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Regulation Tracker / EU AI Act / Chapter III · Section 5

Article 41
Common specifications

Chapter III — Classification rules for high-risk AI systems, Section 5 — Harmonised standards and standardisation deliverables. 6 distinct duties, powers or definitions are coded from this article, applying from 2026-08-02.

Amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (Digital Omnibus on AI), in force 2026-07-27 — about 105 words changed. The text below is the consolidated version of 27 July 2026; the 2024 text and the amending regulation are on EUR-Lex.

official text: EUR-Lex (consolidated 27 Jul 2026) · text © European Union (Decision 2011/833/EU) · coding CC BY 4.0 · data: obligations.json · Hugging Face · GitHub

The text

1. The Commission may adopt, implementing acts establishing common specifications for the requirements set out in Section 2 of this Chapter or, as applicable, for the obligations set out in Sections 2 and 3 of Chapter V where the following conditions have been fulfilled:

  1. (a)the Commission has requested, pursuant to Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012, one or more European standardisation organisations to draft a harmonised standard for the requirements set out in Section 2 of this Chapter, or, as applicable, for the obligations set out in Sections 2 and 3 of Chapter V, and: (i) the request has not been accepted by any of the European standardisation organisations; or (ii) the harmonised standards addressing that request are not delivered within the deadline set in accordance with Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012; or (iii) the relevant harmonised standards insufficiently address fundamental rights concerns; or (iv) the harmonised standards do not comply with the request; and
  2. (b)no reference to harmonised standards covering the requirements referred to in Section 2 of this Chapter or, as applicable, the obligations referred to in Sections 2 and 3 of Chapter V has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012, and no such reference is expected to be published within a reasonable period.

2. Before preparing a draft implementing act, the Commission shall inform the committee referred to in Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 that it considers the conditions laid down in paragraph 1 of this Article to be fulfilled.

3. High-risk AI systems or general-purpose AI models which are in conformity with the common specifications referred to in paragraph 1, or parts of those specifications, shall be presumed to be in conformity with the requirements set out in Section 2 of this Chapter or, as applicable, to comply with the obligations referred to in Sections 2 and 3 of Chapter V, to the extent those common specifications cover those requirements or those obligations.

4. Where a harmonised standard is adopted by a European standardisation organisation and proposed to the Commission for the publication of its reference in the Official Journal of the European Union, the Commission shall assess the harmonised standard in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012. When reference to a harmonised standard is published in the Official Journal of the European Union, the Commission shall repeal the implementing acts referred to in paragraph 1, or parts thereof which cover the same requirements set out in Section 2 of this Chapter or, as applicable, the same obligations set out in Sections 2 and 3 of Chapter V.

5. Where providers of high-risk AI systems or general-purpose AI models do not comply with the common specifications referred to in paragraph 1, they shall duly justify that they have adopted technical solutions that meet the requirements referred to in Section 2 of this Chapter or, as applicable, comply with the obligations set out in Sections 2 and 3 of Chapter V to a level at least equivalent thereto.

6. Where a Member State considers that a common specification does not entirely meet the requirements set out in Section 2 or, as applicable, comply with obligations set out in Sections 2 and 3 of Chapter V, it shall inform the Commission thereof with a detailed explanation. The Commission shall assess that information and, if appropriate, amend the implementing act establishing the common specification concerned.

What it requires, coded

SafeLegalAI's reading of each duty in this article: who, what, from when, under which fine tier, and whether it reaches a firm, chambers, court or legal-AI vendor. Descriptive, not advice; the quoted words are the Regulation's.

  1. Art. 41(1)Delegated or implementing actNot tier-specific

    The Commission may establish common specifications for high-risk requirements or GPAI obligations only when the specified standardisation-request and publication conditions are fulfilled.

    "The Commission may adopt, implementing acts establishing common specifications for the requirements set out in Section 2 of this Chapter or, as applicable, for the obligations set out in Sections 2 and 3 of Chapter V"
    Who
    Commission
    From
    (Art. 113 second subparagraph)
    Legal practice
    Institutional — Institutional fall-back standard-setting with indirect impact on legal-AI vendors.
    See
    Chapter III Section 2 · Chapter V Sections 2 and 3 · Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012

  2. Art. 41(2)Governance institutionalNot tier-specific

    Before preparing a draft implementing act for common specifications, the Commission must inform the committee under Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 that it considers the Article 41 conditions met.

