AI Strategies in Bulgaria

  1. Are there any governmental initiatives in your jurisdiction aimed at introducing legal regulatory framework for AI? If so, please list them.
  2. If there are no governmental initiatives in your jurisdiction aimed at introducing the legal regulatory framework for AI: are there any non-governmental initiatives in this field? If so, please list the leading ones, including details of non-governmental organisations in charge.
  3. What is the status of works on legal regulatory framework in your jurisdiction? Please briefly describe it.
  4. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the definition of AI.
  5. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the legal personality of AI.
  6. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding liability for damage caused by AI.
  7. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the safety of AI’s products.
  8. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the protection of privacy and personal data processed for AI needs.
  9. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the non-personal data management for AI needs.
  10. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the protection of the intellectual property works created by AI.
  11. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding a general approach towards the regulatory intervention associated with the development of AI.
  12. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding a human oversight of AI applications.
  13. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the impact of AI on the competition on the market.
  14. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the impact of AI on consumers.
  15. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the impact of AI on employees and candidates for work.
  16. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the use of AI in the financial sector.
  17. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the use of AI in the public sector.

No. No special working Group for AI has been established by the Bulgarian authorities.

However, the Bulgarian Parliament adopted a decision to accept its Annual Working Programme concerning EU matters. This decision is related to the EU’s digital strategy “Europe Fit for the Digital Age” and the White Paper on Artificial Intelligence that the European Commission adopted.

N/A

No draft regulation has been prepared to date.

However, a new Plan for a national strategic paper called “Bulgaria’s Digital Transformation for 2020–2030” (the “Plan”) has been announced. The Plan provides for measures in areas such as digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, the digital economy, digital government, healthcare, transport and education.

A working group from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences developed, on its own initiative, a ‘Framework for a National Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence by 2030’. The framework takes into account both the current and potential uses of AI technologies.

The ‘Framework for a National Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence by 2030was revised and amended by experts from the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications. The new draft, named ‘Conception for the development of the artificial intelligence in Bulgaria by 2030’ was released for public consultation. The provided term for public consultation recently ended and it is expected that the draft will be provided to the Council of Ministers, who will vote on it.

In June 2019, the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (Euro HPC) chose Sofia as one of eight cities selected for supercomputing centres to host a petascale European supercomputer designed to boost the computing power of Europe. The entire project is worth EUR 18 million and is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

4. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the definition of AI.

Bulgarian legislation contains no statutory definition of AI.

There is no legislation or relevant court practice concerning whether AI has a legal personality.

6. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding liability for damage caused by AI.

There is no specific legislation regarding the liability for damages caused by AI.

The general rules for liability in tort under the Bulgarian Obligations and Contracts Act (SG 275/1950, as amended) would apply, including the rules concerning damages caused by chattel. According to these rules, the owner of the chattel and the person under whose supervision the chattel is, will be liable jointly for the damage caused by the chattel.

7. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the safety of AI’s products.

So far there are no detailed concepts on the safety compliance of AI systems. 

8. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the protection of privacy and personal data processed for AI needs.

Regarding the protection of privacy and personal data processed for AI needs or by AI technology, the general provisions of the Bulgarian Personal Data Protection Act (SG 1/2002, as amended) and the provisions of the GDPR would apply.

9. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the non-personal data management for AI needs.

There is no relevant legislation or practice.

10. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the protection of the intellectual property works created by AI.

There is no relevant legislation or practice.

11. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding a general approach towards the regulatory intervention associated with the development of AI.

The Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria identifies a need for legislative interventions regarding development of AI.

It was announced recently that a new governmental agency will be formed. The agency will be accountable for the development of scientific studies and innovations.

12. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding a human oversight of AI applications.

There is no relevant legislation or practice.

13. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the impact of AI on the competition on the market.

There is no relevant legislation or practice. However, it is possible for companies to use pricing algorithms and AI as a means of colluding, with limited or no human involvement.

14. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the impact of AI on consumers.

There is no relevant legislation or practice. 

15. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the impact of AI on employees and candidates for work.

Regarding the impact of AI on employees and candidates for work, there are some recommendations under the Plan that include: (i) the modernisation of the educational system and focus on proper teaching of IT in schools; (ii) investments in training for employees to develop digital skills; (iii) the development of remote access digital workspace platforms.

16. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the use of AI in the financial sector.

The Plan provides for a new system to manage national investments to be created. The system will aim to facilitate the institutions which manage and monitor the national structural and investment funds. 

17. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the use of AI in the public sector.

The Plan provides for a new system to be developed that will standardise procedures concerning the processing of data when governmental or municipal agencies provide services to citizens.

Portrait ofAssen Georgiev
Assen Georgiev
Partner
Sofia
Portrait ofAnna Tanova
Anna Tanova
Counsel
Sofia