SUMMARY:

• Today, the European Commission has published the second draft of the voluntary Code of Practice on marking and labelling AI-generated content to help providers and deployers comply with transparency requirements under Article 50 of the AI Act (see attached).
• The updated draft proposes a streamlined framework including a two-layered marking system using metadata and watermarking, alongside guidelines for labelling deepfakes and AI-generated content on matters of public interest.
• The code expected to be finalised by early June ahead of the AI Act’s transparency rules on AI-generated content taking effect on 2 August 2026.

MORE INFORMATION:

The newest draft of the code has been streamlined and simplified, incorporating further technical considerations to improve legal clarity and practicality. It promotes the use of open standards for AI content marking and an EU icon for labelling to simplify compliance and reduce costs.

Section 2, targeting deployers of AI systems, focuses on labelling deepfakes and text publications concerning matters of public interest within the scope of Article 50(4) AI Act. Relative to the first draft, this section adopts a more flexible and practice-oriented approach. It has been restructured to simplify and streamline the commitments, while the taxonomy distinguishing the AI–generated content from AI-assisted content has been completely removed. Section 2 now features design and placement requirements applicable to icons, labels or disclaimers, ensuring a minimum level of uniformity, while enabling signatories to conceive solutions adapted to their needs. In addition, the section proposes a task force to develop a future, uniform, interactive EU icon, with discretionary support from signatories.

The code has also further defined the specific regimes applicable to artistic, creative, satirical and fictional works and text publications under human review or editorial control, facilitating reliance on  existing practices or procedures.  

The annex of the second draft now includes illustrative examples of a potential EU icon to be made freely available to signatories. These examples (and others) will be discussed with stakeholders as part of the next set of workshops.  

NEXT STEPS:

The Commission will collect feedback on the second draft from participants and observers to the code of Practice until 30 March EOB. The code is expected to be finalised by beginning of June this year.