Friedrich Merz, the CDU’s candidate for Chancellor, has criticized the EU’s overly detailed regulations. “It can’t go on like this in Europe, just as it has in the past few years and decades” he said at the CSU party convention in Nuremberg on Saturday.
Merz believes that the EU needs a change of pace, which he calls a “Zeitenwende”. He argues that the EU has been lagging behind the US, which has seen 3,500 regulations in recent years, while the EU has implemented 13,500 new regulations, directives and guidelines during the same period. “This over-regulation of the European Union must come to an end” Merz emphasized, adding that the European People’s Party (EVP) should make a significant contribution to this goal.
Despite being an “unwavering European” Merz believes that the EU must adapt to the changing times. “If the European Union is to be successful in the future, if it is to play a role on the world stage, it must stop regulating in the small things and start being policy-capable again in the big things” he said.
Merz cited the examples of regulations on plastic bottle caps and automatic speed warning systems in cars, saying, “No one needs this.” He urged the EU to focus on major issues, such as trade policy, foreign policy and defense, rather than minor details that no one really cares about or takes seriously when it comes to the EU’s future.