{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T08:54:57Z","timestamp":1790931297404,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790899200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Laws"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The European Union\u2019s regulatory landscape is undergoing a fundamental transformation, characterised by the simultaneous emergence of three distinct yet interconnected governance frameworks: the Artificial Intelligence Act, the General Data Protection Regulation, and the expanding ESG obligations encompassing sustainability reporting and due diligence. While traditionally treated as separate compliance domains, this paper argues that these frameworks increasingly operate as interconnected mechanisms of corporate responsibility, requiring companies to integrate technological, informational, social, and environmental considerations into governance processes. Through a systematic analysis of the accountability principles embedded within each framework, this paper demonstrates that AI regulation, GDPR obligations, and ESG requirements are converging into a unified governance architecture that extends corporate responsibility beyond traditional compliance toward proactive, stakeholder-oriented governance. The paper develops an integrated governance model that positions AI governance (algorithmic responsibility), GDPR (information responsibility), and ESG (societal responsibility) as three interconnected pillars of responsible corporate governance in the EU. This paper extends this literature by demonstrating how these three frameworks collectively form an integrated model of corporate responsibility. The paper concludes that the EU is developing a distinctive model where legal compliance becomes the foundation for responsible corporate conduct, signalling a fundamental change in the purpose and practice of corporate governance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/laws15050130","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T08:15:18Z","timestamp":1790928918000},"page":"130","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Beyond Compliance: AI, GDPR, and ESG as Pillars of Emerging Responsible Corporate Governance in the EU Regulatory Landscape"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Charalampos","family":"Stamelos","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Law School, European University Cyprus, Nicosia 2404, Cyprus"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chen, Junkai (2026). Pathways to Green AI: Information Disclosure of Artificial Intelligence Within the ESG Framework of Commercial Entities. Sustainability, 18.","DOI":"10.3390\/su18062922"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"European Parliament, and Sartor, Giovanni (2020). The Impact of the General Data Protection Regulation on Artificial Intelligence, Publications Office. Available online: https:\/\/data.europa.eu\/doi\/10.2861\/293."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gregory, Sunil, and Sircar, Anindya (2025). AI Governance Handbook: A Practical Guide for Enterprise AI Adoption, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-031-89266-0"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Haynes, Maria de Lourdes (2025). Governing at a Distance: The EU AI Act and GDPR as Pillars of Global Privacy and Corporate Governance. SSRN.","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.5501087"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"380","DOI":"10.1080\/17579961.2026.2633677","article-title":"AI Data Governance\u2014Overlaps between the AI Act and the GDPR","volume":"18","author":"Holtz","year":"2026","journal-title":"Law, Innovation and Technology"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"133","DOI":"10.54254\/2754-1169\/2025.22770","article-title":"Research on CSRD and the Protection of Enterprise Data Privacy Rights","volume":"178","author":"Huang","year":"2025","journal-title":"Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences"},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"Kang, Sang Yop (2026, August 30). Mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility. A Multidimensional Analysis. ECGI. Available online: https:\/\/www.ecgi.global\/publications\/blog\/mandatory-corporate-social-responsibility-a-multidimensional-analysis."},{"key":"ref_8","first-page":"1353","article-title":"Corporate Governance and Emerging Technologies: Legal and Ethical Dimensions","volume":"15","author":"Kaur","year":"2025","journal-title":"European Economic Letters"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lee, Sung Une, Perera, Harsha, Liu, Yue, Xia, Boming, Lu, Qinghua, Zhu, Liming, Cairns, Jessica, and Nottage, Moana (2024). Integrating ESG and AI: A Comprehensive Responsible AI Assessment Framework. arXiv.","DOI":"10.1007\/s43681-025-00741-5"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104036","DOI":"10.1016\/j.irfa.2025.104036","article-title":"Artificial intelligence and corporate ESG performance","volume":"102","author":"Li","year":"2025","journal-title":"International Review of Financial Analysis"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mathis, Klaus, and Tor, Avishalom (2025). Law and Economics of Corporate Governance: Shareholders, Stakeholders, and Beyond, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-031-76021-1"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"629","DOI":"10.1007\/s12027-025-00864-6","article-title":"European Company Law in the Age of Digital Transformation: Artificial Intelligence, Data Economy, and Digital Corporate Governance","volume":"26","year":"2025","journal-title":"ERA Forum"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nicholls, Christopher C. (2026). Corporate Governance and Enlightened Fiduciaries, Oxford University Press.","DOI":"10.1093\/9780198904199.001.0001"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"842","DOI":"10.70593\/deepsci.0202035","article-title":"Artificial Intelligence, Corporate Information Governance, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Performance: A Systematic Review","volume":"2","author":"Panda","year":"2026","journal-title":"International Journal of Applied Resilience and Sustainability"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Raposo, Vera L\u00facia (2025). The European Artificial Intelligence Act: Promises and Perils?, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-031-98406-8"},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"Stamelos, Charalampos (2023). A Holistic Analysis of Law, Cambridge Scholars."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Vilchez Olivares, Percy Antonio, and Astorga De La Cruz, Brandelt Jes\u00fas (2026). 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Sustainability, 18.","DOI":"10.20944\/preprints202603.1378.v1"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8548","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-025-93694-y","article-title":"The Impact of Artificial Intelligence-Driven ESG Performance on Sustainable Development of Central State-Owned Enterprises Listed Companies","volume":"15","author":"Xiao","year":"2025","journal-title":"Scientific Reports"}],"container-title":["Laws"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-471X\/15\/5\/130\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T08:25:23Z","timestamp":1790929523000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-471X\/15\/5\/130"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]]},"references-count":18,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10]]}},"alternative-id":["laws15050130"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/laws15050130","relation":{},"ISSN":["2075-471X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2075-471X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]]}}}