The European Commission is continuing its course correction. In its work programme for 2025, which was adopted on Tuesday, the EU ‘government’ is prioritising competitiveness and the reduction of bureaucracy. For example, a revision of the controversial European chemical policy is announced under the heading of ‘simplification’. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), Corporate Sustainability Reporting, Due Diligence and the so-called taxonomy are to be simplified and made less bureaucratic. Dr Peter Liese, spokesperson for environmental policy for the largest political group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), welcomed the decision: “We must preserve the core of the Green Deal, in particular the climate targets, but unfortunately there is far too much unnecessary bureaucracy and this must be removed. The European Parliament has often adopted positions against our group regarding climate and environmental policy according to the motto: Not only do we need belts and braces, but there are sometimes five belts, three of which are tied so tightly that the economy has no air to breathe. That's why we need to loosen them.”
Read more: Competitiveness and less bureaucracy at the heart of the 2025 work programme
“I wholeheartedly support EU Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra's plans. We need protection for our energy-intensive industry, which is on its way to climate neutrality. However, the current legislation is far too bureaucratic and therefore needs to be tidied up,“ said Dr. Peter Liese, climate policy spokesperson for the largest political group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), on the occasion of the EU Climate Commissioner's announcement to tidy up the requirements for the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) as part of a so-called ”omnibus procedure.”
Read more: Peter Liese and Adam Jarubas support plans by EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra
“It is good that the Commission focuses on reducing bureaucracy and increasing competitiveness in its work program for 2025,” said Peter Liese, spokesperson for the biggest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats) for environment, climate, and food safety, ahead of presentation of the Commission's work program on Tuesday this week.
The European Commission is moving on the subject of fines for the car industry. This emerges from a document just adopted by the College of Commissioners under Ursula von der Leyen with the heading ‘Competitiveness Compass’. The passage, which was included in the document at short notice, reads: ‘As part of the dialogue, we will identify immediate solutions to safeguard industry's capacity to invest, by looking at possible flexibilities to make sure our industry remains competitive, without lowering the overall ambition of the 2025 targets.’
The environmental policy spokesperson for the largest political group in the European Parliament (Christian Democrats, Peter Liese, EPP) welcomed the development: ‘We must not give up on our climate targets. The target for 2025 in particular is by no means overambitious. But imposing fines in the current critical situation does not help anyone. Our group has therefore proposed that companies that do not meet the targets in 2025 should be given the opportunity to avoid penalties by exceeding the targets in 2026/2027. Apparently, the Commission is now also thinking along these lines. The submitted text of the Competition Compass also contains a whole series of other improvements compared to the draft originally published on Friday (leak).’