Representatives from governments, the private sector, civil society organisations, academics and citizens are gathering in Zürich on 3 and 4 October at the AI Policy Summit 2025, held under the auspices of the Council of Europe, to discuss policy challenges related to artificial intelligence (AI).
On the first day of the summit, Hanne Juncher, Director of Security, Integrity and the Rule of Law of the Council of Europe, addressed the need to manage and mitigate the risks posed by AI systems to human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
This is precisely the key aim of the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, the first-ever international treaty on AI, which opened for signature in September 2024. The treaty has been complemented by the HUDERIA Methodology, developed by the Council of Europe's Committee on Artificial Intelligence, to provide practical guidance for conducting human rights risk and impact assessments of AI systems.
When assessing the human-rights impact of AI systems, she explained, a lifecycle approach is crucial, as is the need to carry out risk assessments for specific sectors and uses, with structural discrimination and systemic bias identified as among the most significant risks.
Other priorities are to pay careful attention to assessing the cumulative and scaled effects of AI on multiple rights, ensuring effective oversight and access to remedies when rights may have been infringed, as well as transparency of purpose and design of AI systems.
This sixth edition of the AI Policy Summit is organised by the ETH Zürich Centre for Law and Economics and RegHorizon, a strategy advisory company. The event aims to foster cross-sectoral and cross-regional collaboration in AI policy.
Council of Europe and artificial intelligence
The Framework Convention on artificial intelligence
ETH Zürich Centre for Law and Economics
