Discussion Group - Europe and the Netherlands

Week 4 of a four-week AI governance discussion series, alongside the SAIN Utrecht lecture course on AI governance (November–December 2026). Each session builds on the lecture of the week before, but stands on its own, so join one or all.

• Week 1 | Why AI governance matters (24 Nov)
• Week 2 | Who shapes AI governance (1 Dec)
• Week 3 | What policymakers act on (8 Dec)
• Week 4 | Europe and the Netherlands (15 Dec)

Is Europe's answer good enough?

The lecture of 9 December covered the EU AI Act: its risk-based approach, what it leaves out, the AI Office, the General-Purpose AI Code of Practice and Dutch oversight. This week we ask whether the institutions behind the rules can enforce them. Novelli et al. analyse the AI Office, AI Board, Scientific Panel and national authorities, and propose ways to strengthen them. Their paper predates the Code of Practice and the Digital Omnibus, so we'll also ask what has changed since. As this is the last session, we end by looking back over the four weeks.

Questions we'll explore

• What does the AI Act leave out? Should an AI model that never leaves the lab be regulated?
• Is the AI Office strong enough to supervise the world's most powerful AI companies?
• Is a voluntary code of practice real regulation?
• Does the Netherlands need its own AI safety institute?
• Looking back over the four weeks: has your view on how worried to be changed?

Format (90 min): Discussion in small groups and plenary. No presentations, no wrong questions.

Who can join: Anyone curious about AI safety and governance, whether you're new to the topic, a healthy skeptic, or already deep in it. No technical background needed, and no need to have joined the lectures or earlier weeks. You don't need to have answers, just curiosity.

Readings

How to prepare: This group follows the lecture of 9 December. Please reserve about 2 hours, ideally over a few evenings. Did the lecture readings already? Skip Part 1. Short on time? The ★ items (about 1.25 hours) are the essentials.

Part 1 (~40 min): the lecture readings

• ★ ~20 min: High-level summary of the AI Act
• ★ ~5 min: AI Act, Article 2: Scope
• ~15 min: European Commission, European AI Office and Contents of the General-Purpose AI Code of Practice

Part 2 (~50 min): the academic lens

• ★ ~35 min: Novelli et al. (2025), A Robust Governance for the AI Act: AI Office, AI Board, Scientific Panel, and National Authorities, European Journal of Risk Regulation (open access). Read the introduction, the sections on the AI Office and on national authorities, and the conclusion.
• ~15 min: Kamerbrief over toezicht op de AI-verordening, April 2026 (in Dutch)

Part 3 (~15 min): reflection

• ★ ~15 min: note one thing Article 2 leaves out that surprised you, and one sentence on where the EU's strengths lie (a good start for the final essay)

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