Berlin, 18. January 2025
The leaders of the European People’s Party (EPP), invited by EPP President Manfred Weber and the Chairman of Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands (CDU, Germany) Friedrich Merz, met on 17 and 18 January in Berlin. During their discussions, the Leaders emphasized the need to make the EU’s economy more competitive on the global stage through the reduction of over-regulation and unnecessary bureaucratic burden. They also focused on the party’s priorities for 2025 in the areas of security and migration, as well as on the role of EPP in a world in turmoil.
EPP Leaders adopted two statements during their meeting in Berlin:
Europe needs more growth and jobs – Enhancing competitiveness by cutting back bureaucracy and over-regulation
Over the past decades, the EU has been a success story by creating a single market, reducing trade barriers within Europe and internationally through trade agreements. This has created jobs and growth for our citizens and increased competitiveness for our companies. Since the start of this century however, growth in Europe has fallen behind other regions in the world. The gap between the US and the EU in GDP widened from 17% in 2002 to 30% in 2023. The main reason for the worsening situation is lower productivity in the EU, which leads to slower income growth and weaker domestic demand in Europe. Recently, international trade has come under pressure – putting additional strain on many export-oriented sectors of our economies. The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the subsequent increase in energy prices have additionally worsened the economic outlook in Europe.
As the Draghi Report states, we continue to add regulatory burdens onto European companies which are especially costly for SMEs and self-defeating for those in the digital sectors. More than half of SMEs in Europe flag regulatory obstacles and the administrative burden as their greatest challenge. Regulation can bring benefits for companies, through harmonisation of divergent national rules or by technical rules that establish how a legislative framework should be implemented in practice throughout the EU. However, this can also entail numerous additional obligations and burdens for companies, with a cumulative effect over time. The proportionality and necessity of such additional requirements has to be carefully and comprehensively screened, cross-checked with “practitioners” (i.e. companies who have to implement), and any overreach should be quickly addressed a determined, ambitious and comprehensive deregulation and simplification agenda with a concrete and binding action plan involving all institutions. The bleak outlook for the European economy must be countered by a clear focus on more competitiveness with less and better targeted regulation. We must make sure that Europe remains a leading destination for investment, technology and jobs. Completion of the single market in particular as concerns the free movement of services is necessary for further growth.
We advocate cutting back bureaucracy and regulation substantially. In this context, we welcome the EU Commission’s initiatives aiming to reduce administrative burden. With the REFIT platform, the SME and competitiveness check, the “reality checks” testing existing and upcoming regulation with companies, the digital coordination of the legislative process, reforms to the European Semester and the commitment to 25% fewer reporting obligations for each Commissioner and 35% fewer for SMEs, as well as with the proposal for an ‘omnibus simplification package’ announced for the end of February 2025, the Commission is taking right steps to reduce red tape. But we need to go further and be even more bold because excessive regulation and bureaucracy has today become a key reason for the EU’s productivity falling further behind the US and China.
Therefore, we demand a revision of the legislation yet to be implemented, including delegated and implementing acts, and the rigorous implementation of the “one in, two out” principle – i.e. for every new onerous regulation, two old, still effective regulations must be abolished.
The corporate sustainability legislation, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) are proving to be excessive and burdensome, with immense trickle down effects for European SMEs. The implementation of the CSRD and the CSDDD, as well as related legislation including the taxonomy regulation and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) should be put on hold for at least two years. In that time, an omnibus regulation should limit the scope of these laws to the largest companies with more than 1000 employees, eliminate the indirect effect to SMEs, align legislative overlaps that currently lead to double reporting and significantly reduce the reporting obligations for large companies by at least 50%. This would create legal certainty for all companies affected while reducing the bureaucratic burden in the long term.
We are committed to a comprehensive review of where existing digital policy regulations can be simplified. Regulation in digital policy, such as the AI act, must also be scrutinized for overlap and conflicts with other horizontal EU digital laws, such as the DSA, Data Act, GDPR, but also with existing sectoral regulation, as part of the one-year assessment of whether the expanded digital acquis adequately reflects the needs and constraints of SMEs and small midcaps.
We are striving towards a simplification and streamlining of military development and procurement in the spirit of a genuine single market for defence equipment.
We oppose excessive regulation and bureaucracy at all levels, from the EU to local level, for agriculture and forestry. We demand further simplifications on issues such as set-asides or pesticides as well as for implementing the EU Deforestation regulation.
Moreover, the Regulatory Scrutiny Board needs to be strengthened, with strong safeguards of its independence and should carry out a mandatory ‘coherence, bureaucracy, competitiveness and subsidiarity check’, at the beginning of each legislative process. Any concerns about the quality of impact assessments must be clearly flagged to, and weighed up by, all political decision-makers. In addition, robust impact assessments must be carried out before any regulatory proposal is made. The trilogue procedures must be reformed in view of creating more transparency and democratic accountability including of targeted impact assessments of amendments in the legislative process.
