Summary of Article 68
- Scientific Panel Membership: The Commission establishes the scientific panel of independent AI experts to support enforcement activities, ensuring members are selected based on expertise, independence, and impartiality, with fair representation.
- Scientific Panel Tasks: The scientific panel supports the AI Office and market surveillance authorities by identifying systemic risks, advising on the classification of AI models, and contributing to enforcement tools and methodologies.
- Operational Principles and Conflict Management: The scientific panel operates with impartiality, confidentiality, and transparency, with systems in place to manage conflicts of interest and detailed procedures for issuing alerts and requesting AI Office assistance.
Scientific Panel Membership
1. The Commission shall, by means of an implementing act, make provisions on the establishment of a scientific panel of independent experts (the ‘scientific panel’) intended to support the enforcement activities under this Regulation. That implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 98(2).
2. The scientific panel shall consist of experts selected by the Commission on the basis of up-to-date scientific or technical expertise in the field of AI necessary for the tasks set out in paragraph 3, and shall be able to demonstrate meeting all of the following conditions:
(a) having particular expertise and competence and scientific or technical expertise in the field of AI;
(b) independence from any provider of AI systems or general-purpose AI models;
(c) an ability to carry out activities diligently, accurately and objectively. The Commission, in consultation with the Board, shall determine the number of experts on the panel in accordance with the required needs and shall ensure fair gender and geographical representation.
Scientific Panel Tasks
3. The scientific panel shall advise and support the AI Office, in particular with regard to the following tasks:
(a) supporting the implementation and enforcement of this Regulation as regards general-purpose AI models and systems, in particular by:
(i) alerting the AI Office of possible systemic risks at Union level of general-purpose AI models, in accordance with Article 90;
(ii) contributing to the development of tools and methodologies for evaluating capabilities of general-purpose AI models and systems, including through benchmarks;
(iii) providing advice on the classification of general-purpose AI models with systemic risk;
(iv) providing advice on the classification of various general-purpose AI models and systems;
(v) contributing to the development of tools and templates;
(b) supporting the work of market surveillance authorities, at their request;
(c) supporting cross-border market surveillance activities as referred to in Article 74(11), without prejudice to the powers of market surveillance authorities;
(d) supporting the AI Office in carrying out its duties in the context of the Union safeguard procedure pursuant to Article 81.
Operational Principles
4. The experts on the scientific panel shall perform their tasks with impartiality and objectivity, and shall ensure the confidentiality of information and data obtained in carrying out their tasks and activities. They shall neither seek nor take instructions from anyone when exercising their tasks under paragraph 3. Each expert shall draw up a declaration of interests, which shall be made publicly available. The AI Office shall establish systems and procedures to actively manage and prevent potential conflicts of interest.
5. The implementing act referred to in paragraph 1 shall include provisions on the conditions, procedures and detailed arrangements for the scientific panel and its members to issue alerts, and to request the assistance of the AI Office for the performance of the tasks of the scientific panel.
