European People's Party demands new regulations for the EU economy

EPP leaders, at a leadership summit in Berlin last weekend, indicated that they aim to reshape the EU's economic arrangements, proposing a return to pre-2019 green energy policies and calling for a simplification of existing regulations on the EU's institutions. In particular, these changes include suspending for at least two years the EU's corporate sustainability reporting rules, which require companies to monitor and report on issues such as child labor in their supply chains.

The EPP leaders criticized the EU's CO2 import tax, known as CBAM, for being overly bureaucratic, even though it aims to introduce tariffs on importers of dirty steel and cement. The CBAM is scheduled to be implemented from 2026, but the EPP emphasizes that reporting obligations for large companies should be reduced and indirect impacts on small and medium-sized companies should be eliminated. The EPP plans to scrap renewable energy targets, even as it advocates meeting the EU's climate targets and maintaining the carbon pricing mechanism, the ETS. EPP leaders emphasize that member states should have the right to decide which technologies to use to meet their climate targets.

EPP officials stated that in order for the EU to create new growth and jobs, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council, national and local authorities, as well as the European Parliament, should have more autonomy over new regulations. “Not every good idea needs to become law,” they added, “This change requires a new mindset. The EU should focus on the big issues rather than regulating every aspect of people's lives. This approach must be adopted to ensure that the EU's achievements of the last decade continue in the future.”