유럽연합 인공지능법(EU AI Act)의 통상법적 고찰

Artificial intelligence(AI) technologies offer significant economic and social benefits across various domains, while simultaneously posing potential risks to fundamental human rights. In response, major countries are not only fostering the advancement of AI technologies but also establishing regulatory frameworks to ensure their safety and transparency. Notably, in May 2024, the European Union(EU) enacted the world’s first comprehensive legislation on AI regulation—the Artificial Intelligence Act(AI Act). The Act adopts a risk-based approach to classify AI systems and imposes obligations tailored to the level of risk posed. It also sets forth transparency requirements for general-purpose AI(GPAI) systems. However, such comprehensive regulatory measures may raise concerns about their misuse as technical barriers to trade(TBT) or protectionist tools, potentially violating the WTO TBT Agreement and provisions of free trade agreements(FTAs). This paper analyzes the key regulatory features of the EU AI Act and examines their consistency with the WTO TBT Agreement and the TBT Chapter of the Korea-EU FTA, thereby exploring the implications of AI regulation from the perspective of international trade law.