Update, 28 July 2026: the public consultation closed on 23 July 2026. The Article 6(5) guidelines, due by 2 February 2026, were not on record as published by this date.
There's one question that decides more about what the AI Act demands from you than any other: is my system high-risk? The answer determines whether your obligations are the general ones — inventory, literacy, transparency — or whether you fall under the full regime of Chapter III, with its documentation, its reinforced oversight and, for certain deployers, the fundamental rights impact assessment. It's also one of the questions with the most grey areas in the Regulation. The European Commission is about to narrow those areas: it has classification guidelines for high-risk systems underway, whose draft was open for public consultation until 23 July 2026.
Why guidelines are needed
On paper, classification looks like an exercise in reading: Annex III lists the high-risk areas by use — employment and staff selection, access to credit, education, biometrics, critical infrastructure, essential services — and Annex I covers the route for regulated products. In practice, the hard questions start straight away:
- Where does the system that informs end, and where does the one that evaluates or pre-selects begin? In staff selection, that boundary decides the whole classification — and it's the system's intended purpose, not its commercial name, that governs.
- When does the filter in Article 6 itself apply, which excludes from high-risk classification systems that, even while operating in an Annex III area, perform purely preparatory or ancillary tasks without a significant risk of harm to people?
- How are adapted general-purpose systems used for an Annex III purpose classified, or AI modules embedded in larger software?
Each of these questions is answered today through reasoned interpretation. The guidelines exist so that interpretation has a common reference — the Commission's own — instead of depending on the judgement of each advisor, each provider or each national authority.
What the consultation phase was
The draft was published in May and went through open public consultation: any organisation — including a Spanish SME — could submit comments until 23 July. There was no need to be a lobby group or a law firm; the channel was designed to capture the experience of those who develop and deploy these systems.
The contributions that carry the most weight in a process like this come from those operating in an Annex III area, or selling software that brushes against that boundary, for a legitimate reason: the grey cases known first-hand are exactly the material good guidelines need. Pointing out where a draft is ambiguous for a real case is the most direct way for the final version to resolve it.
Two cautions for reading all this rigorously: a draft is not the final guidelines — the text can change through the consultation —, and guidelines are not the law: they guide interpretation, but the binding classification remains that of the Regulation. They're the official compass, not a new map.
How it fits the calendar
This piece also lands at the logical moment. With the dates deferred by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, the Annex III high-risk obligations apply from 2 December 2027. That makes the current period the preparation phase with the best effort-to-value ratio: the classification guidelines will arrive with enough time to apply calmly, classify correctly and build the file without a deadline bearing down.
The sensible sequence for a company in Annex III territory is the usual one, with one new step at the start:
- Follow the publication of the final guidelines — they'll be the reference test for your classification.
- Classify (or reclassify) with them in hand, documenting the reasoning: why this system falls in, why that one relies on the Article 6 filter, who decided it and when.
- Use the months until December 2027 for the file, not for waiting: auditable evidence of a good classification is built, not improvised.
High-risk classification is the hinge of all the high-risk preparation work. The Commission fine-tuning the compass is good news; until it arrives, as always, the compass only helps those who are already walking.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. It reflects Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, in force since 27 July 2026.