Overfulfillment of European requirements (so-called ‘gold plating’) should be stopped at national level. To this end, national regulations in the EU Member States that go beyond European law should be withdrawn and any future overfulfillment prevented in an appropriate manner, e. g. through maximum harmonisation wherever possible. In principle, EU directives should not go beyond a 1:1 implementation at national level but should be limited to the minimum level of regulation envisaged. Parallel regulation at European and national level should be avoided wherever possible.
Handling of data across all levels should follow the ‘once only’ principle, according to which citizens and companies only have to provide the same data once.
Public procurement law as a whole must be reviewed and simplified. In order to achieve the right balance between effectiveness in opening the Single Market, securing value for money, and speedy, simple procedures, the forthcoming review should examine not only how to make awards more straightforward, but also an increase of the threshold values above which a Europe-wide invitation to tender is required.
The EU has decided on ambitious climate targets and policies to achieve them. When implementing them, we must make sure that they do not lead to deindustrialization. If climate policy becomes an obstacle for competitiveness and growth, it will not only fail to have the support of European citizens, but it will also risk increasing global emissions because products will be produced in other regions of the world with higher emissions. The availability of affordable and dispatchable energy is a crucial precondition for growth and jobs. Today, EU companies face electricity prices that are 2-3 times higher than in the US while natural gas prices are 4-5 times higher. Therefore, we need to leverage all available energy solutions through a technology-neutral approach that includes renewables, nuclear, hydrogen, bioenergy and carbon capture, utilization and storage.
The EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) is a simple and efficient market-based system to incentivize more efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. It is delivering. There is, however, no need for additional excessive regulation such as a renovation obligation for homeowners. Neither are we in favour of a separate target for the share of “renewable energy”– it should be the competence of Member States to decide with which technologies they want to achieve the climate targets. We ask the European Commission to put forward a proposal regarding measures to maintain the competitiveness of the European Automotive industry, especially relief measures to avoid potential fines for failing to reach the 2025 emissions targets. In response to the high energy prices a larger share of ETS revenues should be earmarked to energy intensive industries, for example for supporting green hydrogen or carbon capture and storage solutions. In this context, we welcome the Commissions’ plan for a ‘Clean Industrial Deal’ which should address these concerns and give a clear signal that Europe will tackle its competitiveness and productivity problem with a more pragmatic approach. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) has to be scrutinized as well regarding its effects on red tape and the competitiveness of the different sectors of our economy.
If we want the EU to create new growth and jobs, the European Commission, but also the European Parliament, the Council and national and local authorities need to show self-restraint regarding any new regulation. This requires a new mindset. Not every good idea needs to be put into law – the EU should focus on the big issues instead of regulating every area of people’s lives. This is the way forward to ensure that the EU’s success story of the past decades will continue to be a success in the future.
Our priorities for 2025 – Boosting competitiveness, fighting illegal migration, and promoting security
As EPP, we have a mandate to lead the EU. On both national and European level, we received strong support. After last year’s European election campaign and the establishment of the European working structure, we are ready to deliver on our programme thanks to greater EPP coordination at all levels, and across the three institutions, European Parliament, Commission and Council. The world is in turmoil, marked by Putin’s war of aggression in Ukraine, the evolving situation in the Middle East, an ever-more assertive China, widespread geopolitical instability and rapid technological disruption. Tech billionaires are increasingly chiming in on politics and extremists are dividing societies. As the EPP, however, we stand for a strong, self-confident and secure Europe that offers its citizens protection, a good home and a social welfare state that leaves nobody behind. Europe must set the right priorities now. 2025 is the year of delivery with bold and ambitious specific policy decisions towards a competitive, secure and strong Europe.
I. Making sure Europe regains its economic strength
The EU is a strong global power. We do not hesitate to use Europe’s market power to ensure that Europe’s producers and consumers, entrepreneurs, farmers and workers are not exposed to unfair international competition. We are in favour of global trade, but we shall not be naive. At the same time, we have to do our own homework. 2025 will be the year in which Europe regains its competitiveness.
1) We are forcefully tackling excessive bureaucracy: We will present an action plan to cut existing red tape and to avoid new bureaucratic burdens, strictly apply the “one in – two out” principle and realise a one-stop shop for businesses to dramatically reduce reporting costs. Small cosmetic measures will not help our businesses survive the competition. We need bold, straightforward and immediately implementable EU packages to cut red tape and bureaucracy across all sectors and for all sizes of businesses. Businessmen and women must feel the difference.
