EU AI Act Readiness Companion

EU AI Act application timeline

Last reviewed November 4, 2026, against the consolidated text of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 as amended by the Digital Omnibus on AI, Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (published July 24, 2026, in force July 27, 2026).

• July 12, 2024: published in the Official Journal. August 1, 2024: entered into force.
• February 2, 2025: general provisions, including Article 4 AI literacy, and the original Article 5 prohibitions apply.
• August 2, 2025: general-purpose AI model obligations, governance and penalties apply.
• August 2, 2026: general application, including the Article 50 transparency duties. In force.
• December 2, 2026: two new prohibitions (non-consensual sexual deepfakes and child sexual abuse material) apply, and synthetic-content generators already on the market before August 2, 2026 must meet Article 50(2).
• August 2, 2027: each Member State must have at least one AI regulatory sandbox operational (Article 57), and general-purpose AI models placed on the market before August 2, 2025 must comply (Article 111(3)).
• September 2, 2027: Commission guidance, including a template, on the post-market monitoring plan is due (Article 72(3)).
• December 2, 2027: the high-risk requirements and obligations in Chapter III, Sections 1 to 3, apply to systems classified as high-risk under Article 6(2) and Annex III (Article 113, as amended).
• August 2, 2028: the same Chapter III obligations apply to systems classified as high-risk under Article 6(1) and Annex I, meaning AI that is a product, or a safety component of a product, covered by the listed Union harmonization legislation (Article 113, as amended).
• August 2, 2030 and December 31, 2030: deadlines for legacy high-risk systems used by public authorities and for Annex X large-scale IT systems.

EN 18286 and ISO/IEC 42001. EN 18286:2026, Artificial intelligence: Quality management system for EU AI Act regulatory purposes, is the first harmonized standard cited in the Official Journal under the AI Act, through Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/2274. A provider of a high-risk AI system that applies it gets a presumption of conformity with the Article 17 quality management system requirements the standard covers. It does not cover the rest of the Act, such as risk classification, technical documentation, human oversight or conformity assessment, and applying it is voluntary. The European Commission explains that EN 18286 is designed to sit on top of existing management systems such as ISO/IEC 42001, ISO 9001 or a sector quality system, so an organization running an ISO/IEC 42001 AI management system can extend it with the EN 18286 requirements instead of building a second system. ISO/IEC 42001 certification on its own does not establish compliance with the EU AI Act or give the Article 17 presumption. Checked November 7, 2026.

Sources: consolidated text of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 on EUR-Lex (version of July 27, 2026); Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 on EUR-Lex; Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (Digital Omnibus on AI); European Commission AI Act Service Desk timeline. This is a simplified timeline for learners; each date has its own scope and exceptions.