In 2024, Equinet continues to be at the forefront of championing equality in the realm of Artificial Intelligence. We have been actively engaged in the developments surrounding the EU AI Act, the first regulatory framework for governing the use of Artificial Intelligence in Europe. We prepared recommendations and a joint statement with ENNHRI, calling for a prioritisation of equality in the legislative process leading to the AI Act (AIA). Now that a political agreement has been reached on the AIA, we will work towards equality-proofing the AIA technical standards thanks to Equinet’s independent seat at the Joint Technical Committee 21, and towards capacity-building for Equality Bodies in the field of AI, thanks to our participation in the “Equality by Design, Deliberation and Oversight” Project.”
Our work towards Equality-Proofing the AIA Technical Standards
The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) set up the so-called Joint Technical Committee 21 at the request of the European Commission. Here, the technical standards, based on which developers of AI systems will certify (in most cases through self-assessment) their compliance with the legal requirements of the AI Act, will be developed.
Equinet is the only organization with dedicated legal expertise on equality and non-discrimination having an independent seat (liaison status directly with JTC-21, as opposed to contributing through the national standardization bodies) at the table. This is a unique and first-of-a-kind opportunity to ensure that all AI products and services in the European Union market, which receive CE marks for safety under the AIA, comply with non-discrimination legal requirements and promote equality. Following the reaching of political agreement on the AIA on 8 December and with the AI Act expected to become a law already this spring, substantive work on the standards has accelerated at great pace, with a bit over a year left to finish the drafting of all standards (April 2025). Equinet participates in the shaping of several equality-critical technical standards projects such as “bias,” “fundamental rights impact assessment,” “trustworthiness,” “conformity assessment,” and “risk management.”
Empowering Equality Bodies in AI Development: The “Equality by Design, Deliberation and Oversight” Project
Equinet has become part of the “Equality by Design, Deliberation and Oversight” Project, funded by the UK Research and Innovation Programme on Responsible AI (RAI) under the leadership of Professor Karen Yeung, University of Birmingham Law School. Project partners include the University of Birmingham Law School (lead), the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the University of Oxford, Beyond Reach Consulting Ltd, and Supertech. Professor Yeung is a leading expert on the regulation and governance of new and emerging technologies and is one of the authors of the European Union Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (2019), which provided recommendations for developing the AI Act.
From the start of this year until May 2025, Equinet will contribute to the development of learning materials and online training for Equality Bodies and other equality stakeholders to equip them with a suite of tools and techniques (“equality by design, deliberation and oversight” measures) to enhance their capacity to monitor and investigate the discriminatory impacts of data-enabled services and support policy reform to address current legal deficiencies. Another parallel strand of the project will connect the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission with the UK tech industry to assess the industry’s understanding of the applicability of equality law to AI and offer online training to address existing knowledge gaps and misunderstandings about equality law.
For more information on Equinet’s work about Artificial Intelligence, please contact Milla Vidina (milla.vidina@equineteurope.org).