What changed

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

P10_TA(2026)0183

on opportunitiesOpportunities and challenges presented by a comprehensive artificial intelligence strategy for EU trade

(2025/2112(INI))

Committee on International Trade

PE784.156

European Parliament resolution of 20 May 2026 on opportunities and challenges presented by a comprehensive artificial intelligence strategy for EU trade (2025/2112(INI))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence and amending Regulations (EC) No 300/2008, (EU) No 167/2013, (EU) No 168/2013, (EU) 2018/858, (EU) 2018/1139 and (EU) 2019/2144 and Directives 2014/90/EU, (EU) 2016/797 and (EU) 2020/1828 (Artificial Intelligence Act)1,Act),

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation)2,Regulation),

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2023/1781 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 September 2023 establishing a framework of measures for strengthening Europe’s semiconductor ecosystem and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/694 (Chips Act)3,Act),

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024 establishing a framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials and amending Regulations (EU) No 168/2013, (EU) 2018/858, (EU) 2018/1724 and (EU) 2019/1020 (Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA))4(CRMA))

– having regard to the outcomes of the Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington DC on 4 February 2026, and to ongoing EU-US cooperation to diversify and strengthen secure, sustainable critical raw materials supply chains essential for the EU’s competitiveness, advanced technologies and resilience in global markets,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2019/452 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2019 establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union5,Union,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2023/2675 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 November 2023 on the protection of the Union and its Member States from economic coercion by third countries6,countries,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2021 setting up a Union regime for the control of exports, brokering, technical assistance, transit and transfer of dual-use items7items (Dual-Use Regulation),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 19 November 2025 entitled ‘Data union strategy – unlocking data for AI’ (COM(2025)0835),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 24 January 2024 entitled ‘Advancing European economic security: an introduction to five new initiatives’ (COM(2024)0024),(COM(2024)0022), final

– having regard to the joint communication from the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of 3 December 2025 entitled ‘Strengthening EU economic security’ (JOIN(2025)0977),

– having regard to the report by Enrico Letta of 10 April 2024 entitled ‘Much more than a Market’ (Letta report),

– having regard to its resolution of 9 July 2025 on product safety and regulatory compliance in e-commerce and non-EU imports8,imports,

– having regard to its resolution of 13 November 2025 on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Agreement on Digital Trade between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore9,Singapore,

– having regard to the principal role the World Trade Organization (WTO) plays in upholding a rules-based multilateral trading system, and to its importance for the deployment of emerging technologies including artificial intelligence in international trade,

3. Notes the potential role of AI in strengthening customs controls amid market overcapacity and the limitations of human inspections in the face of the challenges posed by the influx of goods, in particular small parcels coming from China; calls on the Commission to provide resources and skills to market surveillance and customs authorities, also through the strengthened cooperation among Member States in the EU Customs Data Hub, to ensure that AI use enhances enforcement capacity and data sharing among authorities; calls on the Commission to investigate the potential of AI to uphold compliance of imported goods with EU law, enhance real-time traceability and customs control of imported products and market surveillance, deploy secure and dedicated AI tools to systematically analyse data from small parcels or secure product traceability throughout the supply chain in order to combat counterfeit goods, customs fraud, unfair trade practices and circumvention of EU-imposed sanctions; highlights that such AI systems would constitute critical infrastructure and should therefore remain independent and sovereign; calls on the Commission to ensure that these tools strictly comply with the relevant EU legislation;

4. Notes that AI can be a useful tool for companies, customs authorities and market surveillance authorities to uphold the protection of human rights by facilitating effective implementation and compliance with EU rules such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive10,Directive, the Deforestation Regulation11,Regulation, or the EU Forced Labour Regulation12,Regulation, and uphold consumer protection by facilitating effective implementation and compliance with EU rules such as the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals (REACH), CE marking, and the General Product Safety Regulation13;Regulation;

AI and structural changes in goods and services trade, and trade and sustainable development

22. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a general-purpose capability that changes how trade is organised, how firms compete, and how economic power is exercised. It affects goods, services, and data-dependent business models simultaneously, developing in a geopolitical context where technology leadership, access to critical inputs, and rule-setting are increasingly contested. For the EU, AI is therefore not only a question of digital policy but a trade policy question, because the conditions for AI deployment, market access, and cross-border operations will shape Europe’s competitiveness and strategic autonomy.

This report argues for an integrated approach bringing together AI in trade (deployment for competitiveness and enforcement) and trade of AI (open strategic autonomy over critical inputs and rules-based international cooperation), so that Europe can compete globally while safeguarding its social model.

AI IN TRADE: COMPETITIVENESS THROUGH DEPLOYMENT AND PREDICTABILITY

AI adoption is fundamental to EU export competitiveness and trade facilitation. The technology reduces information asymmetries, lowers market-entry costs, and improves compliance predictability, enabling smaller firms to access opportunities previously reserved for large operators with dedicated compliance teams. For small and medium enterprises central to the EU’s industrial base and export potential, AI-powered advisory services for navigating tariffs, rules of origin, and regulatory requirements across multiple markets can substantially reduce the disproportionate costs they face from regulatory complexity and fragmented procedures.

AI deployment by customs authorities can help address critical enforcement challenges at scale. Rising cross-border volumes, faster transaction cycles, and increasingly data-driven commerce create capacity constraints that traditional administrative approaches cannot manage. AI-enabled risk analysis, pattern detection, and supply chain optimisation can strengthen the EU’s ability to ensure fair competition and effective enforcement of agreed rules, sustaining confidence that compliance is rewarded rather than circumvented. This enforcement capacity is inseparable from the EU’s commitment to open and fair markets.

