Legal Affairs Committee in the European Parliament adopts report on robotics
The Committee on Legal Affairs in the European Parliament adopted a report outlining recommendations for the introduction of ‘civil law rules on robotics’. The report proposes, among others, the elaboration and adoption of an EU ‘legislative instrument’ to tackle legal questions related to the development of robotics and artificial intelligence, such as: intellectual property rights and the flow of data, registration of smart robots, liability to damage caused by robots, interoperability and access to source code, and disclosure of use of robots and artificial intelligence by undertakings. The report also discusses the possibility of introducing ‘corporate reporting requirements on the extent and proportion of the contribution of robotics and AI to the economic results of a company for the purpose of taxation and social security contributions’. In addition, a code of ethical conduct in the fields of robotics is also proposed. The document, presented by the Committee in May 2015 is expected to be discussed by the EP in a plenary session in mid February.
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