EU Publishes Final Draft Of The General-Purpose AI Code Of Practice

The European Commission has settled its Code of Practice for General-Purpose AI Models (Code).

This final text, covering Transparency, Safety and Security and Copyright, turns what was once positioned as a voluntary framework into something far closer to a baseline for proving compliance under the EU AI Act.

The Commission's Q&A confirms that developers who fall short of compliance after signing will still be considered to be acting "in good faith", and the AI Office will support, rather than penalise them. This grace period runs until 2 August 2025, after which fines may be imposed under the AI Act. This potentially sets up a two-tier system. While signatories are shielded from regulatory scrutiny for a year, even if non-compliant, non-signatories have no such protection. Those who do not sign the "voluntary" Code face immediate legal risk, which raises questions about its voluntary nature.