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AI LAW: ONE STEP CLOSER TO FIRST RULES FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Current legislative procedures of the European Parliament: AI Law:
 One step closer to first rules for artificial intelligence


In order to guarantee a human-centric and ethical development of artificial intelligence (AI), the European Parliament has approved new transparency and risk management rules for AI systems.

On May 11, the Internal Market Committee and the Civil Liberties Committee in Strasbourg adopted the draft negotiating mandate for the first rules on artificial intelligence with 84 votes in favour, 7 against and 12 abstentions. In their amendments to the Commission’s proposal , MEPs want to ensure that AI systems are human-monitored, safe, transparent, accountable, non-discriminatory and environmentally friendly. They also want a unified and technology-neutral definition of AI so that it can apply to the AI ​​systems of today and tomorrow.


Risk-Based Approach to AI – Prohibited AI Practices

The regulations follow a risk-based approach and set out obligations for providers and users based on the level of risk that AI can create. AI systems that pose an unacceptable risk to human safety would be strictly prohibited. This includes systems that employ subliminal or intentionally manipulative techniques that exploit people’s vulnerabilities or are used for social scoring (classifying people based on their social behavior, socioeconomic status, or personal characteristics).

MEPs significantly amended the list to include bans on intrusive and discriminatory uses of AI systems, such as:

  • Real-time biometric recognition systems in public spaces;
  • ex post biometric recognition systems, with the sole exception of law enforcement agencies for the purpose of prosecuting serious crimes and only with judicial approval;
  • biometric categorization systems using sensitive characteristics (e.g. gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, political orientation);
  • predictive police systems (based on profiling, location or past criminal behavior);
  • systems for detecting emotions in law enforcement, border protection, the workplace and educational institutions; and
  • indiscriminate reading of biometric data from social media or video surveillance recordings to create facial recognition databases (violation of human rights and the right to privacy).

High Risky AI

MEPs have expanded the classification of high-risk areas to include health, safety, fundamental rights and the environment. by social media platforms (with more than 45 million users according to the Digital Services Act) to the list of high-risk areas. They also added AI systems for influencing voters in political campaigns and in recommendation systems used

General Purpose AI – Transparency Measures

MEPs included commitments for providers of foundation models – a new and rapidly evolving area of ​​AI – to ensure robust protection of fundamental rights, health and safety, the environment, democracy and the rule of law. They would have to assess and mitigate risks, comply with design, information and environmental requirements and register in the EU database.

Generative foundation models like GPT would have to meet additional transparency requirements and, for example, disclose that the content was generated by AI. Models would also have to be designed in such a way that no illegal content would be generated and no summaries of copyrighted data would be published.

Promoting innovation and protecting citizens’ rights

To encourage AI innovation, MEPs included exceptions for research activities and AI components under open-source licenses in the regulations. The new law encourages regulatory sandboxes, or controlled environments, set up by public authorities to test AI before it is deployed.

MEPs want to strengthen citizens’ rights to lodge complaints about AI systems and to receive explanations about decisions based on high-risk AI systems that significantly affect their rights. MEPs also recast the role of the EU’s artificial intelligence agency, which will be tasked with overseeing the implementation of the AI ​​rulebook.

Next Steps

Before negotiations can begin with the Council on the final form of the law, the draft negotiating mandate must be approved by the full Parliament; the vote is expected at the June 12-15 session.

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Press Release Aptiq

Press Release / Pressemitteilung

APTIQ Legal Germany advised the shareholders of acardo group on the 100% sale to strategic investor Vectron Systems AG

APTIQ Legal Germany, represented by the responsible partner and international M&A expert Andreas Ludl, provided legal advice to the shareholders of acardo group on the sale to the listed Vectron Systems AG.

acardo group is one of the leading providers of consumer activation in Germany. With 120 employees, the specialist for couponing and other innovative sales promotion concepts operates successful in the food retail, drugstore, pharmacy, non-food, entertainment and health care sectors and implements several thousand promotions per year. Its customers and partners include more than 30,000 stores and over 600 leading brands from the consumer goods, healthcare and entertainment industries, including EDEKA, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Unilever, Kellogg’s, Krombacher, Beiersdorf, CinemaxX, Universal and Warner Bros.

With its headquarters in Dortmund, acardo is considered a pioneer in coupon marketing in the DACH region. The company first introduced electronic coupon clearing in Germany 20 years ago and connected various cash register systems. Other innovations include checkout-integrated couponing, in which coupons are issued at the checkout depending on the shopping basket. Most recently, acardo was able to benefit from the increasing digitization in retail. The acardo group markets various retailer apps to the consumer goods industry, but also operates its own coupon and cashback apps with “Couponplatz” and “Scondoo”.

The listed Vectron Systems AG acquires 100% of the shares in acardo group AG and 100% of the shares in scondoo GmbH (in the future: acardo activation GmbH) Vectron Systems AG is with more than 240,000 installations one of the largest European manufacturers of POS systems. Stable hardware combined with flexible, reliable software has made Vectron the market leader for POS solutions in the German-speaking area and in Benelux mainly in the gastronomy and bakery sectors. Several hundred specialised trade partners distribute the products internationally.

