March 2023 updates

mtlibrary

Apr 11

UCL – the Constitution Unit: NEW REPORT: The Agreement at 25: a time for constitutional change in Northern Ireland? On the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, Alan Whysall's new report sets out the prospects for Northern Ireland's constitutional future. He concludes that early constitutional change is unlikely. But he argues action is urgently needed to revive the Agreement.

EU AI Act - EU lawmakers set to settle on OECD definition for Artificial Intelligence. According to EURACTIV's Luca Bertuzzi, the European Parliament reached a political agreement on 3 March to adopt an AI definition similar to the one used by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the EU AI Act. This definition is important because it will determine which AI systems are subject to the EU's AI regulation. The agreed definition states that an AI system is a "machine-based system that is designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy and that can, for explicit or implicit objectives, generate output such as predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing physical or virtual environments."

EU AI Act - AI Act: European Parliament headed for key committee vote at end of April. According to EURACTIV's Luca Bertuzzi, the European Parliament is planning to vote on the AI Act on 26 April. While many questions have been settled, a few critical issues remain, including what requirements will apply to general purpose AI, how to deal with biometric recognition systems, and what to do about enforcement and governance. In a concession to the centre-right European People's Party, the definition of AI was aligned with the OECD's definition.

UK Government: Boost for Scottish businesses with biggest post-Brexit trade deal. Prime Minister announces deal to join CPTPP – a huge trade bloc in the Indo-Pacific which will now have a total GDP of £11 trillion

House of Commons Library briefing paper: Northern Ireland – The Stormont Brake - A briefing paper on the Stormont Brake mechanism which forms part of the Windsor Framework.

House of Commons Library briefing paper: The Northern Ireland border - A briefing paper charting the creation and development of the Northern Ireland border.