    "Before preparing a draft implementing act, the Commission shall inform the committee referred to in Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 that it considers the conditions laid down in paragraph 1 of this Article to be fulfilled"
    Who
    Commission
    From
    (Art. 113 second subparagraph)
    Legal practice
    Institutional — Procedural governance step with indirect relevance to legal-AI vendors.
    See
    Art. 22 Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012

  3. Art. 41(3)Scope or definitionHigh-risk

    High-risk AI systems or GPAI models conforming to common specifications are presumed compliant with covered high-risk requirements or GPAI obligations to the extent those specifications cover them.

    "High-risk AI systems or general-purpose AI models which are in conformity with the common specifications referred to in paragraph 1, or parts of those specifications, shall be presumed to be in conformity"
    Who
    Provider, GPAI model provider
    From
    (Art. 113 second subparagraph)Chapter III Sections 1-3 apply from 2027-12-02 for Annex III high-risk systems and 2028-08-02 for Annex I high-risk systems under Art. 113(c) as amended; this row applies when the relevant high-risk rules bite.
    Legal practice
    Reaches legal-AI vendors or public bodies — Legal-AI vendors may use common specifications as evidence of conformity where no harmonised standard is available.
    See
    Chapter III Section 2 · Chapter V Sections 2 and 3

  4. Art. 41(4)Delegated or implementing actNot tier-specific

    When a harmonised standard covering the same requirements or obligations is published, the Commission must repeal the overlapping common-specification implementing acts or parts of them.

    "When reference to a harmonised standard is published in the Official Journal of the European Union, the Commission shall repeal the implementing acts referred to in paragraph 1, or parts thereof which cover the same requirements"
    Who
    Commission
    From
    (Art. 113 second subparagraph)
    Legal practice
    Institutional — Institutional maintenance of conformity tools that indirectly affects legal-AI vendors.
    See
    Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012

  5. Art. 41(5)RequirementHigh-risk

    Providers that do not comply with common specifications must justify that their technical solutions meet the relevant high-risk requirements or GPAI obligations at an equivalent level.

    "Where providers of high-risk AI systems or general-purpose AI models do not comply with the common specifications referred to in paragraph 1, they shall duly justify that they have adopted technical solutions"
    Who
    Provider, GPAI model provider
    From
    (Art. 113 second subparagraph)Chapter III Sections 1-3 apply from 2027-12-02 for Annex III high-risk systems and 2028-08-02 for Annex I high-risk systems under Art. 113(c) as amended; this row applies when the relevant high-risk rules bite.
    Fine tier
    Art. 99(4); Art. 101
    Legal practice
    Reaches legal-AI vendors or public bodies — Legal-AI vendors not following common specifications need an equivalent technical justification.
    See
    Chapter III Section 2 · Chapter V Sections 2 and 3

  6. Art. 41(6)Governance institutionalNot tier-specific

    A Member State that considers a common specification inadequate must inform the Commission with a detailed explanation so the Commission can assess and, if appropriate, amend it.

    "Where a Member State considers that a common specification does not entirely meet the requirements set out in Section 2 or, as applicable, comply with obligations set out in Sections 2 and 3 of Chapter V, it shall inform the Commission thereof with a detailed explanation"
    Who
    Member State
    From
    (Art. 113 second subparagraph)
    Legal practice
    Institutional — Member State feedback process for specifications with indirect legal-practice relevance.
    See
    Chapter III Section 2 · Chapter V Sections 2 and 3

Cite

Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 41 (Common specifications), as amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, consolidated text of 27 July 2026, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1689/2026-07-27/eng#art_41 — text © European Union; only the Official Journal is authentic. Coding: SafeLegalAI (published by Cognesio LLP), "EU AI Act, structured", safelegalai.com/regulation/eu-ai-act/article-41, accessed 2026-09-08, CC BY 4.0.