Article 107 — Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2018/858 (EU AI Act)

Article 107 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 — Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2018/858. Official text, practical interpretation, key obligations and compliance implications.

Official Text Summary

Article 107 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (the EU AI Act) amends Regulation (EU) 2018/858 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles and their trailers, and of systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles (commonly referred to as the Vehicle Type Approval Regulation). The amendment inserts a reference to the EU AI Act within the sectoral framework, ensuring that AI systems deployed in vehicles and vehicle components are subject to the horizontal obligations established by Regulation 2024/1689 alongside existing automotive safety requirements.

The core effect of Article 107 is to create a legal bridge between the sector-specific type-approval regime and the cross-sectoral AI regulatory framework. Where an AI system embedded in a vehicle or vehicle component qualifies as a high-risk AI system under Annex I or Annex III of the EU AI Act, the conformity assessment procedures, technical documentation obligations, post-market monitoring requirements, and transparency obligations of the EU AI Act apply in addition to — and in coordination with — the requirements of Regulation 2018/858. Article 107 thus prevents regulatory gaps that might arise from the autonomous operation of the two regimes and establishes a coherent governance architecture for AI in the automotive sector, a domain that includes increasingly safety-critical AI applications such as advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving functions.

What This Means in Practice

For vehicle manufacturers, system suppliers, and type-approval authorities, Article 107 means that the introduction of AI systems into vehicles is no longer governed solely by sector-specific type-approval procedures. Any AI component that meets the criteria for classification as a high-risk AI system — particularly those covered under Annex III of the EU AI Act relating to safety components of products regulated by Union harmonisation legislation — must simultaneously satisfy the conformity requirements of both Regulation 2018/858 and the EU AI Act.

In concrete terms, an automotive OEM integrating an AI-based lane-keeping assist system or an automated emergency braking system must ensure that the AI component is accompanied by the technical documentation required under Article 11 of the EU AI Act, has undergone a conformity assessment under Article 43, carries a CE marking, and is registered in the EU database established under Article 71, in addition to meeting the technical requirements and obtaining type-approval under Regulation 2018/858.

Type-approval authorities and technical services responsible for vehicle certification must therefore develop competency in evaluating AI systems against EU AI Act criteria, not only automotive safety standards. Market surveillance authorities designated under Regulation 2018/858 must coordinate with the national competent authorities designated under the EU AI Act to avoid duplicative or conflicting enforcement actions. Manufacturers should review their conformity assessment strategies, notified body relationships, and post-market monitoring systems to ensure integrated compliance across both frameworks.

Suppliers of AI components entering the automotive supply chain as providers of high-risk AI systems bear independent obligations under the EU AI Act regardless of their position in the automotive supply chain hierarchy.

Key Obligations

• Dual-framework conformity: Manufacturers and providers of AI systems in vehicles subject to Regulation 2018/858 must comply with both the type-approval requirements of that regulation and the conformity assessment obligations of the EU AI Act where the AI system qualifies as high-risk.
• Technical documentation alignment: Technical documentation packages prepared for type-approval must be supplemented with the AI-specific documentation required under Article 11 and Annex IV of the EU AI Act, including descriptions of training data, algorithmic logic, and risk management measures.
• Post-market monitoring integration: Post-market monitoring systems required under Article 72 of the EU AI Act must be integrated with the conformity monitoring and field compliance obligations that apply under Regulation 2018/858, ensuring that AI performance data gathered in the field is processed and reported under both regimes.
• Serious incident reporting coordination: Providers of high-risk AI systems in vehicles must coordinate serious incident reporting obligations under Article 73 of the EU AI Act with the vehicle safety defect reporting and recall mechanisms established under Regulation 2018/858.
• Market surveillance coordination: National market surveillance authorities responsible for enforcement under each regulation must coordinate their activities to ensure coherent oversight of AI-enabled vehicles without duplicative or conflicting requirements imposed on economic operators.
• CE marking and registration: AI systems meeting the high-risk threshold must carry the CE marking and be registered in the EU database for high-risk AI systems (Article 71), in addition to bearing the type-approval marking required under Regulation 2018/858.

Relationship to Other Articles

Article 107 must be read alongside the broader set of final provisions in Title XIII that amend existing Union law to integrate the EU AI Act framework. It is closely related to Article 6 and Annex I of the EU AI Act, which classify AI systems that are safety components of products covered by Union harmonisation legislation — including Regulation 2018/858 — as high-risk AI systems. The classification under Article 6(1) is the trigger that activates the dual-framework obligations which Article 107 formalises.

Article 107 also connects directly to Articles 11, 43, 71, 72, and 73, which establish respectively the technical documentation, conformity assessment, database registration, post-market monitoring, and incident reporting obligations applicable to high-risk AI systems. Recital 97 of the EU AI Act provides further interpretive context on the relationship between the AI Act and sector-specific Union harmonisation legislation. The amendment introduced by Article 107 should also be read alongside Article 2(7), which addresses the interaction between the EU AI Act and existing Union law in safety-regulated sectors.

Compliance Timeline

Article 107, as part of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, entered into force on 1 August 2024, twenty days after publication of the regulation in the Official Journal of the European Union on 12 July 2024.

The phased application schedule of the EU AI Act determines when the obligations activated by Article 107's amendment become fully enforceable in practice:

• 2 February 2025: Prohibitions on unacceptable-risk AI practices (Article 5) became applicable. These do not directly concern most automotive AI systems but establish the outer limits of permissible AI use.
• 2 August 2025: Rules on general-purpose AI models (Title III, Chapter 3) and governance provisions became applicable. Automotive AI systems built on GPAI models must satisfy the applicable GPAI obligations from this date.
• 2 August 2026: Provisions on high-risk AI systems listed in Annex III, including those related to safety components in vehicles, become fully applicable. Manufacturers and providers must have completed conformity assessments, established post-market monitoring, and ensured registration by this date.
• 2 August 2027: High-risk AI systems covered under Annex I (Union harmonisation legislation product safety frameworks, including Regulation 2018/858) must comply with all applicable EU AI Act requirements by this date. This deadline is particularly relevant for AI systems integrated into vehicles subject to type-approval.

Automotive manufacturers and AI system providers are advised to begin compliance gap assessments and dual-framework conformity planning well in advance of the August 2026 and August 2027 deadlines.