Article 56 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 — Codes of practice. Official text, practical interpretation, key obligations and compliance implications.
Article 56 tasks the AI Office with facilitating codes of practice — the instrument that turns the general-purpose AI obligations of Articles 53 and 55 into concrete engineering and governance practice. Until harmonised standards exist, adherence to a code is the practical way to demonstrate compliance.
Official Text Summary
The AI Office encourages and facilitates the drawing-up of codes of practice at Union level, with providers, national competent authorities, civil society, industry and academia taking part. Codes must cover at least the obligations of Articles 53 and 55 — technical documentation, information to downstream providers, copyright policy, and the assessment and mitigation of systemic risks — with clear objectives, commitments and key performance indicators. They were to be ready at the latest by 2 May 2025. The Commission may, by implementing act, approve a code and give it general validity within the Union; where a code cannot be finalised in time or is deemed inadequate, the Commission may provide common rules for implementing the relevant obligations.
Key Obligations
- The AI Office encourages and facilitates codes covering at least the Article 53 and 55 duties: documentation, downstream information, copyright policy, and systemic-risk assessment and mitigation
- Codes were to be ready at the latest by 2 May 2025; providers, national authorities and stakeholders participate in drawing them up
- The Commission may approve a code and give it general validity across the Union by implementing act
- If a code cannot be finalised or is deemed inadequate, the Commission may lay down common rules by implementing act
Compliance Timeline
Applicable since 2 August 2025, together with the rest of the general-purpose AI framework; the 2026 Digital Omnibus did not alter this date.
Official AI Act Compliance Deadline Calendar
Updated · Sources: Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 and the 2026 Digital Omnibus on AI.
| Obligation | Applies to | Original date | New date | Status | Countdown | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prohibited Practices (Art. 5) | All providers and deployers | active | — | AI Act Art. 5 | ||
| GPAI Rules (Chapter 5) | GPAI model providers | active | — | AI Act Art. 51-56 | ||
| Commission Enforcement Powers over GPAI | GPAI model providers | active | — | AI Act Art. 88-94, 101 | ||
| Transparency Obligations (Art. 50) | Providers and deployers of chatbots, generative, emotion recognition systems | active | — | AI Act Art. 50 | ||
| New Art. 5 Prohibition (CSAM / non-consensual intimate imagery) | Providers and deployers of generative AI systems | active | — | AI Omnibus 2026 Art. 5 | ||
| AI-Generated Content Marking (pre-existing systems) | Providers of generative AI systems on the market before 2 Aug 2026 | active | — | AI Act Art. 50(2) — transitional | ||
| Regulatory Sandboxes | National competent authorities | deferred | — | AI Omnibus 2026 Art. 57 | ||
| High-risk AI — Annex III (standalone) | Providers of standalone Annex III systems | deferred | — | AI Omnibus 2026 Art. 6(2) | ||
| High-risk AI — Annex I (embedded) | AI embedded in Annex I regulated products | deferred | — | AI Omnibus 2026 Art. 6(1) |
⬇ Download JSON · CC BY 4.0
AI Act meets DORA and NIS2
Is your organisation subject to both the AI Act and DORA? The two regulations intersect on the operational resilience of financial AI systems. Our sister site regulation-dora.eu covers DORA in depth — including what the AI Act adds on top of an existing DORA programme.
The AI Act for financial institutions ↗ Explore regulation-dora.eu ↗Frequently Asked Questions
No. But until a harmonised standard is published, adherence is the recognised way to demonstrate compliance with Articles 53 and 55 — a provider that relies on neither must prove compliance by its own, heavier means, and enforcement under Articles 88 to 94 will ask for exactly that proof.
Article 56(9) lets the Commission step in: if a code cannot be finalised by 2 August 2025 or the AI Office deems it inadequate, the Commission may lay down common rules by implementing act covering the same obligations.
Stay ahead of AI Act changes
Get compliance alerts when deadlines or obligations change.
No spam. One-click unsubscribe.
Take compliance further with the AI Act Academy
Templates, training modules, and live Q&A — everything needed to implement AI Act compliance.