Trade union leaders and environmental campaigners are among over 250 groups warning against a bonfire of red tape as the second von der Leyen commission presses on with its core goal of shielding European industry from US and Chinese competition.
Europe must not sacrifice workers’ rights and environmental protection in the hope of undercutting the US and China, civil society groups have urged as the EU executive finalises a ‘competitiveness compass’ that will guide the new European Commission’s policymaking over the coming five years.
The first major initiative of the second EU executive to be headed by Ursula von der Leyen was expected on Wednesday (15 January), but the Commission confirmed today that it had been postponed – with a spokesperson stating today it was “not yet mature”, and that the delay did not relate to the president’s recent hospitalisation with pneumonia.
The European Trade Union Confederation and four of Brussels’ largest environmental and climate groups warned that the promised “simplification” of EU regulation must not come at the expense of hard won civil rights and protections, in an open letter endorsed by over 250 civil society groups from across Europe.
“While simplifying procedures can improve efficiency, there is a growing and very real risk that this agenda may translate into deregulation of essential EU social, environmental, democracy and human rights protections, which some industry actors view as ‘burdensome’,” they wrote.
They warned of “dangerous” discrepancies between assurances from the new crop of EU commissioners to uphold Green Deal legislation adopted under the first von der Leyen Commission – citing a “deeply flawed” one-in-one-out approach that would mean, for example, scrapping an existing regulation in exchange for new rules on energy efficiency.
Implementing existing green legislation could save governments massive costs linked to environmental damage and health impacts, they wrote, citing the Commission’s own estimate that put the figure at €55 billion every year.
“Food safety, public health, social protection, workers’ rights and labour regulations, animal welfare and environmental protections are not regulatory burdens – they are the very foundation of a well-functioning, resilient and fair society,” the letter runs.
The unions and NGOs argue that European industry is partly responsible for some of the problems it now faces, singling out carmakers, whom they accused of “a lack of innovation and vision and a delayed shift to electric vehicles” and belief that “their lobbying influence could maintain the status quo”.
The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), von der Leyen’s political family, has made a priority of revisiting some aspects of environmental policy adopted under the last commission, including rules of corporate due diligence as well as emissions standards for motor vehicles.
“Von der Leyen’s deregulation agenda is a corporate dream come true: reopening already agreed EU laws will give corporate lobby groups new opportunities to weaken social and environmental standards in laws that they dislike,” said Olivier Hoedeman of Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), one of signatories of the letter.
Jan Willem Goudriaan of the European Federation of Public Service Unions said the new Commission’s agenda could also mean a setback for pay transparency and fair taxation. “Regulations are key for Europe’s people to have clean water, quality care and public services,” he said.
Introducing her policy plans to the European Parliament in November, von der Leyen said the new strategy would be guided by a report commissioned from former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, focusing on closing the innovation gap with the US and China, combining the EU’s climate and industrial agenda in a single programme, and reducing dependency on external supply chains.
The spokesperson said the EU executive still plans to publish the competitiveness compass before the end of the month. The Commission was approached separately for comment on the substance of the open letter.
