A group of high-ranking officials from the conservative European People’s Party (EVP) are pushing for a comprehensive dismantling of bureaucracy in the European Union in a policy paper. The draft of the closing document, which is set to be adopted at a meeting on Saturday, hosted by the CDU, suggests that for every new burdensome regulation, two old but still effective rules must be abolished.
EU directives that oblige companies to report on their sustainability efforts or to comply with the supply chain law, for instance, are to be “temporarily suspended for two years” according to the document. The EVP leaders also want to abolish EU regulations on the land and forestry sectors, reducing them to the local level, as well as simplify the implementation of the EU’s reforestation ordinance.
Moreover, they aim to roll back national regulations that go beyond EU standards, known as “gold plating” and prevent any future over-compliance by, for example, harmonizing rules to the maximum extent.
The plan also includes reviewing and simplifying the entire public procurement law, which would involve increasing the threshold values for when European-wide tenders are necessary. Markus Söder, the chairman of the CSU and the Bavarian Minister-President, called for comprehensive steps to dismantle over-regulation at a meeting in Berlin, stating, “For Germany, we want: the ‘One in, two out’ principle, the abolition of clearing-out laws, the abolition of statistics obligations, the end of the ‘dressing up’ of EU regulations, and the abolition of the supply chain law.”
He added, “We need fewer norms to finally perform again.” The ‘One in, two out’ principle means that for every new burdensome regulation, two old but still effective rules must be abolished. “Germany and Europe must be freed from the grip of the paralyzing bureaucracy. Bavaria is a model for bureaucracy reduction” Söder said.