If you’ve built a compliance plan around 2 August 2026, this post is for you. That date — long treated as the EU AI Act deadline for high-risk systems — has moved. The vehicle for the change is the Digital Omnibus, and the short version is: the high-risk obligations were rescheduled, but the parts of the Act that are already in force did not change. Here’s exactly what happened and what it means for your timeline.
What the Digital Omnibus Is
The Digital Omnibus is a European Commission simplification package that bundles targeted amendments to several digital-rulebook files, including the timing of the EU AI Act’s high-risk obligations. Two dates matter for tracking it:
- 7 May 2026 — a provisional political agreement was reached.
- 13 May 2026 — the Council set out its position.
Important caveat: a deferral becomes binding only on formal adoption and publication in the Official Journal. As of June 2026 that final step is expected imminently but has not fully completed, so until publication the original statutory dates technically still stand. We phrase the new dates as “now being deferred to…” for that reason — and our deadline guide tracks the status as it finalises.
What Moved
The deferral pushes back the application of the high-risk obligations:
| Obligation | Old date | New date |
|---|---|---|
| High-risk AI systems — Annex III | 2 August 2026 | 2 December 2027 |
| High-risk AI systems embedded in Annex I products | (varied) | 2 August 2028 |
A large part of the reason for the deferral is that the harmonised technical standards (being developed by CEN/CENELEC) that turn the Act’s requirements into concrete, testable criteria are not yet published. Deferring the application date avoids forcing companies to comply with a standard that doesn’t exist yet.
What Did Not Move
This is the part that gets lost in “the deadline was pushed” headlines. Two sets of obligations are already in force and were untouched by the Omnibus:
- Prohibited AI practices (Article 5) — live since February 2025. Unacceptable-risk uses are already banned, with no grace period.
- General-purpose AI (GPAI) model obligations — live since August 2025. Providers of GPAI models already carry transparency and documentation duties.
So if your concern is a prohibited use case or a GPAI model obligation, nothing about your deadline changed. Only the high-risk application dates were deferred.
What It Means for Your Compliance Plan
1. Your effective deadline is now 2 December 2027 (or August 2028 for Annex I-embedded systems). Re-baseline your internal milestones against the real date — but don’t compress the work into the final months. Inventory, classification, and Annex IV documentation are multi-month efforts.
2. Use the runway to do it properly. The extra time exists largely because the standards aren’t final. Companies that complete their AI system inventory and risk classification now will simply map to the harmonised standards when they publish, rather than starting from scratch under time pressure.
3. Don’t let “deferred” become “deprioritised.” Buyers — especially enterprise and public-sector procurement — increasingly require AI Act readiness and ISO 42001 evidence regardless of the statutory date. Compliance is now a commercial gate, not just a legal one. The deferral is an opportunity to turn readiness into a sales advantage.
4. Expect more change — and instrument for it. The Omnibus is itself proof that the timeline can shift. A compliance program that monitors regulatory updates and re-flags your documented systems when dates or standards move is far more durable than a one-off project pinned to a single date.
How Aikraft Handles This
This is exactly the scenario Aikraft’s regulatory-update monitoring is built for. When dates shift — as they just did — or when the harmonised standards publish, your classified systems and documentation are flagged automatically, so your compliance posture stays current without a manual re-audit. You classify and document once, then maintain continuously.
For the full, updated phase-by-phase plan, see our EU AI Act Deadline Guide. To get an initial read on which of your systems are high-risk, take the Aikraft Risk Quiz — under 10 minutes, no signup required.
This post reflects the state of the Digital Omnibus as of June 2026. Dates become binding on formal adoption and publication; verify current status before relying on any single date.