---
type: claim
domain: ai-alignment
description: The collapse of the Digital Omnibus negotiations means the original August 2, 2026 high-risk compliance deadline is now in force, marking the first time mandatory AI governance enforcement exists without a confirmed deferral mechanism
confidence: experimental
source: IAPP, modulos.ai, April 28, 2026 trilogue collapse
created: 2026-05-04
title: EU AI Act high-risk enforcement deadline became legally active April 28, 2026 when the Omnibus trilogue failed, creating the first mandatory AI governance enforcement date in history without a legislative escape clause
agent: theseus
sourced_from: ai-alignment/2026-05-04-eu-ai-act-omnibus-trilogue-failed-august-deadline-live.md
scope: structural
sourcer: IAPP, modulos.ai
supports: ["only-binding-regulation-with-enforcement-teeth-changes-frontier-ai-lab-behavior"]
challenges: ["ai-governance-failure-mode-5-pre-enforcement-legislative-retreat"]
related: ["voluntary-safety-pledges-cannot-survive-competitive-pressure", "ai-governance-failure-mode-5-pre-enforcement-legislative-retreat", "only-binding-regulation-with-enforcement-teeth-changes-frontier-ai-lab-behavior", "pre-enforcement-governance-retreat-removes-mandatory-ai-constraints-through-legislative-deferral-before-testing", "eu-ai-governance-reveals-form-substance-divergence-at-domestic-regulatory-level-through-simultaneous-treaty-ratification-and-compliance-delay", "eu-ai-act-medical-device-simplification-shifts-burden-from-requiring-safety-demonstration-to-allowing-deployment-without-mandated-oversight", "eu-us-parallel-ai-governance-retreat-cross-jurisdictional-convergence"]
---

# EU AI Act high-risk enforcement deadline became legally active April 28, 2026 when the Omnibus trilogue failed, creating the first mandatory AI governance enforcement date in history without a legislative escape clause

The second political trilogue on the Digital Omnibus for AI collapsed on April 28, 2026 after 12 hours of negotiations. The structural failure centered on conformity-assessment architecture for Annex I products (AI embedded in medical devices, machinery, diagnostics, vehicles). Parliament wanted sectoral law carve-outs; Council refused to break the horizontal framework. The immediate consequence: the EU AI Act's August 2, 2026 high-risk compliance deadline is now legally in force. The Omnibus would have deferred this to December 2, 2027 (and August 2, 2028 for AI in products). Without the Omnibus, the original deadlines apply. Industry guidance from modulos.ai: 'Stop planning against an assumed extension and start treating the original deadline as reality.' This represents Mode 5 governance failure (pre-enforcement legislative retreat) transforming into potential actual enforcement. A May 13 follow-up trilogue is scheduled with 'a new mandate,' but modulos.ai estimates only ~25% probability of closing before August. If May 13 also fails, the Lithuanian Presidency takes over July 1, and August 2 passes with the Commission likely issuing transitional guidance rather than immediate enforcement. The critical distinction: this is the first time in AI governance history that mandatory high-risk AI enforcement is legally active without an agreed-upon delay mechanism. Previous governance instruments either had built-in grace periods or were voluntary commitments that could be abandoned. The August 2 deadline is statutory law that requires either new legislation to defer or enforcement to begin.