Furthermore, AI is fundamentally altering services trade through increased tradability of tasks and accelerated cross-border delivery, intensifying competition in areas where Europe has historically been strong. This transformation requires the EU to support widespread adoption, investment, and scale-up so that European firms compete globally from a position of strength. Trade agreements and partnerships should promote inclusive AI governance frameworks that enable European service providers to benefit from productivity gains while addressing labour market transitions. The EU’s external engagement must ensure that AI-driven productivity gains translate into broadly shared prosperity and that regulatory cooperation prevents fragmentation from becoming a structural barrier to digital trade and services exports.

TRADE OF AI: OPEN STRATEGIC AUTONOMY THROUGH RESILIENT INPUTS AND RULES-BASED GOVERNANCE

As AI becomes embedded in trade, Europe’s competitiveness will not only depend on deployment, but on access to critical upstream inputs that make AI possible. These inputs, notably advanced semiconductors, frontier compute and cloud infrastructure, are concentrated in very few hands and are increasingly shaped by geopolitical rivalry, export controls and industrial policy. When access to chips, equipment or cloud services can be restricted, conditioned or disrupted, dependency becomes leverage, and leverage becomes a trade risk for European firms and public administrations.

The report therefore argues for open strategic autonomy as a practical trade and economic security strategy. The objective is not autarky, but derisking through diversification with trusted partners, targeted capacity-building in Europe, and coherent use of the EU’s economic security toolbox to deter coercion and manage shocks without undermining legal certainty for operators. This is about keeping Europe open, but less exposed, and ensuring that trade and investment relations support, rather than constrain, Europe’s ability to compete in AI-enabled sectors.

Resilience must be matched by rule-shaping. In a context of accelerating competition and fragmented governance, Europe should project its human-centric, risk-based approach, anchored in the first horizontal AI framework of its kind, through partnerships with like-minded partners, including via Trade and Technology Councils, Digital Partnerships and international standardisation, to facilitate convergence on trustworthy AI.

Finally, the WTO remains essential to prevent digital fragmentation from hardening into new trade barriers, notably through balanced digital trade and data rules that advance ‘data flows with trust’, protect regulatory autonomy, and preserve predictable cross-border conditions that are essential for AI development and deployment. Without credible multilateral guardrails, regulatory fragmentation and data restrictions risk becoming the next generation of trade barriers, particularly for AI-enabled services, undermining predictability for businesses and weakening the rules-based system the EU depends on.

The EU stands at a crossroads. One path leads toward permanent technological dependence, where European firms consume AI developed elsewhere, operate on infrastructure controlled externally, and adjust regulations to accommodate foreign standards. The alternative path, pursued in this report, demands simultaneous action across trade facilitation, sectoral adoption, supply chain resilience, and international rule-making. It requires mobilising investment at unprecedented scale, embedding worker protections and development cooperation in trade policy, diversifying semiconductor and compute supply, and projecting Europe’s governance framework through partnerships that value trustworthy AI.

This comprehensive strategy reflects a fundamental conviction: Europe can achieve AI-enabled competitiveness without sacrificing the social model and fundamental rights protections that define its identity. Trade policy becomes the mechanism through which these objectives converge, facilitating the deployment that drives productivity, securing the inputs that enable autonomy, and shaping the rules that make trustworthy AI the global standard. The question is not whether Europe will participate in the AI-driven transformation of international trade, but whether it will do so on its own terms or on conditions set by others.

ANNEX: DECLARATION OF INPUT

Pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure, the rapporteur declares that he included in his report input on matters pertaining to the subject of the file that he received, in the preparation of the draft report, from the following interest representatives falling within the scope of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register1, or from the following representatives of public authorities of third countries, including their diplomatic missions and embassies:

1. Interest representatives falling within the scope of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register

AmChamEU

BEUC

DG CNECT

DG TRADE

Digital Europe

EDRi

European Economic and Social Committee

Information Technology Industry Council

United Nations Industrial Development Organization

World Trade Organisation

2. Representatives of public authorities of third countries, including their diplomatic missions and embassies

none.

The list above is drawn up under the exclusive responsibility of the rapporteur.

Where natural persons are identified in the list by their name, by their function or by both, the rapporteur declares that he has submitted to the natural persons concerned the European Parliament’s Data Protection Notice No 484 (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/data-protect/index.do), which sets out the conditions applicable to the processing of their personal data and the rights linked to that processing.

INFORMATION ON ADOPTION IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

Date adopted

16.4.2026

Result of final vote

+ : 31

- : 2

0 : 3

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL BY THE COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

31

+

ECR

Rihards Kols, Daniele Polato, Francesco Torselli, Jessika van Leeuwen

PPE

Wouter Beke, Daniel Buda, Andrzej Halicki, Ilia Lazarov, Miriam Lexmann, Gabriel Mato, Jörgen Warborn, Iuliu Winkler, Isabel Wiseler-Lima, Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski, Juan Ignacio Zoido Álvarez

PfE

Christophe Bay, Tomasz Buczek, Eniko Gyori

Renew

Benoit Cassart, Barry Cowen, Bart Groothuis, Karin Karlsbro

S&D

Brando Benifei, Udo Bullmann, Jean-Marc Germain, Bernd Lange, Cristina Maestre, Kathleen Van Brempt

Verts/ALE

Markéta Gregorová, Vicent Marzà Ibáñez, Catarina Vieira

2

-

ESN

Markus Buchheit

The Left

Marina Mesure

3

0

NI

Branislav Ondrus

The Left

Lynn Boylan, Rudi Kennes

Key:

+ : in favour

- : against

0 : abstentions