commission is following the lead of TechSweden and many other business organisations and withdrawing the Artificial Intelligence Liability Directive (AILD). The proposal included far-reaching provisions on the provision of information that were problematic for companies. Companies need to protect trade secrets, intellectual property rights, confidential information and personal data.
AI is a rapidly developing technology. This places great demands on legislation that is responsive to the possibilities, requires careful analysis before new legislative proposals and impact assessments. It is not easy, but it is necessary.
Fredrik Sand
Industrial policy expert