20 EU states tell the Commission: ‘For competitiveness, the Single Market needs fewer rules’

Brussels – No more strings and ties, excessive bureaucracy, and legislation: European companies must be allowed to do business, and so must governments to get back on track in the name of the competitiveness that Mario Draghi demanded. The political orientation is for the European Union to look at the Draghi report as an opportunity to rewrite the rules of engagement. Twenty states are signing a non-official document, a non-paper to direct the political debate and work of the new legislature. The recipe is delicate because it risks becoming ‘less Europe,’ the exact opposite of what Mario Draghi calls for in his report.

“To improve the Single Market, we should focus on quality, consistency, and implementation, rather than on the quantity of rules,” is the message for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed by Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden. 

According to this group of countries — three-quarters of the EU club — “member states and especially the Commission should therefore use all the tools at their disposal, both formal and informal, to ensure that the Single Market rules are simple, predictable, unified and diligently enforced.” A call for simplification aimed at giving less centrality to Brussels and more freedom of maneuver to other capitals, which are also calling for correctives aimed at reinvigorating “the freedom of movement, especially in the areas of goods and services, where there is still significant fragmentation and divergence between national rules. “

They mention two of the four fundamental freedoms because, on the one hand, the capital markets union is a separate chapter that still requires technical and political work, and on the other, even mentioning the freedom of movement of people risks derailing the thorny immigration issue. So, we turn to what governments and businesses from every sector are most concerned about. Doing business: “The Single Market Strategy should set out concrete short-term and medium-term actions to facilitate cross-border trade” from one country to another, still hostage to too much fragmentation and barriers, according to the 20 signatories of the document.

States say they are ready to work with the community executive, but they clarify that they do not want a federal control room but a more confederal one. The Commission and the Competitiveness Council should play central roles in the governance of this process.” In short, the Commission plus member states. And it could not be otherwise. The role of the states will be crucial if they are not to bury the Draghi report.