Latest news with #SimplificationOmnibus
Euronews
5 days ago
- Business
- Euronews
The EU seeks to slash red tape for defence as money 'is not enough'
The European Commission on Tuesday unveiled a series of measures it hopes will slash red tape for the defence sector and get it to start significantly boosting production. The so-called Simplification Omnibus includes measures to fast-track permitting for defence companies, facilitate cross-border movement through the supply chain, as well as guidance to improve access to finance and to dangerous chemical substances. It comes three months after the release of the 'Readiness 2030' plan to increase the production and deployment of critical military capabilities the EU needs by 2030 when intelligence agencies believe Russia could be in shape to attack another European country. The proposal planned for up to €800 billion to be poured into the sector over the coming four years through relaxed fiscal rules and loans from the Commission of money raised on the markets. "Money alone, however, is not enough, if traditional 'red tape', which maybe is fit for peacetime, will kill industrial efforts to ramp-up production," Andrius Kubilius, the Commissioner for Defence and Space told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday. "Now we need rules that give industry, armed forces and investors speed, predictability and scale," he added. One of the flagship proposals of the latest package is for member states to create a single point of contact for defence companies to submit permit requests, with authorities urged to respond within a 60-day timeframe. Currently, it can take up to three or four years for defence companies to secure the various permits they need to expand their operations, with the required paperwork, such as environment impact assessments, different from agency to agency. Environmental NGOs, among other citizen groups, may well have a problem with that fast-track approach. "What we also indicate is that whenever there are subsequent litigation or claims - being administrative or judicial - they should also be treated as a priority according to the law," the Commission official said when quizzed on potential legal challenges. Another key plank of the proposal is to amend the Defence Procurement directive - to facilitate joint procurements - and the directive on Intra-EU transfers of defence products. For the latter, the Commission seeks to create a single dedicated licence to allow components necessary for the production of a defence investment project to cross borders as many times as necessary without applying for a new licence each time - a process that can currently delay projects by up to one and a half years. These "quick fixes", the Commission official said, can "save a lot of time". How "quick" they will be will however depend on European lawmakers and member states who will have to negotiate and approve the amendments, as well as the new legislation foreseen in the package. Other elements seek to clarify which environmental and health and safety derogations can be applied to the defence sector and which parts of the sector investors may safely pour money into while respecting the bloc's environmental, social and governance (ESG) rules. Chemicals are a critical part of weapons production, especially ammunition, but the use of many chemicals is restricted in the EU under its REACH legislation to protect human health and the environment from the risks they carry. A proposal to further restrict the use of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) on specific sectors is currently also being examined by the EU. As such, member states have different rules on their use depending on the type of substance, the manufacturing purpose and how much is required with licences often granted on a case-by-case basis. The Commission's upcoming guidelines will therefore aim to highlight that REACH includes a derogation that would allow member states to approve, at the national level, the use of certain chemicals citing the need to boost defence readiness production or activities. This was a core ask from the industry. "If we have to replace these substances immediately, we won't have a way of manufacturing things," Micael Johansson, the CEO of Swedish aerospace and defence company Saab and president of the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) told Euronews last week. "We have to make decisions on what's most important now for manufacturing so maybe we need some sort of exemptions from that in this crisis situation where we have to build things," he added. Another set of guidelines will seek to reassure financial institutions that they will not be penalised for pouring money into the sector by clarifying that "the Union's sustainable finance framework does not impose any limitations on the financing of the defence sector," Valdis Dombrovskis, the Commissioner for Trade, told reporters. The guidance will indicate that defence investments "can contribute to the stability and security and peace in Europe", the official speaking on condition of anonymity said, and that only prohibited weapons are strictly off-limits. The Commission expects 'the cost-saving of the simplification of procedures to be major', the official also said, although an estimate is not expected to be released until later in the summer. The European Commission published a new legislative proposal on Tuesday on how the bloc must phase out Russian oil and gas by 2027. The proposal outlines the deadlines and strategies for EU countries to progressively reduce, and ultimately end, their reliance on Russia as a fuel supplier, as part of the REpowerEU Plan. The proposal does not address nuclear energy, with a senior European Commission official telling journalists that that would be addressed separately. Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has progressively reduced the trade of oil, gas and nuclear material from Russia. As of 2024, the EU still relied on Russian imports for 19% of its gas and 3% of its crude oil supply. "Russia has repeatedly attempted to blackmail us by weaponising its energy supplies. We have taken clear steps to turn off the tap and end the era of Russian fossil fuels in Europe for good," European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said. Under the draft rules, new contracts for Russian gas will be banned starting 1 January 2026. Existing short-term contracts must end by 17 June 2026, with limited exceptions for landlocked countries tied to long-term agreements, which will be allowed until the end of 2027. Long-term contracts for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal services involving Russian companies will also be prohibited, freeing up infrastructure for alternative suppliers. EU countries will be required to submit detailed diversification plans outlining specific steps and milestones to replace Russian energy imports. In a meeting between EU ministers for energy on Monday, Hungary and Slovakia expressed their disagreements with the plan. "Energy policy is a national competence and this endangers our sovereignty and energy security. Given the Middle East escalation, we proposed no such plan be tabled at all," Hungary's Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó wrote in a post on X. Despite this opposition, the European Commission decided to move forward with the text. The Danish government, which will take over the presidency of the Council of the EU on 1 July, wants to reach a political agreement on the text as soon as possible. Lars Aagaard, Danish Minister for Climate and Energy, told journalists on Monday that the Danish presidency will make an effort to "reach [political approval] as fast as possible," adding: "If we succeed in concluding [the legislation] before New Year, I think that we have done a tremendous job." The legislation will follow the standard procedure. The co-legislators, namely the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, will negotiate their own position on the file. Afterwards, the text will enter inter-institutional negotiations, the so-called trilogue, to find a political agreement. EU member states in the Council will need a qualified majority to approve the proposal on their side. This reinforced majority requires the support of at least 15 of the 27 member states, representing at least 65% of the EU population. The European Parliament will vote on the proposal by a simple majority vote.
