Media Release
Brussels, 7 April 2026
Hosted by COFACE Families Europe and KMOP, European and international community leaders and AI experts from 20+ countries met in Athens on 17th March to take stock of the state of play of artificial intelligence today, while also looking towards the future and its impact on families. One overarching message was emphasised throughout all discussions: the EU AI Act is failing European families. Following the European Parliament IMCO and LIBE committees vote on a draft report linked to the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act, we call on the EU legislators to adopt a family-centred approach in AI design, deployment and governance, prioritising human dignity and relationships while supporting families’ capacity to care, provide, and belong.
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As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in daily life, its impact on families is growing, shaping how they work, learn, care, communicate, and stay safe online. Co-hosted by COFACE Families Europe and KMOP, this European expert meeting convened researchers, policymakers, tech experts and civil society to discuss the impact of artificial intelligence on family life and inclusion, with a focus on rights, equity and empowerment in the digital age.
Adopting a multigenerational approach, the meeting provided a platform for European family organisations and stakeholders from the COFACE Families Europe network to exchange insights on families’ experiences across different areas of daily life, including the home, the labour market, schools and the online environment, while examining both the opportunities and potential risks it presents for families. The backdrop to all the discussions was the EU regulatory framework, with an in-depth assessment through the COFACE families lens, focusing on different regulations and a specific focus on the Artificial Intelligence Act.
Antonia Torrens, COFACE Families Europe President and General Manager of KMOP in Greece: “Most families have never heard of the AI Act. At COFACE Families Europe, we commit to ensure that this regulation reaches the everyday conversations at home.”
Strengths of the AI Act
The AI Act aims to protect health, safety, and fundamental rights, which include non-discrimination and equality. It contains safeguards for protection of minors online such as the prohibition of AI systems that exploit vulnerabilities based on age (Article 5) and classification of high-risk AI systems (Article 6). The Act also includes safeguards in relation to financial inclusion with two key financial-sector applications covering personal loans and mortgages, and risk assessment and pricing of life- and health insurance. The Act is disability-inclusive, with mandatory accessibility requirements built into the law by design, including strong requirements for high-risk AI systems to be usable by persons with disabilities. Furthermore, persons with disabilities are explicitly recognised as a group at higher risk of harm from AI systems.
Regulatory gaps affecting families
In addition to implementation and enforcement gaps, there are some specific regulatory gaps in relation to financial services: existing EU sectoral financial laws were approved before AI systems even existed or were widely used, and there are no EU harmonised redress and liability rules tailored to AI systems. As regards families in migration, the AI Act leaves broad discretion for Member States to deploy AI in migration decisions. Undocumented migrants are effectively excluded from the regulatory protection framework. Finally, human oversight requirements are relaxed for migration (Article 14), while the “de minimis” clause (Article 6(3)) may exempt systems from high-risk classification if deemed low impact, with no mandatory bias audits, no transparency requirements, no fundamental rights impact assessments. Another current gap includes the lack for a clear prohibition of “nudifying tools” in the AI Act. Given the scale, permanence and severity of harm linked to AI-enabled nudes and child sexual abuse imagery, such a prohibition is both proportionate and necessary. The IMCO and LIBE committees vote shows however positive developments in this regard calling for a ban on “nudifier systems”.
Policy developments that may undermine safeguards
A new EU proposal coming from the European Commission (referred to as the “Digital Omnibus”) is putting human rights, including children’s rights, at risk by proposing to remove transparency safeguards for high-risk AI Systems, undermining the AI literacy obligation, and delaying implementation of the AI Act (including on watermarking deepfakes). It is not possible to make the protection of minors in the digital environment a European political priority and talk about social media bans, while failing to regulate AI and delaying the implementation of strong safeguards.
Call to action: Strengthening the AI Act means strengthening families
Artificial intelligence is not only transforming economies and institutions. It is quietly transforming family life. How can artificial intelligence strengthen families, rather than deepen inequalities or vulnerabilities? A first step to ensure ethical, inclusive and empowering AI systems for families is to enforce strong EU regulatory frameworks: starting by a strengthening, not weakening, of the AI Act for the sake of innovation. The current proposed ‘simplification’ of the AI Act is reducing the accountability of companies and certainly not simplifying the rules to better protect European families.
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Notes to editors
- COFACE Families Europe is a network which represents millions of families, volunteers, and professionals founded in 1958 and with 50+ member organisations in 25 European countries. COFACE advocates for strong social policies that take into consideration family needs and guarantee equal opportunities for all families. Our area of work includes social and family policy, education, disability rights, gender equality, children rights, migration, consumer issues as well as the impact of technological developments on families. www.coface-eu.org
- KMOP is the Social Action and Innovation Centre was founded in Greece, in 1977, to combat poverty, strengthen social cohesion, and protect fundamental human rights. In recent years, alongside these core goals, KMOP has increasingly focused on the emerging challenges faced by modern societies, such as social isolation, inequalities, sustainable development, demographic ageing, and the risks posed by artificial intelligence. By combining hands-on experience from its social and educational services with research and statistical analysis, KMOP is uniquely positioned to provide technical assistance and policy recommendations to governments and institutional actors, both in Greece and across the European countries where it operates. www.kmop.gr
