Thirteen EU member states are calling on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to put new legislation on hold for a year and focus instead on cutting red tape and simplifying rules already on the books.
Austria is leading the initiative, backed by Germany, Poland, Denmark, Italy and eight other member states. The governments are calling for a year focused on implementing existing legislation, removing unnecessary regulation and reviewing rules that create administrative burdens without adding value.
The proposal calls for a systematic “legislative deep-cleaning” across EU policy areas to determine which rules should remain, be updated, simplified or scrapped.
Austria’s Europe Minister Claudia Bauer described the proposal as a “year of simplification”, arguing that the EU should concentrate on implementing and simplifying existing regulations rather than continually adding new ones.
The 13 countries are Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Slovakia.
The governments say reducing regulatory complexity is necessary to strengthen the EU’s competitiveness, investment environment and ability to innovate, while maintaining existing health, safety and labour protections.
The move comes as Brussels itself continues its drive to simplify EU legislation, with the Commission pursuing a series of “Omnibus” packages aimed at reducing regulatory and reporting burdens.
SEO Package
Headline: 13 EU Countries Tell von der Leyen to Stop New Laws and Simplify Existing Rules
Meta description: Thirteen EU countries are urging Ursula von der Leyen to pause new legislation for a year and focus on cutting red tape and simplifying existing EU rules.
Focus keyphrase: EU countries call for simpler rules
Excerpt: Thirteen EU member states, led by Austria, are calling for a year focused on simplifying existing laws and limiting new regulatory burdens.
Slug: 13-eu-countries-von-der-leyen-simplify-rules
Tags: European Union, Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission, Austria, Germany, Poland, Italy, Denmark, EU laws, EU regulation, bureaucracy, European economy, competitiveness
