The EU's new big obsession: cutting red tape

BrusselsThe European Union's reputation as a regulatory and administrative giant, often slow and cumbersome, is absolute and is seen as one of the factors in the decline of the competitiveness of European industry. It has long been one of the main arguments for Eurosceptic positions, especially from the far right, and there are increasing calls for reducing the level of controls, regulations, and red tape in Brussels, to the point that it has already become one of the bloc's new major priorities.

On the eve of this Thursday's summit of European heads of state and government, nineteen countries signed a joint statement advocating "a systematic review of all EU regulations that are superfluous, excessive, or disproportionate." Among the European partners signing it are such prominent states as Germany, France, Italy, and Poland. In fact, the conclusions to be negotiated at this Thursday's European Council include a request very similar to that in the letter from the nineteen member states. "We remain committed to drastically and urgently reducing red tape and regulations," says the document, which ARA has had access to.

The call from the member states, however, is not new, and the European Commission has been making a long-standing case for the issue. Ursula von der Leyen picked up the gauntletBrussels has pushed through various legislative proposals aimed at simplifying regulations, particularly in the agricultural, digital, and industrial sectors, and reducing the red tape faced by European companies, especially small and medium-sized ones. However, national governments seem to be struggling and are urging the European Commission and the European Parliament to act more urgently. "It is necessary to accelerate work and address [the reduction of bureaucracy] as a matter of the highest priority," the European countries insist in the draft conclusions.

This rush coincides with Donald Trump's pressure for the European Union to reduce regulations on companies, especially American technology companies that make huge profits in the European club and often have absolute dominance in the community market, such as Meta, Apple, and Microsoft. Although the EU initially denied that relaxing European regulations was on the table in trade negotiations between Brussels and Washington, all measures to simplify rules and bureaucratic procedures also aim to be a nod to the White House.

The environmental struggle is at stake.

The majority of EU member states, as well as the European Commission and the majority of the European Parliament, seek to simplify the bloc's legislation. However, the few social democratic voices in the European club, such as the Spanish government of Pedro Sánchez, fear that these measures will end up leading to deregulation and a lessening of the commitment to the fight against climate change, according to sources at the Moncloa Palace. In fact, Spain is the only major member state of the EU that has not signed the letter calling for accelerated processing of measures to reduce red tape in the EU.

The next point we find after what deals with bureaucracy in the conclusions to be negotiated at the summit is the fight against climate change, and it is directly linked to the loss of competitiveness of the continent's industry. Thus, the member states demand that the energy transition be "pragmatic" and "balanced," and that it be "affordable" for European companies. In this regard, countries welcome, for example, the postponement of the entry into force of some limits on polluting emissions from cars or some exceptions for sectors particularly in decline in the EU, such as the steel and agri-food sectors.

However, although they maintain their commitment to environmentalism, diplomatic sources from the Council and several member states already rule out an agreement on what climate targets the EU will present at the next COP, the annual United Nations climate summit. Several countries are currently requesting exceptions to complying with the reduction of polluting emissions for some industrial sectors that are especially important to their respective economies and, for this reason, they predict that no consensus will be reached until next month's EU Environment Council.