STRASBOURG — Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, emphasized on Wednesday that EU nations must take initiative and reduce bureaucratic hurdles to support European businesses. In her address to the European Parliament, she highlighted the burden of bureaucracy on companies, stating,
“Companies tell us they spend almost as much on bureaucracy as on research and development; this cannot be.”
Since the inception of her current mandate, the European Commission has championed a deregulatory agenda, responding to calls from member states to alleviate administrative challenges that hinder businesses amid economic difficulties.
National responsibility in regulatory reduction
As EU leaders prepare for a summit on competitiveness, von der Leyen urged member states to improve their regulatory environments. She pointed out,
“We must also look at the national level; there is too much gold-plating — the extra layers of national legislation that just make businesses’ lives harder and create new barriers in our single market.”
In light of the upcoming leaders’ summit, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently published a report attributing Europe’s economic challenges to regulations imposed by Brussels. However, von der Leyen contended that member countries share the responsibility, emphasizing,
“If we are serious about simplification, we must crack down on gold-plating and fragmentation. It is time for a deep regulatory housecleaning, at all levels.”
She illustrated this point with an example of inconsistent weight limits for trucks operating between France and Belgium, two neighboring countries, which complicates transportation logistics. She remarked,
“We proposed legislation to harmonise this. Almost two years later, it is still under discussion.”
Additionally, she noted that numerous simplification initiatives remain stalled in negotiations between EU member states and the European Parliament.
Addressing trade barriers and future competitiveness
Von der Leyen also raised concerns regarding the challenges of transporting waste between EU countries, citing prolonged approval processes due to varying national regulations. Amid rising transatlantic tensions over social media regulations and tariffs on industrial goods, she expressed frustration over the EU’s trade barriers, stating that the bloc has three times more than those in the United States. She questioned,
“How can we compete on an equal footing? We have the second-largest economy in the world, but we are driving it with the handbrake on.”
To tackle these issues, she announced plans to present a competitiveness roadmap aimed at finalizing the EU single market by 2028. This plan is set to be reviewed and approved by EU leaders at the forthcoming competitiveness summit in March, outlining commitments to adopt several key proposals by the end of 2027.
“Time is of the essence,”
von der Leyen asserted, urging that
“we need everyone to play their part.”