Who Supervises the AI Act in Belgium?

The EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) is enforced by national authorities that each Member State designates. In Belgium these bodies are still being set up, so at the time of writing there is no single, settled answer to exactly which office you would deal with. This is normal across the EU during the Act's roll-out and does not change your underlying obligations. How supervision is organised The Act itself is uniform EU-wide, but it leaves enforcement to the Member States. Each country designates national competent authorities and market-surveillance authorities. In Belgium's federal system this involves coordination between federal and, potentially, regional bodies, and existing supervisors are expected to take on parts of the role. Because the designations are still being finalised, the precise allocation of responsibilities may shift. What this means for a shop You do not need to wait for a named authority before complying — the transparency duties in Article 50 already apply.Disclose AI chatbots and label AI-generated media now, in the appropriate regional language.Keep a short internal record of how you comply, so you can respond easily once the supervisory picture settles. In short, the "who" is still being decided, but the "what" — being transparent about your AI — is fixed and applies today. This article is educational, not legal advice.

Must Dutch Shops Disclose AI Chatbots?

Yes. If your Dutch webshop uses an AI-powered chatbot or automated assistant to talk to customers, the EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) expects you to be open about it. The relevant rule is the transparency obligation in Article 50, which applies directly in the Netherlands because the AI Act is an EU regulation, not something the Dutch parliament had to re-enact. What the rule actually says Article 50 requires that people are informed when they are interacting with an AI system, unless it is already obvious to a reasonably attentive person. A chatbot that looks and behaves like a human agent is exactly the situation the rule targets. Most shops act as deployers of a chatbot rather than its developer, and the disclosure duty falls squarely on the deployer who puts the tool in front of the public. How to comply in practice Add a short, visible notice when the chat opens, such as "U chat met een virtuele assistent".Make the disclosure available in Dutch so it is comprehensible to your customers.Offer a clear route to a human where the conversation needs one. You do not need lengthy legal wording. A single honest sentence at the start of the conversation is usually enough to satisfy the transparency requirement. Who enforces it? Enforcement sits with national authorities that each Member State designates. In the Netherlands this designation is still being finalised, so the safest course is to comply with the rule now rather than wait for a named regulator. This article is educational, not legal advice.

What Is AESIA, Spain's AI Authority?

AESIA is the Spanish Agency for the Supervision of Artificial Intelligence — a dedicated public body Spain set up to oversee artificial intelligence. It stands out because Spain chose to create a purpose-built agency rather than lean solely on its existing regulators, making it one of the earlier such national bodies in the EU. Why Spain created it The EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) requires every Member State to designate national competent and market-surveillance authorities. Spain's answer was to build a specialist agency intended to play a central role in that supervision as the Regulation's obligations phase in. What it means for a shop Spain has a clearer institutional focal point for AI than many Member States that were still designating bodies in 2025-2026.The precise division of AI Act market-surveillance tasks across Spanish authorities was still being settled, so treat the detail qualitatively.Your Article 50 transparency duties — disclosing chatbots, labelling AI media — apply regardless of the enforcement structure. For a Spanish online shop the practical priority remains clear Spanish-language disclosure of AI interactions and labelling of AI-generated media, rather than the internal organisation of the supervisor. See our AI Act overview for the wider framework. This article is educational, not legal advice.

Do I Label AI-Generated Images on an Italian Shop?

Generally, yes. Under Article 50 of the EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689), AI-generated or AI-manipulated images, audio and video should be marked as artificially generated or manipulated. That applies to a shop trading into Italy just as it does elsewhere in the EU, because the Regulation is directly applicable. What is covered Product or lifestyle imagery created wholly by an AI generator.Photos substantially altered by AI so they no longer show reality.Deep fakes — realistic media that could be mistaken for a real person or scene — which must be disclosed. Minor, routine editing such as ordinary colour correction or cropping is a different matter from generating or materially manipulating an image with AI. The concern is media that a viewer might reasonably take to be a genuine photograph when it is not. How to label The disclosure should be clear. A visible caption or badge such as "Image generated by AI" — in Italian for an Italian-facing shop — is a sensible approach. The point is that a customer can tell the image is synthetic before it misleads them. Which national authority supervises this in Italy was still being designated in 2025-2026, so check the current body when you need it — but the labelling duty itself does not wait on that. See our AI Act overview. This article is educational, not legal advice.

