Article 26: obligations of deployers of high-risk AI systems

Article 26 imposes twelve paragraphs on deployers of high-risk AI systems. Paragraph 1 requires appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure use in accordance with the accompanying instructions for use. Paragraph 2 requires assigning human oversight to natural persons who have the necessary competence, training and authority, as well as the necessary support. Paragraph 3 leaves other obligations and the freedom to organise one's own resources unaffected. Paragraph 4 requires, to the extent the deployer exercises control over the input data, that such data is relevant and sufficiently representative in view of the intended purpose. Paragraph 5 requires monitoring on the basis of the instructions for use and informing the provider in accordance with Article 72; where there is reason to consider that use may result in a risk within the meaning of Article 79(1), the deployer shall without undue delay inform the provider or distributor and the relevant market surveillance authority and suspend use, and upon identifying a serious incident shall immediately inform first the provider and then the importer or distributor and the market surveillance authorities. Paragraph 6 requires keeping the automatically generated logs under the deployer's control for a period appropriate to the intended purpose and of at least six months, unless Union or national law provides otherwise. Paragraph 7 requires deployers who are employers to inform workers' representatives and the affected workers, before putting into service or using the system at the workplace, that they will be subject to its use. Paragraph 8 imposes the registration obligations of Article 49 on public authorities and Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and prohibits use of a system not registered in the EU database referred to in Article 71. Paragraph 9 links the information provided under Article 13 to the data protection impact assessment under Article 35 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679. Paragraph 10 sets additional conditions for post-remote biometric identification in law enforcement. Paragraph 11 opens with the words without prejudice to Article 50 of this Regulation and requires deployers of Annex III systems that make or assist in making decisions related to natural persons to inform those persons that they are subject to the use of the system; for high-risk AI systems used for law enforcement purposes Article 13 of Directive (EU) 2016/680 applies. The transparency obligations of Article 50 have applied since 2 August 2026 and are separate from the date on which paragraph 11 starts to apply. Paragraph 12 requires cooperation with the competent authorities.

The 2 December 2027 date invites postponement, but two elements are preparation work today. Paragraph 7 requires you to inform workers' representatives and the affected workers before the system is put into service at the workplace, and that information is provided, where applicable, in line with existing rules and practice on informing workers. That touches employee participation, and such a process takes months rather than weeks in practice, so a system that must go live in 2027 is discussed in 2026. Paragraph 2 also connects to the human oversight that Article 14 imposes on system design: you must designate natural persons with competence, training, authority and support. That is emphatically not the same as the measures obligation in Article 4. Article 4 requires measures supporting AI literacy and does not require you to guarantee a particular level for individuals; Article 26(2) requires identifiable overseers with a mandate. Conflating the two leaves you believing a generic e-learning is enough while still having no overseer with room to decide. A third underestimated element is paragraph 11: informing the people about whom an Annex III system makes or helps make decisions is visible customer or candidate communication that you have to design across your own organisation.