The role of Article 114 TFEU in balancing fundamental rights and product safety in the AI Act
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60054/PEU.2025.12.277-289Keywords:
Article 114 TFEU, AI Act, Fundamental Rights, Common Regulated Market, Reflexive HarmonisationAbstract
This paper explores the legal foundation of the EU’s AI Act, with a specific focus on the use of Article 114 TFEU as its legal basis. It argues that the role of Article 114 TFEU - in the Digital Single Market, and more specifically AI Act - represents a shift from merely facilitating a common market to constructing a common regulated market that embeds public interest objectives, particularly the protection of fundamental rights. Through analysis of the evolving scope and function of Article 114 TFEU, the paper examines how the AI Act navigates the balance between harmonising internal market rules and addressing ethical and societal concerns posed by AI technologies. The contribution also discusses the strength of Article 114 TFEU as a legal basis, especially when the regulation extends into non-economic domains like privacy, non-discrimination, and transparency. Finally, this contribution concludes that the AI Act reflects a new governance approach, acknowledging that the complexity of harmonising emerging technologies within the EU’s Digital Single Market framework involves market building as well.
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