Ireland puts AI Omnibus and child safety on EU presidency agenda

The Irish government published its policy program for its presidency of the Council of the EU, planning to advance the AI Omnibus during the six months starting July 1 and making children's online safety a priority. The 68-page document says it will press ahead with the simplification agenda, with the most urgent task being to complete the provisional agreement reached in May between the European Parliament and the Council on amendments to the AI Act; if the Omnibus is not formally adopted, the AI Act's original high-risk compliance deadline of August 2, 2026 remains in effect, and the Omnibus would postpone that deadline to no earlier than December 2027, conditional on uniform standards being in place, while also relaxing protections for the use of personal data in AI development and deployment. On child safety, the presidency will push for an EU-level digital age of majority, advance age verification mechanisms, and combat child sexual abuse material. The program also covers the AVMSD revision and data protection and copyright frameworks, but long-term budget negotiations may consume much of the attention.