European Commission Publishes Draft High-Risk AI Classification Guidelines

On May 19, 2026, the European Commission published draft guidelines on the classification of high-risk AI systems under Article 6 of the EU AI Act, accompanied by a public consultation open until June 23, 2026.

The guidelines — issued under Article 6(5) — are intended to assist providers, deployers, and market surveillance authorities in determining whether an AI system falls within a high-risk category. They are structured in three parts:

1. Section 1: General principles for high-risk classification, introducing the two categories under Article 6.
2. Section 2: Classification under Article 6(1) and Annex I — AI systems that are safety components of products, or are themselves products, subject to EU product safety legislation.
3. Section 3: Classification under Article 6(2) and Annex III — stand-alone AI systems in biometrics, education, employment, essential services, and law enforcement.

The draft provides non-exhaustive examples of systems that may or may not be classified as high-risk, while noting that inclusion of a use case does not by itself establish lawfulness.

Timing context: The guidelines were originally due by February 2, 2026, ahead of the original compliance milestones. The delay contributed to the recent AI Omnibus agreement, which pushed Annex 3 high-risk obligations to December 2027 and product-embedded AI obligations to August 2028. The guidelines are not legally binding — authoritative interpretation rests with the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Enterprise takeaway: Organizations should review the draft guidelines during the open consultation window to assess how their AI systems may be classified. This is the Commission's first formal interpretive guidance on the high-risk boundary — the most consequential line in the AI Act — and it will shape enforcement priorities once adopted in final form.