Who Is the AI Act Authority in France?

The honest answer is that this was still being settled. The EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) requires every Member State — France included — to designate national competent authorities, including one or more market-surveillance authorities and a notifying authority. Through 2025 and into 2026, France was still finalising exactly which bodies would hold those roles. Why there is no single tidy name yet The AI Act sets the obligations at EU level but leaves enforcement architecture to each country. France has several well-established regulators that are natural candidates — its data-protection authority and its consumer-protection and market-surveillance services among them — but the formal allocation of AI Act supervision is a national decision that was being organised on its own timetable. What this means for a shop The substantive duties — especially Article 50 transparency — apply regardless of which body enforces them.Do not wait for a named authority before complying; the deadlines are set by the Regulation, not by the designation.Check the current French designation when you need the precise contact, as it may have firmed up since. For most French online shops the practical focus is disclosing AI chatbots and labelling AI-generated media in French, rather than identifying a single supervisory office. See our AI Act overview for the wider framework. This article is educational, not legal advice.

Guide

The EU AI Act in Sweden: What Online Shops Must Disclose

By Compliance Editorial Team Updated July 5, 2026 3 min read

AI Act

The EU Artificial Intelligence Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, applies directly in Sweden. As an EU regulation it takes effect without a separate Swedish statute, so a shop in Stockholm, Gothenburg or Malmö faces the same core obligations as one elsewhere in the Union. For online retailers the essential message is transparency: be clear about the AI your customers meet.

Most shops do not build high-risk AI. In the Act’s vocabulary you are a deployer of ordinary tools such as chatbots and image generators, and the provision to focus on is Article 50. This guide explains it from a Swedish perspective.

One EU-wide regulation

Being a regulation, the AI Act reads the same in Sweden as across the EU; there is no distinct “Swedish AI Act” changing the wording. What Sweden governs is enforcement. Member States designate national competent and market-surveillance authorities, and in Sweden this designation is still being finalised. The practical approach is to meet the transparency rules now rather than wait for the supervisor to be formally named.

The Act arrives in phases: prohibited practices from 2 February 2025, general-purpose AI model obligations from 2 August 2025, and most high-risk rules from 2 August 2026. Article 50 transparency is the part a typical shop should act on today.

What Article 50 requires

The idea behind Article 50 is that customers should not be misled about whether they are dealing with a machine or machine-made content. For a shop the duties are these.

Inform people when they are interacting with an AI system such as a chatbot, unless it is obvious.
Label AI-generated or AI-altered images, audio and video as artificial.
Disclose deep fakes as artificially generated or manipulated.
Mark certain AI-generated text published to inform the public on matters of public interest.

The disclosure should be clear and provided no later than the first interaction.

Giving the information in Swedish

The AI Act does not mandate a particular language, but it operates alongside Swedish and EU consumer protection expectations. If you sell to Swedish consumers, transparency information should be understandable to them, which in practice means Swedish. A chatbot notice offered only in English on an otherwise Swedish-language shop risks failing the “clear and comprehensible” standard. The straightforward fix is to present the disclosure in Swedish, for example “Du chattar med en virtuell assistent”.

A practical checklist for Swedish shops

Add a visible chatbot notice in Swedish wherever an AI assistant greets customers.
Review your imagery and label any AI-generated product or marketing visuals.
Consider how AI-written descriptions or reviews are presented to shoppers.
Keep a short internal record of your AI tools and how each is disclosed.

Where to read more

For the wider background, see our overview of the EU AI Act and our complete AI Act guide.

This article is educational, not legal advice.