The EU model of AI governance: regulating artificial intelligence through law and policy

Abstract

This article analyses the European Union’s model of artificial intelligence governance, with special attention to the Artificial Intelligence Act and its regulation of generative and general-purpose AI systems. It examines how the Act combines risk-based regulation with a rights-protective constitutional framework, embedding fundamental rights within market-harmonisation objectives. The analysis places the Act within the broader EU digital-regulation architecture, including the GDPR, the Data Governance Act, the Data Act, the Digital Services Act, and the Digital Markets Act, and considers its institutional design, particularly the European AI Office and the GPAI Code of Practice. Special focus is given to foundation models, whose autonomous content generation challenges established legal categories of authorship, accountability, and control. The article concludes by identifying key implementation challenges and assessing whether the Act provides a sustainable model of constitutional AI governance that balances innovation with the protection of fundamental rights.