Strengthening Competitiveness and Reducing Bureaucracy, No Contradiction to EU Climate Goals, but Probably the Last Chance to Truly Achieve Them / Acceptance of Climate Goals in the EU is Eroding, and Internationally We Are No Role Model if We Don't Make Corrections

Next Wednesday, the European Commission intends to present a document with guidelines for the newly started mandate. A so-called Competitiveness Compass will outline the key foundations for policy and announce many individual measures. The main focus is on regaining competitiveness, reducing bureaucracy, and speeding up approval processes. "We urgently need this reorientation of European policy. Not only in Germany is the economy struggling. The member states in Germany, particularly the coalition government, bear a huge responsibility for the problems. However, the European Commission also needs to correct the direction of its policy. Many people, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, are suffering under excessive bureaucracy. In my view, this reorientation is by no means in conflict with the climate goals. I even see it as the last chance for us to be successful with our climate policy. Due to the many detailed rules and extremely long approval processes, acceptance of our climate goals is eroding within the European Union. If we do not address this, they will come under increasing attack. We as the EPP want to achieve the climate goals, but we want to do so with less bureaucracy, open technology, and while simultaneously strengthening competitiveness," said Peter Liese, the environmental policy spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP Christian Democrats).

Liese sees the simplification of the Sustainability Reporting Directive and the European Supply Chain Law as particularly urgent areas within climate policy. "It is probably also right to suspend the implementation of these two pieces of legislation for two years and only reinstate them after a thorough revision and simplification. The EU Taxonomy and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) must also be significantly streamlined. We want to protect European industry from polluting products from outside the EU, but currently, the implementation is so bureaucratic that even small and medium-sized enterprises or individuals importing small quantities are heavily burdened," emphasized Liese.

Another key priority, according to Liese, must be the acceleration of approval procedures. “Many companies want to use modern technologies to become climate-neutral, but the approval processes take far too long. In some cases, the technologies we need are still banned. This cannot continue. Modern technologies like carbon capture and storage or the use of CO2, as well as the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere, need better conditions”, Liese explained.

In the healthcare sector, the physician and Member of the European Parliament sees an urgent need for action as well. “The Medical Devices Regulation urgently needs to be simplified. This is necessary not only for competitiveness reasons but also because important products essential for patient treatment are not making it to the market due to the high bureaucratic burden. Furthermore, we need to speed up approval processes for the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, particularly for new factories that will make us less dependent on China and India.”