The CEN-CENELEC Joint Technical Committee 21 (JTC 21) on Artificial Intelligence is playing a crucial role in developing AI standards to support the implementation of the EU AI Act. Created on June 1, 2021, JTC 21 brings together experts from across Europe to shape standardization efforts that ensure the development of trustworthy AI systems aligned with European values and human rights.
Key objectives and activities
JTC 21’s primary focus is to produce standardisation deliverables in AI and related data use, addressing European market and societal needs. The committee’s work aims to:
- Advance EU legislation, policies, principles, and values
- Consider the adoption of relevant international standards
- Provide guidance to other technical committees on AI-related matters
- Identify specific standardization needs in the European context
- Monitor potential changes in European legislation
Supporting the AI Act
As the EU AI Act moves closer to implementation, JTC 21’s work becomes increasingly important. The committee is developing harmonised standards that will play a vital role in the AI Act’s enforcement, as the standards provide a legal presumption of Conformity. Companies adhering to these harmonised standards will enjoy a legal presumption of conformity with the AI Act’s requirements.
Key standards and developments
The committee is developing homegrown European standards in support of the AI Act, including:
- AI Trustworthiness Framework
- AI Risk Management
- AI Quality Management System
- AI Conformity Assessment
The history of CEN-CENELEC JTC 21
CEN and CENELEC established the CEN-CENELEC Joint Technical Committee 21 Artificial Intelligence on June 1st, 2021, based on the recommendations presented in the CEN-CENELEC Focus Group Road Map on Artificial Intelligence. The Joint Technical Committee, whose secretariat is held by DS, the Danish Standardization Body, is responsible for developing and adopting standards for AI and related data and providing guidance to other Technical Committees concerned with AI.
The purpose of CEN-CLC JTC 21 is to impact standardisation and develop trustworthy AI and machine learning systems that are safe for consumers, industries, manufacturers, etc., concerning the fundamental human values and rights recognised in the European Union. Being a data-intensive technology, AI can revolutionize entire industries, but it can also be misused to extract or infer personal data about users, normalizing mass surveillance and tracking and profiling of individuals both in online and offline spaces. This can affect how consumers can exercise their right to privacy and freedom of expression. Because AI is a powerful tool that can be used to access and process sensitive personal information, it is pivotal that robust legal and regulatory frameworks pave the way for safeguarding privacy, security, and integrity.
CEN-CLC JTC 21 unifies more than 300 experts from 20 European countries, selected through their national standardisation organizations. CEN-CLC/JTC 21 identifies and adopts international standards already available or under development from other organisations like ISO/IEC JTC 1 and its subcommittees, such as SC 42 Artificial Intelligence. Furthermore, CEN-CLC/JTC 21 focuses on producing new standardization deliverables that address European market and societal needs and underpin EU legislation, policies, principles, and values.
Five working groups operate under CEN-CLC JTC 21, being:
WG 1: Strategic Advisory Group (SAG),
WG 2: Operational aspects,
WG 3: Engineering aspects,
WG 4: Foundational and societal aspects, and
WG 5: Joint standardization on Cybersecurity for AI systems.
Each working group are constituted of experts who are responsible for developing the standardization deliverables related to the Standardization Request and Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA).
CEN-CENELEC has accepted a standardization request for artificial intelligence from the European Commission. In this context, CEN-CENELEC JTC 21 is currently developing European standards that will provide manufacturers with the presumption of conformity with the newly adopted AI Act. For an overview of the work program and the status of the standards under development, see the CEN-CLC/JTC 21 technical work page.
A Task Group under the Strategic Advisory Group in JTC 21/WG 1 publishes the AI Standardization Inclusiveness Newsletter to inform about the latest developments and decisions in JTC 21 and in the European AI community. Register to the mailing list by contacting TG_Inclusiveness@etuc.org.
JTC 21 management
Dr. Sebastian Hallensleben, Chair
Patrick Bezombes, Vice-chair
Kim Skov Hilding, Secretary