Deregulation Watch

Von der Leyen’s deregulation agenda was heavily inspired by corporate lobbying campaigns and it now provides unprecedented opportunities for corporate lobby groups to determine the shape of future EU legislation and roll back social and environmental standards in existing EU laws.

Corporate Europe Observatory has set up Deregulation Watch to help civil society monitor new developments in the deregulation agenda, assess what’s at stake, and organise in defense of strong social, environmental and human rights protections. 

We would be grateful for any insights on the EU deregulation offensive, including on corporate lobbying activities, that you may want to share with us. Insights can be sent to ceo[at]corporateeurope.org

- "Von der Leyen’s ‘Competitiveness Compass’: deregulation threatens social and environmental protection" (CEO press release, 29 January 2025): The European Commission's new Competitiveness Compass confirms widespread concerns that President Ursula von der Leyen's administration is unleashing a sweeping deregulation agenda— at the expense of democracy and social and environmental protections. The Competitiveness Compass defines corporate competitiveness as the Commission's overarching goal, with deregulation positioned as the key method to achieve it. The Competitiveness Compass speaks a clearer language than Ursula von der Leyen’s political guidelines from July, in that wording on “maintaining high standards” is practically absent. It is becoming crystal clear that ‘simplification’ is, in fact, about deregulation. The Compass, moreover, doubles down on giving corporate lobby groups far-reaching new powers to control EU decision-making.

- 17 steps towards deregulation (29 January, 2025): An updated version of CEO's overview of the many tools the Commission has adopted to strike, dilute, delay or prevent regulation in the coming years. 

- Resist Big Tech pressure for weakening of DSA and DMA enforcement (29 January 2025); 35+ public interest groups have urged EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and her colleagues to "resist political pressure from Big Tech companies and prioritise bold action to protect our democracy and economy. If the EU wants to uphold its sovereignty it must not pause or weaken the enforcement of its rules." "We have observed with increasing concern how the CEOs of US Big Tech companies have taken turns to ingratiate themselves with the Trump administration in part to mobilise it against EU rules such as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), competition policy and the Digital Services Act (DSA)." "Europe must not be bullied by the likes of Musk and Trump into weakening its DSA and DMA enforcement."

- "EU Competitiveness Compass must safeguard social and environmental protections" (January 2025); in an open letter to European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen, 270 civil society organisations, trade unions, consumer groups, farmers organisations, civil rights groups and environmental organisations, call on the Commission to shun deregulation and prioritise the protection of people, nature, and democracy in its decision-making processes. This warning comes ahead of the announcement of the EU ‘Competitiveness Compass', which is supposed to guide the EU's efforts in enhancing its ‘economic competitiveness’. The press release for the statement points out that “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.“ 

- "Omnibus proposal will create costly confusion and lower protection for people and the planet" (January 2025); in a joint statement, over 160 NGOs and trade unions, insist the EU must show leadership in the protection of human rights, environment and climate, and prevent further setbacks to corporate accountability. The ongoing backlash against the EU’s sustainability framework comes at a time when business accountability is critically needed. The European Commission's proposal for an Omnibus law (expected in the end of February) will amend the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and the Taxonomy Regulation.

- "Posted workers: Social costs of Commission plan outweigh savings" (November 2024); the trade union confederation ETUC has voiced its concerns about the Commission's proposal for a single EU system for the declaration of posted workers. Such a system could help ensure better compliance with and enforcement of rules, but the proposed regulation "clearly prioritises cutting costs for businesses at the expense of Europe’s most vulnerable group of workers". The ETUC points out that "the social cost of European Commission plans to weaken rules on the posting of workers will be far higher than the small savings which would be made by businesses." ETUC Deputy General Secretary Isabelle Schömann calls the proposal "a clear example of the false economy of the Commission’s Trump-style deregulation agenda."

- "16 steps towards deregulation - A guide to how the new Commission’s deregulation tools can undermine the public interest" (November 2024); based on analysis of key Commission documents and statements by Commissioners, we have identified 16 different new deregulation initiatives that the new European Commission is currently preparing. In this explainer, we have divided them into three categories: 1) systemic hurdles for EU level regulation – and roll-back – that will be applied across the board 2) regulatory escape routes that will allow companies to avoid regulation 3) hurdles for and roll-back of national level regulation.

- "Von der Leyen's 'mission letters' let slip deregulation agenda of next commissioners" (op-ed October 2024); CEO went through Von der Leyen’s priorities for each of the candidate-commissioners (the Mission Letters). We found over 15 different tools for systemic deregulation and slashing standards; most new, others harsher versions of existing ones. In this op-ed, we zoom in on a handful of the most worrying components of the deregulation machine that von der Leyen intends to construct. 

- The EU's deregulation frenzy: what's at stake? (episode of EU Watchdog Radio,  October 2024); Double deregulation, competitiveness checks, rule of law or the omnibus law, it can all sound like technocratic gibberish, but they are all pieces of the downward spiral in social standards that are in immediate risk. But this social dumping is not the only challenge ahead, the same applies to environmental protection. This episode takes us beyond these unpronounceable words to discuss what is really at stake and what civil society should do about it.

- 'Competitiveness': inside the troubling corporate blueprint for the coming Commission (September 2024):  the Commission’s plans for the next five years shows ‘competitiveness’ will be the uncontested yardstick for the EU. This is a big win for corporate lobby groups like the European Round Table for Industry (ERT) and BusinessEurope. Their lobby campaigns have resulted in heavy fingerprints all over Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's political guidelines, which set out the main priorities for the next five years. As a consequence, we risk a disastrous half-decade of deregulation, while climate change, the environment, equality and social rights are put on the backburner – all in the name of ‘competitiveness’.