Brussels is planning to ramp up the European Union’s green crusade, a move meant to make the bloc more competitive, a leaked document seen by Brussels Signal has disclosed.
The leaked plan also called for member states to hand more power to Brussels, allegedly for the sake of ramping up the bloc’s energy security and defensive capabilities.
A draft document of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s so-called “Competitiveness Compass” — set to be unveiled on January 29 — shows that Eurocrats will double-down on the bloc’s controversial “decarbonisation” plans, with Brussels insisting its “green” agenda was not the reason Europe was falling behind.
“Decarbonisation policies are a powerful driver of growth when they are well integrated with industrial, competition, economic and trade policies,” the document claimed.
It went on to suggest that the decision to double down on the EU’s war against fossil fuels would give “certainty and predictability to companies and investors alike”.
As part of these renewed efforts, the commission will draft new rules aimed at pushing businesses to join its climate crusade. It will also implement protectionist measures aimed at dealing with the problems posed by economies less inclined to abandon hydrocarbons.
Such measures, set to be drafted in 2025 and 2026, will reportedly include so-called “trade defence instruments”, with Eurocrats hoping to fight for an “international level playing field” with “global carbon pricing”.
The European Union will focus on the “decarbonisation” of its economy in an effort to make itself competitive with the US and China, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said. https://t.co/3cqjgK4tqD
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 28, 2024
While Eurocrats have remained insistent their green fixation was not undermining the bloc’s competitiveness, parts of the leaked document indicated a growing concern in Brussels at how its green measures have hit businesses.
The commission now wants to use the forthcoming Clean Industrial Deal to help businesses more easily navigate the EU’s green requirements through simplified regulations. Special derogations and allowances for certain energy-intensive and strategically important industries were also referenced.
The document also admitted that the bloc’s increasingly complex matrix of regulations had made it difficult to do business. The commission now promises a 25 per cent reduction in reporting obligations for most businesses and a 35 per cent reduction for Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Brussels also wanted to create a new classification of businesses called “small mid-caps”. Larger than SMEs but smaller than major enterprises, EU officials intended that such firms would benefit from a “tailored regulatory simplification in the same spirit as SMEs”.
More than 31,000 companies will reportedly benefit from this change, which is due to be put forward in February.
At the core of such efforts was the European single market. Brussels has insisted that the best way to help the bloc catch up with the likes of China and the US was through further integrating the economies of member states.
“Reforms to deepen the Single Market are necessary for industrial policies and investment to produce their full effect, expanding market size, facilitating companies’ scale-up, and maintaining healthy competitive pressure to the benefit of companies and workers,” the document stated.
“The window of opportunity is narrow. The EU must choose to act in unison for a future of sustainable prosperity or accept division and economic decline.”
The Commission was approached for comment. As of writing, no response has been recieved.
The EU has doubled down on its green agenda in the face of Donald Trump’s US presidential election win, with the bloc’s Council of the EU insisting that “decarbonisation” was the key to making it competitive again. https://t.co/mupv3WUMJ2
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 8, 2024
