In Brussels, simplification measures in all directions and very little green

A strong wind of simplification is set to blow across the European Union (EU) in the coming months. This is the aim of Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the Commission, who no longer gives a single economic speech without mentioning the need to combat bureaucracy and make life easier for businesses.

Called for by employers, the right and many governments, starting with France and Germany, this new priority has relegated the Green Deal, which was at the heart of Ursula von der Leyen's first term, between 2014 and 2019, to the background . The European elections of June 2024, which confirmed the European People's Party (EPP) as the leading political force on the Old Continent and saw the far right gain ground , have changed the situation. The return of Donald Trump to the White House and the risk of seeing companies abandon Europe to invest across the Atlantic, against a backdrop of gloomy economic conditions and loss of competitiveness, have further reinforced, in the eyes of the proponents of simplification, the need to act quickly and strongly in this area.

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