The European Commission is fine-tuning its work programme for 2025, the first in the second term of office of its President, Ursula von der Leyen, who has made the simplification of regulations and economic competitiveness her priorities.
“Europe’s threats are too great to tackle individually”, says the EU institution in a draft work programme of which Agence Europe has received a copy. It stresses the importance of strengthening economic competitiveness, acting as one to face up to geopolitical challenges such as Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, and maintaining the ambition to combat climate disruption, which is having a “growing” impact on everyday life.
In accordance with an initial draft (see EUROPE 13573/17), the Commission will this year present three series of ‘omnibus’ texts (the first at the end of February, the other two in the second quarter) designed to simplify European regulations by, among other things, reducing reporting obligations, particularly with regard to the environment, and by creating a specific category of mid-cap companies employing between 250 and 750 employees. The creation of a 28th legal regime and the creation of an ‘EU business wallet’ for the secure exchange of data are also designed to simplify the life of businesses and their movement within the internal market.
The Commission also plans to remove inefficient paper format requirements from the law governing the marketing of products in the EU, and to make data protection and cyber security rules more consistent and easier to apply.
In addition, measures will be taken to facilitate the implementation of the InvestEU programme (see EUROPE 13571/19) and to simplify the Common Agricultural Policy. Other initiatives, such as the future act to accelerate industrial decarbonisation or the European action plan for biotechnologies (two texts expected in the fourth quarter of 2025), will aim to speed up the granting of permits and authorisations to project developers.
The von der Leyen Commission is maintaining the EU’s ambition to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. This will involve including the target of a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 in the ‘Climate Act’ (proposed in the 2nd quarter). This objective will be achieved in particular through the ‘Clean Industrial Deal’ (see EUROPE 13558/8), announced for Wednesday 26 February.
In the energy field, other proposals will concern the decarbonisation of heating and cooling systems, a roadmap for the end of Russian energy imports (first quarter) and indicative targets for nuclear energy production.
In the digital field, before the presentation of a Deal for Innovation later in the legislative term, the EU institution plans to table, in 2025, a Deal for Digital Networks (fourth quarter) as well as several initiatives to stimulate artificial intelligence (AI factories in the first quarter, Apply AI strategy in the third quarter) and quantum technologies in the EU.
As far as defence and security are concerned, the first milestone was, unsurprisingly, the White Paper on the future of the European defence sector (mid-March) (see EUROPE 13539/21). Other initiatives to strengthen the EU’s security and resilience in the face of crises include a strategy for internal security (first quarter), an act for critical medicines (first quarter) and a strategy for building up strategic stocks (second quarter).
Considering migration to be a security issue, the EU institution will present a new proposal to speed up the removal of migrants refused asylum (first quarter) and a new European strategy on asylum and migration (fourth quarter).
Other initiatives to be taken by the Commission include measures to boost professional skills and tackle labour shortages in certain sectors (‘Union of skills’ in the first quarter), to make housing more affordable (fourth quarter) and to strengthen women’s rights and gender equality.
In the second quarter, the EU institution will take action to defend the rule of law through a ‘Shield for Democracy’.
Withdrawals. Finally, it should be noted that the von der Leyen II Commission is considering withdrawing 28 legislative texts already on the table, either because they are obsolete or because their adoption seems highly unlikely.
This includes texts aimed at calling into question the semi-annual time change in the EU (see EUROPE 12094/10), combating certain types of instrumentalisation of migration (measures included in the crisis regulation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum), as well as the package overhauling the governance of the euro area presented at the end of 2017 by Ms von der Leyen’s predecessor, Jean-Claude Juncker (see EUROPE 11920/1).
See the draft work programme for 2025, which will be accompanied by a communication on regulatory simplification: https://aeur.eu/f/ffj
See the annex to the work programme: https://aeur.eu/f/ffk (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)