Commission plans to set up anti-red tape brigade

by Admin
Commission plans to set up anti-red tape brigade

As the EU steers a course towards deregulation in pursuit of global market share, an early draft of a forthcoming communication suggests today’s ‘Competitiveness Compass’ was only the first step in a concerted effort to tear up red tape.

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The European Commission is planning to set up a new Simplification Advisory Group as it embarks on a five-year mission to lighten the administrative burden on businesses, a leaked document seen by Euronews suggests.

An early draft of a paper, due for publication on 26 February – alongside an ‘omnibus’ proposal to ease reporting requirements under laws on corporate sustainability and due diligence reporting and revise a list of approved ‘green’ areas for investment – hints at how president Ursula von der Leyen’s second Commission plans to do it.

Having set a target of reducing the reporting burden by 25% by the end of its current mandate – which von der Leyen told reporters today would equate to an annual €37.5 billion in savings for European businesses – the EU executive is planning to establish Simplification Advisory Group to guide its work.

The panel will “help to identify priority areas and simplification potential in existing legislation, to cut burdens without affecting the policy objectives”, according to the text. 

It is a successor to a Fit for Future platform that convened regularly during von der Leyen’s first presidency, and which the EU executive credited last October with playing an “important role” in its efforts to reduce costs associated with reporting (by the same 25% – the target is not entirely new).

The document suggests the Commission’s 2025 work programme, whose publication is slated for 11 February, could contain a schedule for further batches of amendment proposals and “key simplification measures” in other areas of EU policy.

Today’s official publication announced that the easing of reporting requirements to be proposed at the end of February would be only the first in “a series of Simplification Omnibus packages”.

But EU officials were tight lipped about what other areas of EU regulation they may have in their sights – with officials pointing journalists, even under cover of anonymity, only towards measures indicated in today’s publication.

In the pipeline are exemptions from some requirements of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) for all but the largest companies, the creation of a new category of ‘mid-cap’ firms to enjoy preferential treatment currently reserved for SMEs in numerous EU regulations, and a revision of EU law and registering and controlling chemicals that was due under the previous commission.

Today’s communication also promised “concrete on-farm burden reduction” for farmers this year, and refers to the strategic dialogue von der Leyen is due to begin tomorrow (30 January) with the automotive sector, which faces huge fines after betting on electric cars sales to help meet stringent new vehicle emissions limits that came into force this year.

The work programme next month will also include a first list of “fitness checks” of specific areas of EU law and will “kickstart” a process to stress test the entire body of EU law for its impact on the bottom line of businesses, a plan that was also announced in today’s ‘compass’ paper.

Von der Leyen was at pains to suggest that the new focus on industrial competitiveness will not amount to a reversal of the Green Deal, promising to “stay the course” on the drive to net-zero emissions and a raft of environmental, energy and climate law adopted over the past five years.

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