Competitiveness, Meloni and Merz’s wishes: Single market, simplification, and technological neutrality

Brussels – Regulatory simplification, carbon tax reform, technological neutrality, completion of the single market. These are the priorities outlined by Italy and Germany in a document drafted on the eve of the informal summit on European competitiveness to be held tomorrow at Alden Biesen Castle in Belgium. These issues are already on the table, nothing new, except that they are being strongly reiterated by Europe’s two leading manufacturers, whose leaders seem increasingly in tune and determined to guide EU policies. The Belgian government has also signed the document. 

“The informal retreat of EU leaders should focus on developing a specific programme aimed at strengthening Europe’s competitiveness in all sectors, focusing on single market integration, regulatory simplification and energy price reduction, as well as an ambitious trade policy,” the document begins. The aim is to give substance to this with “initiatives, mandates, and deadlines” to be agreed by the 27 at the European Council on 19 March. 

In order to “further reduce existing barriers and unlock the growth potential” of the single market, Rome and Berlin insist on the adoption of “a 28th legal regime by the end of the year,” capable of “overcoming the fragmentation of national systems and supporting the expansion of innovative companies.” However, where Giorgia Meloni and Friedrich Merz are most aligned is on the need for “further regulatory simplification, as excessive administrative burdens continue to hamper business expansion, innovation, and competitiveness.” 

This is the principle that should guide all legislative action in Brussels: “The automotive package, the revision of the CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, ed) and the future revision of the ETS (Emissions Trading System, ed) should focus on eliminating all unnecessary burdens on industry,” and “on the full application of the principle of technological neutrality.” The document also calls for the introduction of an “emergency brake mechanism” to “allow for the removal of excessive burdens that emerge during the legislative process, for example by intervening at the request of a Member State.”