Spain - August 2023

The Council of Ministers approved the statute of the Spanish Agency for the Supervision of Artificial Intelligence (AI) (AESIA), becoming the first European country to establish a dedicated regulatory agency to ensure the responsible use of AI. The body will be attached to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation. The European Union is currently debating legislation which will require EU member states to form national supervisory authorities responsible for monitoring the enforcement of AI regulations. AESIA will be independent from the government and tasked with overseeing the use of AI in both the private and public sectors, with the ability to sanction harmful uses of AI. AlgorithmWatch has reported that the government failed to adequately include civil society when conceptualizing the agency and its functions, after civil society organisations called on the government to draw on their knowledge and experiences in a joint letter in September 2022.

Sources: EuropaPress, AlgorithmWatch, Ministry of Finance and Civil Service, Civio, El País

On 30 August, Spanish border authorities returned 168 migrants to Senegal. The migrants had been adrift at sea for six days before being rescued by a Spanish patrol boat off the coast of Mauritania. The Spanish Refugee Commission (CEAR) stated that the decision could be considered a “collective expulsion,” failing to provide individualized procedures evaluating each person’s circumstances, in violation of international commitments including the European Convention on Human Rights, as the migrants were in Spanish jurisdiction in the custody of the Civil Guard after the rescue operation. CEAR had also called for the migrants to be guaranteed access to asylum application procedures in Spain.

Sources:  The Spanish Refugee Commission, El País, InfoMigrants, European Court of Human Rights