§ EU AI Act · Article 81
AI Act Article 81: Obligations, Deadlines & Penalties
At a glance
Article 81 of the AI Act imposes 8 obligations on Commission, Member State, Member States. At least one obligation carries an explicit compliance deadline.
§ Obligations
All obligations under Article 81
Obligation 1
The Commission shall without undue delay enter into consultation with the market surveillance authority of the relevant Member State and the operator or operators, and shall evaluate the national measure.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 81, Article 81
- Obligated entity
-
Commission
- Action required
-
consult and evaluate
- Deadline
-
without undue delay
- Penalty
-
—
Obligation 2
The Commission shall decide whether the national measure is justified and shall notify its decision to the market surveillance authority of the Member State concerned.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 81, Article 81
- Obligated entity
-
Commission
- Action required
-
decide and notify
- Deadline
-
within six months, or within 60 days in the case of non-compliance with the prohibition of the AI practices referred to in Article 5
- Penalty
-
—
Obligation 3
The Commission shall inform all other market surveillance authorities of its decision.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 81, Article 81
- Obligated entity
-
Commission
- Action required
-
inform
- Deadline
-
—
- Penalty
-
—
Obligation 4
All Member States shall ensure that they take appropriate restrictive measures in respect of the AI system concerned, such as requiring the withdrawal of the AI system from their market without undue delay.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 81, Article 81
- Obligated entity
-
Member States
- Action required
-
take restrictive measures
- Deadline
-
without undue delay
- Penalty
-
—
Obligation 5
All Member States shall inform the Commission accordingly regarding the restrictive measures taken.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 81, Article 81
- Obligated entity
-
Member States
- Action required
-
inform
- Deadline
-
—
- Penalty
-
—
Obligation 6
The Member State concerned shall withdraw the measure if the Commission considers the national measure to be unjustified.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 81, Article 81
- Obligated entity
-
Member State
- Action required
-
withdraw measure
- Deadline
-
—
- Penalty
-
—
Obligation 7
The Member State concerned shall inform the Commission accordingly regarding the withdrawal of the unjustified measure.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 81, Article 81
- Obligated entity
-
Member State
- Action required
-
inform
- Deadline
-
—
- Penalty
-
—
Obligation 8
The Commission shall apply the procedure provided for in Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 where non-compliance is attributed to shortcomings in harmonised standards or common specifications.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 81, Article 81
- Obligated entity
-
Commission
- Action required
-
apply procedure
- Deadline
-
—
- Penalty
-
—
§ Deadlines
EU AI Act compliance deadlines
-
2025-02-02
Article 5 prohibitions (unacceptable risk)
in_force
-
2025-02-02
Article 4 AI literacy
in_force
-
2025-08-02
GPAI model obligations (Articles 51 to 56)
in_force
-
2026-07-27
Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (Digital Omnibus on AI) enters into force — AI Act applies as amended
in_force
-
2026-08-02
AI Act general date of application (Art 113) — governance, penalties and remaining provisions without a different date
in_force
-
2026-08-02
Article 50 transparency obligations (AI-interaction disclosure, labelling of deepfakes and AI-generated text, emotion-recognition notices)
in_force
-
2026-12-02
Article 50(2) machine-readable marking of AI-generated content — transition for generative AI systems placed on the market before 2 August 2026
scheduled
-
2026-12-02
NEW Article 5 prohibition: AI generation of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) and CSAM
scheduled
-
2027-08-02
National AI regulatory sandboxes: at least one operational per Member State (Art 57(1))
scheduled
-
2027-12-02
Annex III stand-alone high-risk obligations
scheduled
-
2028-08-02
Annex I embedded (regulated-product) high-risk obligations
scheduled
§ Frequently asked
Questions about Article 81
Who must comply with Article 81 of the AI Act?
+
Commission, Member State, Member States.
What does Article 81 of the AI Act require?
+
consult and evaluate decide and notify inform
What is the compliance deadline for AI Act Article 81?
+
within six months, or within 60 days in the case of non-compliance with the prohibition of the AI practices referred to in Article 5; without undue delay