Epoch Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
EU Plans to Slash Red Tape for Medium-Sized Companies
The European Commission is creating a new category of companies that will be exempted from some rules as part of its ongoing effort to slash red tape. On The creation of the new category of company means that they are granted exemption from some laws on data protection and net-zero rules. The EU said that when companies grow beyond 250 employees, they become large enterprises under the current rules and face a sharp increase in compliance obligations. It said that this 'cliff-edge' can discourage growth and limit competitiveness. There are nearly 38,000 companies now potentially classed as small mid-caps in the EU. Related Stories 5/21/2025 4/13/2025 Some of the measures include simplifying the record-keeping obligation in the EU's 2018 personal data GDPR law. About 10,000 small businesses will no longer have to fill out EU climate paperwork for selling or importing items such as used cars with air-con gas, under the new rules planned for 2026. 'Cutting red tape and simplifying rules means giving businesses the freedom to innovate, grow, and create jobs,' Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy Stéphane Séjourné said in a statement. The tech lobby group Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) Europe said that the changes were too minor. 'Easing GDPR requirements for small and mid-sized companies may offer limited relief, but this minor change falls far short of addressing the deeper structural issues that plague the EU's data protection framework,' 'At best, today's proposal will ease GDPR burdens for just 0.2 percent of EU companies. While well-intentioned, its limited scope means it won't meaningfully strengthen Europe's dwindling digital competitiveness. These are cosmetic fixes, not systemic solutions.' The EU Commission has already proposed reforms to the law to reduce red tape for European businesses. The call from the EU's biggest economies comes as the bloc rolls out its 'Simplification Omnibus,' which aims to enable the 27-nation alliance to compete with countries such as the United States and China. On Feb. 25, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen 'This will make life easier for our businesses while ensuring we stay firmly on course toward our decarbonization goals. And more simplification is on the way,' she said. The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, aims to reduce reporting burdens by 25 percent in an initial wave of measures in the first half of 2025. It said this would translate into savings of 40 billion euros ($42 billion) for European companies. France and Germany recently called on the EU to scrap a supply chain audit law. The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), approved in May 2024, establishes far-reaching mandatory human rights and environmental obligations on both EU and non-EU companies meeting certain turnover thresholds, starting from 2027. While requiring companies to make environmental and human rights checks on their direct suppliers, the law also forms part of the European Green Deal. Companies will be required to adopt and implement a French President Emmanuel Macron said on U.S. President Donald Trump has also committed to a red tape-cutting strategy after establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in January to root out fraud, waste, and abuse within the federal government. The task force has a deadline to complete its work by July 4, 2026, but senior presidential adviser and Tesla boss Elon Musk
Reuters
03-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
EU Parliament votes to freeze sustainability rules
BRUSSELS, April 3 (Reuters) - European Union politicians on Thursday gave themselves more time to negotiate changes to exempt smaller businesses from sustainability reporting rules that European industry says put it a disadvantage. The European Commission in February proposed legal changes it named the"Simplification Omnibus" that would exempt thousands of smaller European businesses from EU sustainability reporting rules. It was a response to complaints from EU industry that it cannot compete with rivals in China and the United States, where President Trump is rolling back regulation and imposing tariffs on foreign goods. The proposal must be negotiated by the European Parliament and member states - a process that can take more than a year. So to avoid already agreed laws applying before those negotiations conclude, the Parliament voted on Thursday to delay by two years the existing reporting rules for most companies. The means firms with fewer than 500 employees and larger firms that are not deemed "public interest entities" will not need to report on their sustainability impact until the year 2027 - with reports due in 2028. Most bigger firms face the reporting obligations this year. The Parliament also agreed on Thursday to delay the EU's supply chain law by one year. That policy as a result will not take effect until 2028. EU countries already agreed to the delays, but must give their final formal approval in the coming weeks. That final vote is a formality that is expected to pass. The negotiations will then begin on the bigger proposed changes to the laws. They include exempting an estimated 80% of the companies initially covered by the green reporting rules, by only applying them to firms with more than 1,000 employees. The EU also wants to change its due diligence law so companies have to assess their supply chains for environmental and human rights problems once every five years, rather than every year. While backed by industry, the drive to simplify has drawn criticism from some investors, left-leaning lawmakers and campaigners, who said the first wave of omnibus proposals would gut corporate accountability and that such swift changes to recently agreed laws created an unstable environment.
