Lithuania
EU AI Act implementation, 2026
Lithuania designated its authorities early via amendments to the Law on Information Society Services adopted on 14 January 2025 (in force 1 April 2025): the Communications Regulatory Authority (RRT) is market surveillance authority and single point of contact and the Innovation Agency is notifying authority and runs an EU-funded AI regulatory sandbox that opened for applicants in early 2026.
- Implementing law
- EnactedJan 2025
- Penalty regime (Art. 99)
- Unconfirmed
- Regulatory sandbox
- Operational
- Readiness rank
- 11 of 27score 74 / 100
Key findings
- Lithuania designated its authorities seven months before the 2 August 2025 deadline, via Law XV-106 amending the Law on Information Society Services (in force 1 April 2025).
- RRT (telecoms regulator) is market surveillance authority and single point of contact; the Innovation Agency is notifying authority and sandbox operator; policy sits with the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation.
- An EU-funded EUR 3m regulatory sandbox opened for its first three-year cohort in early 2026, well ahead of the (now deferred) August 2027 EU deadline.
- The national penalty regime could not be verified from the official text; trackers say RRT may impose administrative fines, but no national fine schedule was confirmed.
- The split of market surveillance functions between RRT and sectoral authorities (including the data protection inspectorate) is reported as still being finalised.
National authorities
Lietuvos Respublikos ryšių reguliavimo tarnyba (RRT, Communications Regulatory Authority)
Main national market surveillance authority and single point of contact; may order corrective measures and impose administrative fines; allocation of functions with sectoral authorities reported as still being finalised.
eimin.lrv.lt (opens in new tab)Valstybinė duomenų apsaugos inspekcija (State Data Protection Inspectorate) and sectoral regulators
Data-protection regulator expected to act as sectoral authority for biometric and fundamental-rights matters; sectoral split under the RRT-led model not fully confirmed.
regulatoryai.eu (opens in new tab)Communications Regulatory Authority (RRT), listed by the European Commission
Implementing law, penalties and sandbox
Law No. XV-106 amending the Law on Information Society Services (No. X-614) to implement Regulation (EU) 2024/1689
Jan 2025
regulations.ai (opens in new tab)Whether Article 99 penalty rules are in force could not be confirmed.
EU-funded AI regulatory sandbox (EUR 3m from 2021–2027 EU funds; a regional split between the Capital region and the rest of Lithuania is reported but unverified) operated by the Innovation Agency, offering AI Act guidance, testing and HPC access; registration for the first three-year participant cohort was open until 17 February 2026. The programme is described as under implementation; the first participant list was not confirmed.
lithuania.lt (opens in new tab)Lithuanian Artificial Intelligence Strategy: A Vision of the Future (2019), succeeded by the National AI Strategic Guidelines of Lithuania for 2026–2035
2019
eimin.lrv.lt (opens in new tab)Notable developments
-
Seimas adopts AI Act implementing amendments
Law XV-106 (draft XIVP-4235), adopted 14 January 2025 and published 22 January 2025, amended the Law on Information Society Services to make the RRT market surveillance authority and single point of contact and the Innovation Agency notifying authority and sandbox operator; main provisions in force 1 April 2025, notified-body powers from 2 August 2025.
eimin.lrv.lt (opens in new tab) -
EU funding allocated for the AI regulatory sandbox
The Ministry of the Economy and Innovation allocated EUR 3m of EU funds to the Innovation Agency to build a sandbox offering AI Act guidance, testing and high-performance computing access, among the first in the EU.
lithuania.lt (opens in new tab) -
Sandbox opens registration for first cohort
The Innovation Agency opened registration for the Regulatory AI Sandbox in January 2026, with applications accepted until 17 February 2026 for a three-year programme.
walless.com (opens in new tab) -
Digital Omnibus on AI defers high-risk and sandbox deadlines
Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (in force 27 July 2026) moved Annex III high-risk obligations to 2 December 2027 and the member-state sandbox deadline to 2 August 2027; Lithuania's sandbox already predates the new deadline.
regulation-ai.eu (opens in new tab) -
Commission list confirms RRT as single point of contact
The Commission's market surveillance authorities page (updated 7 September 2026) lists the RRT for Lithuania without the 'pending' marker used for countries whose designation awaits final adoption.
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu (opens in new tab)
Analysis
Lithuania is a small-state example of implementing by amendment rather than by a new AI statute. The January 2025 changes to the Law on Information Society Services inserted the AI Act designations into an existing framework: the RRT, already the Digital Services Act coordinator and telecoms regulator, became market surveillance authority and single point of contact, and the Innovation Agency, the state's innovation promotion body, became notifying authority. The Commission's authority list shows the RRT without the 'pending' marker, unlike France, Germany and Luxembourg in this group of nine.
The innovation side is where Lithuania stands out. The Ministry of the Economy and Innovation funded a EUR 3m sandbox through the Innovation Agency, split between the capital and the rest of the country, bundling regulatory guidance, testing and HPC access; applications for a three-year first cohort closed on 17 February 2026. The 2026–2035 National AI Strategic Guidelines, with their ambition to make Lithuania an AI developer and exporter, give the sandbox a policy anchor.
The gaps are on enforcement detail. Neither the official amending law (e-tar access failed during research) nor secondary sources confirm a national Article 99 fine schedule, and trackers note that the allocation of functions between the RRT and sectoral regulators is still being settled. With the Omnibus deferring high-risk enforcement to December 2027, Lithuania has time, but operators currently know who their regulator is better than what it can fine them.
EU AI Act 2026 Q3 Report
All 27 member-state profiles including Lithuania, the readiness ranking, the Omnibus timeline and every source, as one print-ready PDF.
Sources
- Lietuvos Respublikos ryšių reguliavimo tarnyba (RRT, Communications Regulatory Authority) (opens in new tab) eimin.lrv.lt
- Valstybinė duomenų apsaugos inspekcija (State Data Protection Inspectorate) and sectoral regulators (opens in new tab) regulatoryai.eu
- Notifying authority: Inovacijų agentūra (Innovation Agency) (opens in new tab) regulations.ai
- Regulatory sandbox (opens in new tab) lithuania.lt
- Lithuanian Artificial Intelligence Strategy: A Vision of the Future (2019), succeeded by the National AI Strategic Guidelines of Lithuania for 2026–2035 (opens in new tab) eimin.lrv.lt
- Seimas adopts AI Act implementing amendments (opens in new tab) eimin.lrv.lt
- Sandbox opens registration for first cohort (opens in new tab) walless.com
- Digital Omnibus on AI defers high-risk and sandbox deadlines (opens in new tab) regulation-ai.eu
- Commission list confirms RRT as single point of contact (opens in new tab) digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu