The EU Commission follows the sense of urgency for 2025: “Simplification is not deregulation”

The European Commission is projecting 51 new policy initiatives for 2025. The proposals listed in the EU Executive’s new annual work program include legislative packages, action plans, and strategies, some of which have been scheduled for the first 100 days of the EU Executive term.

The list counts eleven initiatives with a simplification objective or a significant simplification dimension. The European Commission is reaching out to the industry calls to reduce red tape in the climate reporting obligations and is set to present a set of “Omnibus” package proposals that simplify various pieces of legislation. The EU Executive is determined to reduce administrative burdens by at least 25% and at least 35% for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The first Omnibus package proposal is expected to be published on February 26th, the same day marked for the presentation of the Clean Industrial Deal aimed at decarbonizing the industry. The European Commissioner for Simplification, Valdis Dombrovskis, announced that the first set of proposals will consist of a review of the reporting obligation on the due diligence rules, taxonomy, and corporate sustainability obligation.  

This will be followed by another omnibus package, including small mid-caps and removing paper requirements. The third set of measures will be focusing on simplification and investment. The “Omnibus fleet,” to mention it with a name forged by the EU Finance Ministers during their formal meeting in January, will be unveiled by the end of the first quarter of 2024.

“The sense of urgency should guide us to act fast,” the European Commissioner for Trade, Maros Sefcovic, told during a European Parliament plenary debate in Strasbourg. Nevertheless, he stressed that “simplification does not mean deregulation.” An Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act and the review of the securitization framework are two further pieces of legislation designed to have a significant simplification dimension.

The European Commission is also eager to unsheathe the content of the very waited White paper on the Future of European Defence, whose provisional publication Is scheduled for March 19; the new common approach on returns is set to see the light by the end of the first quarter of the year and anticipate a European Migration and Asylum Strategy. Among the initiatives for simplification, the EU Executive also intends to adopt a dedicated package for the Common Agricultural Policy.