EU AI Policy Observatory

Published document record

Fostering a European approach to Artificial Intelligence

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    COM(2021) 205 final. English PDF, 10 pages. Main communication, Fostering a European approach to Artificial Intelligence. The Coordinated Plan review is its separately recorded annex.

    Source: European Commission. Retrieved 2026-09-10.

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    SHA-256: 5b73e21c62f66f0be3007ee6cef76fe6a1ccdd23e0ac30c78e33c96aee6e75d7

Official metadata

Official title
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Fostering a European approach to Artificial Intelligence
Official reference
COM(2021) 205 final
Document type
Communication
Document date
2021-04-21
Document date kind
Document issue
Document-date evidence
European Commission / EUR-Lex · EUR-Lex Document information > Date of document and Date of dispatch: 21/04/2021; COM(2021) 205 final Brussels masthead carries the same date. — Establishes retained issue date 2021-04-21.
Publication date
2021-04-21
Publication-date evidence
European Commission, Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology · Heading 'Communication on Fostering a European approach to Artificial Intelligence', metadata line 'Publication 21 April 2021', and link to COM:2021:205:FIN in all EU languages. — Establishes retained publication date 2021-04-21 separately from issue/dispatch.
Version label
Final
Legal status
Non binding
Language
en

Research classifications

These are researcher classifications used to organise and analyse the corpus; they are not official EU metadata.

Record level
Principal
Version status
Final
Temporal collection
Contemporary EU AI policy
Relevance class
Direct AI relevance
Policy stage
Coordination
Corpus tier
Core
Sectors
  • General cross sector
Policy membership
  • AI Act legislative process
  • Coordinated European AI strategy
  • EU AI policy pathway

Classification evidence

  • Relevance class: Direct AI relevance · European Commission / EUR-Lex · Official COM(2021) 205 final: the communication explains the 2021 Plan review and horizontal coordinated AI action across public and private domains. — The cited provisions make AI the central subject.
  • Sector tags: General cross sector · European Commission / EUR-Lex · COM(2021) 205 final, covering Communication 'Fostering a European approach to Artificial Intelligence', section 2, paragraphs beginning 'Especially small and medium-sized enterprises', 'AI and other digital technologies', and 'To leverage these strengths'. These connect economy-wide uptake with coordinated action; this locator refers to the covering Communication, not its separately recorded annex. — The cited provisions substantiate the retained cross-sector classification.
  • Provenance tags: Authored by an EU institution · European Commission / EUR-Lex · EUR-Lex Document information > Author: European Commission; COM(2021) 205 final masthead reads EUROPEAN COMMISSION. — Exact official metadata identifies the responsible EU institution or body.
  • Provenance tags: Officially published · European Commission, Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology · Heading 'Communication on Fostering a European approach to Artificial Intelligence', metadata line 'Publication 21 April 2021', and link to COM:2021:205:FIN in all EU languages. — The official Commission publication page independently dates and identifies the exact record.

Production provenance

Provenance tags
  • Authored by an EU institution
  • Officially published
Named bibliographic authors
None recorded after review
Institutions and roles
  • European Commission · Author · role evidence · EUR-Lex Document information > Author: European Commission; COM(2021) 205 final masthead reads EUROPEAN COMMISSION.

Official sources and identifiers

CELEX
52021DC0205
  • Official source · Publisher/host: European Commission, Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology
  • Official source · Publisher/host: European Commission / EUR-Lex

Attachments

Research assessment

Inclusion rationale
The communication presents the Commission's 2021 AI package and introduces the revised Coordinated Plan and regulatory proposal.
Researcher notes
Analytical selection, separate from the official EUR-Lex metadata.
Review status
verified

Relationships

Verification

Expanded evidence review
Verified
Reviewed by
Yichen Hao
Evidence review date
2026-09-05T18:06:34Z

The evidence review date is not a separate human sign-off date. Review credit and evidence-review actions

  • Last verified: 2026-09-05T17:43:48Z · Official Commission library page gives 'Publication 21 April 2021', identifies the exact covering Communication on Fostering a European approach to Artificial Intelligence, and links COM:2021:205:FIN in all EU languages.
  • Last verified: 2026-09-04T00:00:00Z · EUR-Lex English record confirms COM(2021) 205 final, CELEX 52021DC0205, its official title and document date 21 April 2021.

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