2) We are launching a competitive and clean industrial deal: We stand by the Paris climate agreement and our ambitious climate goals. To succeed economically and ecologically, we have to offer smart solutions, not ideological ones. We need a new European industrial policy that not only focuses on the big strategic priorities but also ensures each of our strategic sectors are competitive. We will strongly support our industrial core made up of the car, steel and chemical industries. To achieve this, we must implement a technologically open approach, including for the automotive sector. We must stimulate research and innovation further by eliminating legal barriers and enhancing freedom of scientific research. Europe has to become the leading hub in leading innovation in the key fields such as AI, tech innovation, circularity, E-Health, biotech. Rather than curtailing it, our regulation and financial support should incentivize Europe’s traditional leading industrial sectors to embrace new innovations developed in Europe. Europe has to lead the next innovation wave. Next to capital, services, workers and goods, research must become the fifth freedom of exchange in Europe. Investing in the diversification of supply routes to achieve energy security is also crucial.
3) We are strengthening the single market: the supporting pillar of our economic power is the single market. For this crown jewel to shine, we have to ensure a level playing field and put more trust in our own entrepreneurs and offer them the freedom to do what they do best: be entrepreneurs. We want to achieve this by establishing a roadmap to remove obstacles in services. We will work towards an SME-friendly solution on late payments. Finally, because the single market has to be capable of attracting more capital, we need an action plan for the savings and investments union and a roadmap to advance all three pillars.
4) We are enhancing Europe’s role as the leading force in world trade. As convinced market economists, we embrace economic competition in the world, but this competition must be fair. Anyone who undermines fair trade with nationalistic tariffs, unfair price dumping, or non-compliance with sanitary norms at the expense of Europeans will face Europe’s reciprocal response. We stand ready to accompany the Mercosur agreement – a flagship project for more than 750 million consumers – with measures that address the needs of our farmers and concerned sectors. We must offer a vision and a plan to strengthen the transatlantic economies and address unfair, non-market practices by China that harm our economic security.
5) We are supporting our farmers and fishers: EPP scored tangible success in simplifying further and reducing the burden on our farmers, notably with the delayed implementation of the deforestation regulation, and the outcome on the Nature Restoration Law. We will continue pushing for and supporting all actions to ensure that farmers receive a fair price for their products. Farmers must be rewarded for their efforts to preserve our ecosystem and not blamed. To that end, we will revise the unfair trading practice directive. We will also revise the wolves’ protection status in the Habitats directive. Equally, with the leadership of our EPP Commissioner, we will work to ensure that our common fisheries policy provides a good income and a long-term future to all our fishers, in particular by securing sustainable and healthy marine ecosystems, which is the foundation for the long-term competitiveness of the European fisheries sector.
II. Ensuring a turning point in reducing irregular migration and ending decisively the smugglers’ business model
In 2024, our fight against smugglers showed initial success. For example, thanks to the EU-Tunisia agreement, the number of arrivals to Italy has been reduced by 2/3. In 2025, we are going one step further. We are committed to tackling the increasing instrumentalization of migrants. Our goal is to eliminate the organised-crime model of the smuggling networks through five measures.
1) We are accelerating the returns based on a new legal basis: We will support the revision of the outdated return directive and replace it with a new regulation on returns within the next six months. In this framework, we will also support proposals for return hubs outside the EU. We also support the review of the safe third-country concept so that only security concerns matter, not individual wishes to stay longer in the EU. We will review our trade and development cooperation policies to promote third countries’ cooperation and readmission.
2) We are developing and adopting the Mediterranean Pact. The EPP has already shown that reducing illegal migration is possible. For example, the EU-Tunisia Agreement already shows successful results with over 60 percent fewer irregular arrivals coming from Tunisia to Italy last year compared to the previous one. Until recently, we witnessed the same effect with the partnership between the EU and Lebanon with nearly no irregular arrivals coming from Lebanon to Cyprus and the reduced pressure of illegal border crossings on Greece’s land borders also due to the cooperation with Turkey, noting with concern that the Western African route to the Canary Islands is the fastest growing, with record numbers of arrivals. We want Europe to conclude a new partnership agreement with Mediterranean countries and further strengthen existing bilateral agreements, e.g. with Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia, in order to boost economic cooperation and prevent irregular migration. We must drive the smuggling gangs out of the Mediterranean.
3) We are setting the starting point for tripling the number of Frontex officials and equipping them better. Together with the border and coast guards of the Member States, Frontex will ensure secure external EU borders. We support the conclusions of agreements with neighbouring countries like Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as key African countries like Mauritania and Senegal, for the deployment of Frontex standing corps.