“We see great potential for sales promotion and couponing in Vectron’s target sectors of gastronomy and bakery. The POS system is the key to successful digitalisation here. With Vectron, we have the best partner to quickly introduce our couponing solutions in these industries, which are new to us. For example, we can implement couponing campaigns for our beverage suppliers for the first time, which take place in both food retail and gastronomy.” Christoph Thye, founder and CEO acardo group AG

“Attorney at law Andreas Ludl has been with us and the acardo group for more than a decade. An unrestricted relationship of trust forms the basis for this successful cooperation, as does his proven legal and entrepreneurial expertise, coupled with his convincing hands-on mentality. In the recently completed sales process, Andreas Ludl advised us competently and with an ideal result thanks to his many years of international M&A expertise.” Alexander Schüle, founder and Chairman of the Board of acardo group AG 

Attorney at law Andreas Ludl has been advising the acardo group on business operations and transactions for more than 15 years. As a founding partner in the international consulting network APTIQ® Global, he has represented the DACH region for many years and, thanks to his many years of expertise, is responsible for the Legal & Compliance as well as M&A and Corporate Finance (Transaction, Restructuring, Financing Advisory) business areas.

APTIQ Legal Deutschland berät die Gesellschafter der acardo Gruppe beim Verkauf an den strategischen Investor Vectron Systems AG

APTIQ Legal Deutschland, repräsentiert durch den verantwortlichen Partner und internationalen M&A-Experten Andreas Ludl, hat die Gesellschafter der acardo gruppe beim Verkauf an die börsennotierte Vectron Systems AG rechtlich beraten.

Die acardo Gruppe ist einer der führenden Anbieter für Consumer Activation in Deutschland. Mit 120 Mitarbeitern ist der Spezialist für Couponing und andere innovative Verkaufsförderkonzepte erfolgreich in den Branchen Lebensmittelhandel, Drogerie, Apotheken, Non-Food, Entertainment und Health Care tätig und setzt mehrere Tausend Promotions pro Jahr um. Zu den Kunden und Partnern zählen mehr als 30.000 Akzeptanzstellen des Handels sowie über 600 führende Brands aus der Konsumgüter-, Health-Care- und Entertainmentindustrie, darunter EDEKA, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Unilever, Kellogg’s, Krombacher, Beiersdorf, CinemaxX, Universal und Warner Bros.

Mit Hauptsitz in Dortmund gilt acardo als Pionier im Coupon-Marketing in der DACH-Region. Das Unternehmen hat vor 20 Jahren erstmals das elektronische Coupon Clearing in Deutschland eingeführt und dabei diverse Kassensysteme angeschlossen. Weitere Innovationen sind das kassenintegrierte Check-out Couponing, bei dem abhängig vom Warenkorb – Coupons an der Kasse ausgegeben werden. Zuletzt konnte acardo von der zunehmenden Digitalisierung im Handel profitieren. Die acardo Gruppe vermarktet diverse Händler Apps an die Konsumgüterindustrie, betreibt aber mit “Couponplatz” und “Scondoo” auch eigene Coupon- bzw. Cashback-Apps.

Die börsengelistete Vectron Systems AG erwirbt 100 % der Aktien an der acardo group AG sowie 100 % der Geschäftsanteile an der scondoo GmbH (künftig: acardo activation GmbH). Die Vectron Systems AG ist mit mehr als 240.000 Installationen einer der größten europäischen Hersteller von Kassensystemen. Stabile Hardware kombiniert mit flexibler, zuverlässiger Software hat Vectron zum Marktführer für Kassenlösungen im deutschsprachigen Raum und in Benelux hauptsächlich in den Branchen Gastronomie und Bäckerei gemacht. Mehrere Hundert Fachhandelspartner vertreiben die Produkte international.

“Wir sehen großes Potenzial für Verkaufsförderung und Couponing in den Vectron Zielbranchen Gastronomie und Bäckerei. Das Kassensystem ist hier der Schlüssel zur erfolgreichen Digitalisierung. Mit Vectron haben wir den besten Partner, um unsere Couponing Lösungen schnell in diesen für uns neuen Branchen einzuführen. So können wir beispielsweise erstmals Couponing Kampagnen für unsere Getränkelieferanten umsetzen, die sowohl im Lebensmittelhandel als auch in der Gastronomie stattfinden.”
Christoph Thye, Gründer und Vorstand acardo group AG

“Rechtsanwalt Andreas Ludl begleitet uns und die acardo group schon seit mehr als einem Jahrzehnt. Ein uneingeschränktes Vertrauensverhältnis bildet ebenso wie seine ausgewiesene juristische und unternehmerische Expertise, gepaart mit seiner überzeugenden hands-on-Mentalität, die Grundlage für diese erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit. Im kürzlich abgeschlossenen Verkaufsprozess hat uns Rechtsanwalt Andreas Ludl dank seiner langjährigen, auch internationalen, M&A-Expertise kompetent und mit einem idealen Ergebnis beraten. ” Alexander Schüle, Gründer und Aufsichtsratsvorsitzender acardo group AG

Rechtsanwalt Andreas Ludl berät die acardo Gruppe schon seit mehr 15 Jahren im operativen Geschäftsbetrieb und bei Transaktionen. Seit vielen Jahren repräsentiert er als Gründungspartner im internationalen Beratungsnetzwerk APTIQ® Global die DACH-Region und ist aufgrund seiner langjährigen Expertise fachlich verantwortlich für die Geschäftsbereiche Legal & Compliance sowie M&A und Corporate Finance (Transaction, Restructuring, Financing Advisory).

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