Europe Merz proposes radical regulatory reform with EU colleagues
Together with 19 other European heads of state and government, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is proposing a concrete reform roadmap for greater competitiveness.
22.10.2025, 12:53
SDA
According to the plan, the EU Commission should thoroughly review the current European regulations by the end of the year and outline how outdated and excessive regulations can be simplified or completely removed.
A special EU summit on competitiveness could then be convened in February of next year, according to a letter from top politicians to EU Council President António Costa.
According to diplomats, the initiative for the letter came from Germany. In addition to the Chancellor, it was also signed by France's President Emmanuel Macron, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk, among others.
They are also calling on the EU Commission, under the leadership of Merz's party colleague Ursula von der Leyen, to quickly present new initiatives to speed up planning and approval procedures for the market launch of new products or the construction of factories and energy networks. In addition, a modernization of EU competition law and an acceleration of merger control and state aid procedures are being promoted. Small and medium-sized enterprises are to be given easier access to financing, supported in their growth and relieved of reporting and information obligations - for example as part of the General Data Protection Regulation.
"If we do not change our course, Europe will lose competitiveness in global competition," explain Merz and the other leading politicians in the letter sent shortly before the EU summit this Thursday. In today's world, however, maintaining competitiveness is the basis for freedom, security and prosperity.
Only the absolute minimum in new EU legislation
Following the systematic review of all EU regulations by the end of the year, the leading politicians want a second step to be taken to streamline the regulatory framework and reduce outdated provisions. New EU legislation should therefore be limited to the "absolute minimum".
"Many people in Europe today have doubts when they come into contact with our rules and laws - they feel that they slow us down rather than guide us, that they block paths instead of opening up freedom and opportunities," reads the letter, which is available to the news agency DPA. Reducing bureaucracy is a matter of the utmost urgency. Concrete work orders should be issued at the EU summit to initiate this new course.