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Analysis-EU's red tape cuts leave big businesses wanting more
By Kate Abnett BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Austrian manufacturer RHI Magnesita spends about 1 million euros of its roughly 400 million euros earnings a year ensuring it complies with EU rules on corporate sustainability. A first wave of reforms to peel back layers of red tape will do little to cut that bill, it says. The European Union's 52-page 'Simplification Omnibus', which would exempt smaller companies from sustainability reporting and pare back obligations on supply chain transparency, has left bigger companies like RHI Magnesita frustrated and pushing for more. The reforms were billed as a drive to remove layers of bureaucracy that cost European businesses time and money and set them at a disadvantage against cheaper rivals in China and in the U.S. where the Trump administration is aggressively rolling back regulation to spur growth. "It looks, at least at first glance, that it actually doesn't change very much," RHI Magnesita's chief executive Stefan Borgas told Reuters. RHI Magnesita says it conducts an additional audit and employs three or four full-time employees to collect the amount of data required by the EU law, which asks companies to report on more than 1,000 sustainability data points. The firm's global business spans 65 production sites and employs 20,000 staff. It reported adjusted earnings before tax, interest and amortization of 407 million euros in 2024. February's proposals were part of a broader package of EU reforms aimed at bolstering European competitiveness and encouraging industry to decarbonise. EU leaders discussed further rounds of reforms at a summit in Brussels on Thursday, where they published a joint statement asking the Commission to target rules around industrial decarbonisation and defence next. The European Commission's proposals to curb sustainability rules will bring relief to businesses employing fewer than 1,000 staff, which the plans would exempt from the reporting rules. It forecasts companies will save 4.4 billion euros ($4.77 billion) per year. Larger companies are likely to benefit more from proposed changes to supply chain transparency rules, which the Commission says would more than halve the estimated annual compliance costs of 480,000 euros for the largest companies. Still, big business remains unconvinced. The AFEP group of the 118 biggest private businesses in France said the proposals "do not correct the bureaucratic burden" for larger companies. Gwenaelle Avice Huet, Europe head of French blue-chip Schneider Electric, with annual revenues of 38 billion euros, said big companies have "been a little bit set aside". However, she did welcome the shelving of plans to introduce more specific reporting for each sector. "At least this one has been postponed," Huet said. "But this is really minimal. We aren't talking about simplification." DIVISIONS OVER DEREGULATION Not everyone is in favour of the deregulation drive. Opponents say it reduces corporate accountability and the ability to root out issues around human rights or the environment in large firms' operations. Some investors say the changes would make it harder to decide where to put money to help the bloc reach its climate goals. RHI Magnesita boss Borgas said the time and costs involved for the fireproof materials manufacturer to fulfil its obligations are resources that "at the end of the day, we cannot invest in CO2 emission reductions." There is growing recognition amongst some European Commissioners that even as the bloc maintains it will not walk back its net zero emission target and other climate goals, excessive red tape is a drain on competitiveness. "We realised that we created an economy around these new texts with new specialists, new companies, consulting firms," European Commission industry chief Stephane Sejourne said, of the sweeping nature of sustainability laws, prior to the proposed changes. Europe-wide industry group BusinessEurope said its members expected the U.S. 'deregulation agenda' to divert investment away from Europe. Further 'simplification' packages for autos and farming regulations are already in the works. "In a way, this proposal opens the door for wish lists for more changes," said one senior EU diplomat. The proposals must still be approved by European lawmakers, amongst whom there are deep divisions. Earlier proposals seen by Reuters would have loosened the rules further, exempting more companies. They were changed after push back from some Commissioners, EU officials told Reuters. Some say Brussels is not solely to blame for excessive red tape. Bulgarian EU lawmaker, Radan Kanev, with the European People's Party said much of it was the result of national governments poorly implementing EU rules, creating layers of overlapping EU, national and regional bureaucracy. A 2024 paper by the Columbia Business School and New York University Shanghai found the economic cost of red tape varies significantly between EU countries - from just 0.1% of GDP in Austria, to 3.9% in France. "This is a problem which is so deeply connected to what happens in our national bureaucracies that I'm afraid it's not easily solvable," Kanev said. ($1 = 0.9218 euros)
Zawya
21-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
