Paperwork is not environmental protection

“The resistance of the Social Democrats against the European Commission's plans for bureaucracy reduction is irresponsible”, stated the environmental policy spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP Christian Democrats), Peter Liese, in light of a letter from the Social Democratic group to Ursula von der Leyen ahead of the adoption of a paper from the Commission on Wednesday.

The Commission intends to present a guiding document for the direction of policy in the newly started legislative period under the title "Competitiveness Compass." The focus is on strengthening competitiveness and reducing bureaucracy. In a few weeks, a so-called "Omnibus" is to follow, which will aim to reduce bureaucracy in four specific laws (sustainability reporting, supply chain law, taxonomy, and border adjustment mechanism CBAM). The responsible members of the Social Democratic group have already reached out to Ursula von der Leyen in a letter against this proposal. In doing so, they contradict leading Social Democrats in Europe, such as Olaf Scholz, who are calling for exactly this bureaucracy reduction in these laws.

"Paperwork is not environmental protection. Therefore, bureaucracy reduction is not only possible, but it is also necessary to avoid jeopardizing the acceptance of European environmental policy. I strongly support the plans of the European Commission. Only if we reduce bureaucracy and strengthen the competitiveness of our industry do we have a chance of achieving the climate goals and, thereby, being a role model for the rest of the world. Excessive bureaucracy weakens the acceptance of European policy overall and, in particular, the acceptance of European climate and environmental policy. If we are not competitive, we will not convince the rest of the world of our model. However, this is necessary because climate protection is a global task," emphasized Liese.