The Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI and the EU AI Act: a complementary view

In 2024 Europe saw the approval of two fundamental acts: the European Union Regulation establishing harmonised rules on artificial intelligence and the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law. Both aim to combine the promotion of innovation, competitiveness and fair competition, with the protection of common European values, fundamental rights and the rule of law. This commonality, although fundamental, is unsurprising and hides a far more nuanced and articulated relationship. Such relationship reveals both numerous convergences and certain undeniable divergences. Notwithstanding the latter, the article argues that a complementary view of the AI Act and the FC is not only possible, but rather necessary, and – arguably – fruitful, especially considering their actual enforcement at the national level.