EU's red tape cuts leave big businesses wanting more
BRUSSELS - Austrian manufacturer RHI Magnesita spends about 1 million euros of its roughly 400 million euros earnings a year ensuring it complies with EU rules on corporate sustainability. A first wave of reforms to peel back layers of red tape will do little to cut that bill, it says. The European Union's 52-page 'Simplification Omnibus', which would exempt smaller companies from sustainability reporting and pare back obligations on supply chain transparency, has left bigger companies like RHI Magnesita frustrated and pushing for more. The reforms were billed as a drive to remove layers of bureaucracy that cost European businesses time and money and set them at a disadvantage against cheaper rivals in China and in the U.S. where the Trump administration is aggressively rolling back regulation to spur growth. "It looks, at least at first glance, that it actually doesn't change very much," RHI Magnesita's chief executive Stefan Borgas told Reuters. RHI Magnesita says it conducts an additional audit and employs three or four full-time employees to collect the amount of data required by the EU law, which asks companies to report on more than 1,000 sustainability data points. The firm's global business spans 65 production sites and employs 20,000 staff. It reported adjusted earnings before tax, interest and amortization of 407 million euros in 2024. February's proposals were part of a broader package of EU reforms aimed at bolstering European competitiveness and encouraging industry to decarbonise. EU leaders discussed further rounds of reforms at a summit in Brussels on Thursday, where they published a joint statement asking the Commission to target rules around industrial decarbonisation and defence next. The European Commission's proposals to curb sustainability rules will bring relief to businesses employing fewer than 1,000 staff, which the plans would exempt from the reporting rules. It forecasts companies will save 4.4 billion euros ($4.77 billion) per year. Larger companies are likely to benefit more from proposed changes to supply chain transparency rules, which the Commission says would more than halve the estimated annual compliance costs of 480,000 euros for the largest companies. Still, big business remains unconvinced. The AFEP group of the 118 biggest private businesses in France said the proposals "do not correct the bureaucratic burden" for larger companies. Gwenaelle Avice Huet, Europe head of French blue-chip Schneider Electric, with annual revenues of 38 billion euros, said big companies have "been a little bit set aside". However, she did welcome the shelving of plans to introduce more specific reporting for each sector. "At least this one has been postponed," Huet said. "But this is really minimal. We aren't talking about simplification." DIVISIONS OVER DEREGULATION Not everyone is in favour of the deregulation drive. Opponents say it reduces corporate accountability and the ability to root out issues around human rights or the environment in large firms' operations. Some investors say the changes would make it harder to decide where to put money to help the bloc reach its climate goals. RHI Magnesita boss Borgas said the time and costs involved for the fireproof materials manufacturer to fulfil its obligations are resources that "at the end of the day, we cannot invest in CO2 emission reductions." There is growing recognition amongst some European Commissioners that even as the bloc maintains it will not walk back its net zero emission target and other climate goals, excessive red tape is a drain on competitiveness. "We realised that we created an economy around these new texts with new specialists, new companies, consulting firms," European Commission industry chief Stephane Sejourne said, of the sweeping nature of sustainability laws, prior to the proposed changes. Europe-wide industry group BusinessEurope said its members expected the U.S. 'deregulation agenda' to divert investment away from Europe. Further 'simplification' packages for autos and farming regulations are already in the works. "In a way, this proposal opens the door for wish lists for more changes," said one senior EU diplomat. The proposals must still be approved by European lawmakers, amongst whom there are deep divisions. Earlier proposals seen by Reuters would have loosened the rules further, exempting more companies. They were changed after push back from some Commissioners, EU officials told Reuters. Some say Brussels is not solely to blame for excessive red tape. Bulgarian EU lawmaker, Radan Kanev, with the European People's Party said much of it was the result of national governments poorly implementing EU rules, creating layers of overlapping EU, national and regional bureaucracy. A 2024 paper by the Columbia Business School and New York University Shanghai found the economic cost of red tape varies significantly between EU countries - from just 0.1% of GDP in Austria, to 3.9% in France. "This is a problem which is so deeply connected to what happens in our national bureaucracies that I'm afraid it's not easily solvable," Kanev said. ($1 = 0.9218 euros) (Reporting by Kate Abnett; additional reporting by Lili Bayer and Julia Payne; editing by Richard Lough and Elaine Hardcastle)
