European Union: European Commission published Model Contractual Clauses for the procurement of high-risk AI systems

On 5 March 2025, the European Commission published the Model Contractual Clauses for the Procurement of High-Risk Artificial Intelligence (MCC-AI-High-Risk) aligned with the AI Act. This follows an initial proposal for MCC-AI published in September 2023 and reflects the final adoption of the EU AI Act on 13 June 2024. These clauses provide a structured legal framework for public authorities when procuring AI, ensuring that suppliers meet their legal obligations. The MCCs set out supplier obligations in relation to transparency, risk management, data governance, human oversight and cybersecurity, requiring continuous risk assessment, mitigation measures and ongoing monitoring throughout the lifecycle of the AI system. AI suppliers must provide technical documentation, user instructions, logging capabilities, and adherence to record-keeping standards to ensure traceability and accountability. In addition, suppliers must implement human oversight mechanisms that allow public organisations to monitor, interpret, and override AI systems, while defining rights to use datasets, including ownership, permitted uses, and conditions for data retention or transfer. MCCs mandate explainability, requiring suppliers to help public organisations understand and interpret AI decisions, with compliance enforced through structured audits, reporting requirements, and obligations to update risk assessments and transparency measures. By adopting these clauses, public purchasers can integrate AI Act compliance measures into procurement processes, ensuring that high-risk AI systems deployed in the public sector meet ethical, legal and technical requirements before the regulation is fully implemented.