EU plan for competitiveness: reduction in bureaucracy and innovation!

EU plan for competitiveness: reduction in bureaucracy and innovation!

The European Commission has presented its new “competitive compass”, which is intended to strengthen the competitiveness of the EU and at the same time align environmental and social goals. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasized the urgency of the measures to promote a strong industrial basis and the innovative ability of Europe. She found that the times of the dependence on cheap workers from China and the energy prices from Russia are finally over. A central point is the dismantling of excessive bureaucracy that promises to save about 37 billion euros for companies, while working on the high energy costs. The Commission is planning investments in the network infrastructure and long-term electricity contracts to reduce the costs, such as Tagesschau reported .

environmental and social goals in focus

But the new course of the Commission is viewed critically from various sides. The European Environmental Office (EEB) points out that the compass is neglected by central ecological and social concerns and is only focused on economic competitiveness. Christian Schaible, Policy Manager for Zero Pollution Industry, emphasizes that the strategy has to do more to ensure environmental and social protection. The compass even calls for combating the "Gold Plating", which could restrict the national ambitions in the implementation of EU law. This development could endanger the long-term innovative strength of the social and ecological goals of the EU, such as Ökonews noted .

With a catalog of strategies over 27 pages, specific legislative proposals are to be presented by the end of next year. It is about topics such as promoting innovation options for start-ups, the improvement of the capital market conditions in the EU and binding emission reduction paths for industrial sectors with high emissions. The question remains how the EU will find a balance between competitiveness and the existing climate goals, the Green Deal. The concerns about a potential “lover course” in climate policy remain, but from the Leyen that the Green Deal is not questioned.