The point: EU top-level policymakers recognize artificial intelligence as a strategic and security policy challenge and want to address it for the first time at the highest political level.
Europe’s state and government leaders will discuss artificial intelligence for the first time this year. EU Council President António Costa is planning the debate at one of the three remaining EU summits in October, November or December.
The announcement marks a shift in emphasis: until now, artificial intelligence has been treated as a technological or digital policy issue on the agenda of the European Council, classified under questions of economic competitiveness. With a dedicated debate, AI is now being treated as a matter of strategic significance, economic competitiveness, national security and geopolitical influence — topics traditionally reserved for the highest political level.
Pressure on Brussels has increased recently. In June, more than 50 members of the European Parliament called on Costa to convene a separate summit on AI. About 100 experts reinforced the call in a report on “Frontier AI” that they prepared on behalf of the European Commission, warning that “sustained attention at the highest political level” is a prerequisite for implementing further recommendations.
Behind this sense of urgency is the global competition for technological leadership. Chinese President Xi Jinping recently advocated for stronger cooperation and brought together more than two dozen countries — including major players from the Global South — behind an agreement that China significantly shapes the development of the technology. At the same time, Demis Hassabis, founder of Google DeepMind, called for the creation of a US-led regulatory framework to standardize AI models. The EU does not want to fall behind in this geopolitical landscape.
However, the timeframe remains tight: experts point out that a few months is a long period in AI development — a study showed that the complexity of tasks AI models can perform doubles every seven months. The EU machinery moves significantly more slowly.
Source: www.politico.eu · Published 21 July 2026
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