For months now, the issue on which the EU has focused most of all has been improving the competitiveness of European businesses. In fact, at the recent summit in Budapest, the heads of state and government of the Union declared the improvement of competitiveness as the main goal for 2025 – and this is exactly what the new European Commission will pursue.

“Improving competitiveness is something that Europe urgently needs,” Germany’s new finance minister Jörg Kukis (SPD) said at a meeting of finance ministers in Brussels. The Union urgently needs better financing conditions for new and growing businesses.

By vehicle the Omnibus Regulation

The proposals of Mario Draghi’s much-discussed report on how the EU can compete with nations such as the US and China should be implemented just as quickly. The former head of the ECB has made it clear that more public investment is urgently needed, as well as a looser regulatory framework, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.

EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, who has been head of the Productivity, Implementation and Simplification sector for a few days now, aims to cut red tape in business by at least 25%.

“We have started to design proposals to simplify procedures starting with the Omnibus Regulation, which will focus on reporting,” Dombrovskis announced from Brussels. With this Regulation, the European Commission wants to include all three pieces of legislation that regulate the submission of business reports in a single piece of legislation.

Many businesses in the EU are now required to prepare and submit to the competent authorities reports with thousands of data on their sustainability, supply chains, environmental and forest protection.

The Omnibus Regulation will be presented within the first 100 days of the new Commission, i.e. by March 10 at the latest.

It will also simplify regulations on supply chains, which only come into force at the beginning of 2025. “This is a very important issue, something that has been repeatedly pointed out to us by various businesses – and we would be very happy to postpone the entry into force of the new regulatory framework,” said Finance Minister Jorg Kukis.

Red tape makes life difficult for entrepreneurs

In a poll, many businessmen point out that the bureaucracy and regulatory legislative frameworks make life more difficult for them and the high energy prices.

In the last five years, the EU has introduced 13,000 new provisions – and these were introduced with the consent of the 27 member states and the European Parliament, which now, after Mario Draghi’s report, suddenly prioritizes the abolition of these rules.

Business consultant and sustainability expert Florian Wupperfeld believes that many of the provisions of EU law have not led to more transparency, but instead simply fill the coffers of the big consulting firms, which are called upon to help businesses deal with red tape. .

“Clean Deal” instead of “Green Deal”

At the same time, however, the European Commission is also planning some new laws and regulations – for example with the aim of more effective climate protection through the “Green Deal”. These changes will seek to “marry” climate policy and economic policy, such as said EU Commissioner for Climate and Zero Emissions, Boepke Hoekstra – the “Green Deal” of the previous Commission will also be renamed the “Clean Deal”.

Hoekstra also announced that he wants to reduce emissions in aviation and shipping – leaving open the possibility of achieving this through the imposition of new taxes. “We have to draw up a new policy carefully,” Hoekstra said.

The work program of the new Commissioners

All this is to happen within the first 100 days of the new Commission. Until then, one of Germany’s great wishes is also expected to be fulfilled: the ban on internal combustion engines for new cars from 2035 is expected to be revised.

After the revision, the law will also allow the burning of climate-neutral e-fuels in conventional engines. This is stated in the draft work program of the European Commission, which is available to DW and is expected to be announced shortly.

This draft includes a long list of various projects and projects to stimulate the economy and growth – and will take more into account the consequences of climate policy on business.

The European Commission emphasizes that for every new law that concerns businesses, two old ones will be deleted. It will also facilitate access to financing instruments given by EU funds and create a single online portal for all laws and funding programs.

None of this is entirely new

EU diplomats from Brussels, who wish to remain anonymous, welcome the new Commission’s initiatives. However, it is certain that intensive consultations will follow with the representatives of the 27 member states.

Diplomats remind us that this is not the first attempt by the EU to reduce bureaucracy. Already in 2007, the former Bavarian Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber (CSU) had taken over the position of Commissioner for the Reduction of Bureaucracy.

The German politician did not manage to achieve much success. In 2024 he stated in an interview that “the state today regulates much more than it can manage. And there are no people who can implement all these arrangements.”

Edited by: Giorgos Passas