4) We are implementing the Migration Pact fully and as swiftly as possible. With the Pact we have a unified approach to managing migration as Europeans to address a common challenge. The implementation shall not affect the exercise of the responsibilities incumbent upon Member States with regard to the maintenance of law and order and the safeguarding of internal security. At the same time, we want to improve it continuously by working on innovative solutions.
III. Making European security a key priority
Europe is under attack. Putin’s war crimes in Ukraine, disinformation campaigns by foreign autocrats, terrorist attacks, organised crime and hybrid warfare at our borders – they all have one goal: to destroy the European way of life. Freedom and security, the rule of law and defence belong together. We support the “security” priority of the Polish Council Presidency under Donald Tusk’s leadership. We as the EPP are the guarantor of a secure Europe, in all its dimensions.
1) We are starting a real European Defence Union complementary to NATO: We are committed to a strong NATO and also to the neutrality commitments of individual Member States. Within NATO and in strong collaboration with our transatlantic partners, we will significantly expand European defence efforts. We will support the work on a roadmap for the creation of the internal defence market. As a first step, we believe procurement rules should be made more stringent, less vulnerable to foreign interference and that financing should continue beyond this year, opening up new approaches to defence financing. We are committed to strengthening the European Defense industrial and technological base. Taking all defence spending by the Member States into account, our goal is for the EU to collectively reach the 2% of GDP goal in 2025 and be open to higher levels for the years to come.
2) We are taking strong action against Russian hybrid warfare. We encourage the EU and the member states to strengthen their countermeasures and protect their critical infrastructure, to counter an increasingly aggressive Russia. We welcome increased NATO presence in the Baltic Sea and call for tougher sanctions against Russia’s shadow fleet that presents both an environmental risk and acts as an instrument for hybrid operations, such as cutting undersea cables.
3) We are stepping up our fight against disinformation and digital information warfare. We will support a Democracy Shield, including through pilot projects, to tackle disinformation across Member States. We have to implement the DSA in the sharpest manner, increasing the amount of EU-wide inquiries and investigations, holding tech giants to account for the promotion of content that undermines democratic processes in Member States. We advocate the rapid introduction on the platforms of privacy-friendly solutions for online protection, such as age verification of minors through secure digital ID. We should also explore solutions to end anonymity on social media platforms, leading to the spread of hatred, misinformation, and conspiracy theories.
4) We are safeguarding the rule of law, in defence of our democracy. Without democracy, there would be no European Union, and without Rule of Law, democracy would be impossible. We express our deep concern about developments in Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia and Spain. The European institutions have to secure the respect of the Rule of Law and the separation of powers in the entire European Union and react when those principles are under attack. In the same vein, we defend democracy and freedoms throughout the world. We therefore denounce the consummation of the coup d’état in Venezuela and the usurpation of power by the Maduro regime.
5) We are launching a European action against organised crime. Europe’s open borders serve its citizens, not criminals. Organised criminals fear an effective police force and joint actions by state authorities to destroy their business models. We must strengthen Europol by enlarging its mandate and inserting enforcement and autonomous investigation powers, legally but also financially, by increasing its budget and doubling its staff.
6) We are implementing a zero-tolerance strategy towards violence and crimes against children. Protecting children is one of our key priorities, therefore we want to finalise work on a Regulation to Prevent and Combat Child Sexual Abuse. We will support the EU action plans against cyber-bullying and online child abuse and for the protection of the minors. To protect the minors better in the digital world, we need a Digital Fairness Act for tech companies to also take their share of responsibility.
7) We are strengthening social and health security in Europe, to respond to the demographic challenge. Most of the European welfare systems are Christian democratic ones. For us, solidarity and responsibility go hand in hand. We believe in social market economy and we think it should be strengthened and better reflected in our single market. Furthermore, housing and demographic crises are becoming an increasing social issue for young families, the middle class, pensioners, and people with low incomes. Europe will only be seen as a home if its people have a chance to live in their own homes. We need an initiative for sustainable and affordable housing in Europe. In addition, health should never depend on how high the income is or where one lives in Europe. We must stick to our Beating Cancer and Alzheimer plan and launch new action plans on cardiovascular and mental health.
8) We are working towards effective policies against natural disasters through prevention and action. Through natural disasters, climate change threatens our societies across Europe. Therefore, we must implement the necessary mechanisms to protect our societies from them, while we continue to work tirelessly to mitigate the effects of climate change and reinforce the European civil protection force and our emergency response.
9) We remain fully committed to a unified Cyprus. The deadlock shall be overcome and negotiations to end the 51-year-long occupation of Cyprus by Turkey has to resume. The EPP remains committed to supporting the process for a comprehensive, settlement of the Cyprus problem, in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and in line with EU law, values, and principles. The EPP and the international community will never accept the partitionist position of Turkey to create two states on the island of Cyprus..