Brussels, 29 January 2025
BusinessEurope welcomes Competitiveness Compass and urges its swift translation into concrete action
BusinessEurope welcomes the release of the EU Competitiveness Compass, as it is a clear signal that the EU is committed to strengthening Europe’s economy and the companies driving it forward.
BusinessEurope Director General Markus J. Beyrer said:
“Bringing a ship to its destination requires clear directions, and today’s Competitiveness Compass provides these coordinates. The Compass must urgently be followed by concrete and impactful actions which deliver meaningful changes for companies in their daily operations.
These actions have to prioritise reducing regulatory burdens and cutting red tape in order to deliver on the promise to make it easier to do business in Europe. The EU must also introduce strong measures to mitigate the energy cost competitiveness gap, accelerate the market deployment of innovation and ensure faster permitting procedures, enabling all industries to transform at speed.
In today’s geopolitical climate, implementing an ambitious trade and investment diversification strategy is equally critical. Moreover, businesses’ acute skills and labour shortages must be urgently addressed.
The Competitiveness Compass needs to be followed rapidly by consistent actions to deliver on its objective.”
Source – BusinessEurope
Eurocommerce: Concrete Single Market commitments by Member States needed
EuroCommerce is calling for concrete actions, following today’s release of the EU’s much-anticipated Competitiveness Compass and the 2025 Annual Single Market and Competitiveness Report.
Today’s communications reveal that Single Market integration, in particular for services, is at a standstill and EU Competitiveness is not increasing fast enough. Services, which account for 70% of the EU’s GDP, only represent 7.6% of intra-EU trade. Christel Delberghe, Director General, urged for fast action: “Don’t forget the basics! The strength of the EU is its Single Market. We need real harmonisation, more coherent and proportionate rules and a real commitment by Member States and the European institutions to overcome market fragmentation.”
With global challenges ahead, Christel Delberghe added, “EU institutions and Member States must turn words into concrete actions to remove barriers and enhance overall EU competitiveness. Supporting the diverse range of market players, not just the perceived front-runners will ensure that Europe can thrive on the global stage.” She added, “A competitiveness strategy must look beyond manufacturing and include other sectors that can support their deployment at scale”.
President Von der Leyen promised at the start of the current mandate to prioritise investments, simplification and skills to deliver the three pillars of the Competitiveness Compass. While retail and wholesale is adapting to the digital and sustainability transition, investment and skills remain major issues. Delberghe stressed that retailers and wholesalers are uniquely positioned to support the deployment of technologies at scale in Europe, but to do so, they require rules that foster their global competitiveness. She concluded, “Regulatory burden, Single Market fragmentation and lack of enforcement of EU regulation including on online players selling directly to consumers are key barriers.“
Notes
The retail and wholesale sector represents 1 out of 5 businesses, and 1 out of 4 SMEs in the Europe. Retailers and wholesalers are present across every community throughout the EU, with many at the forefront of deploying innovation or clean energy in their operations and in their interactions with EU customers who now take this for granted. They provide solutions in e-commerce, more sustainably produced foods, consumer electronics and clothing and greener construction and electrical equipment. As key partners, at the end of the value chain, retail and wholesale are ideally placed to lead by example and to encourage consumers to make more sustainable choices. Not least, retailers and wholesalers have proven to adapt quickly when global supply chains were disrupted. All of which contributes to the EU’s overall competitiveness and ability to achieve its climate, jobs and skills goals.[1]
Retailers compete fiercely for consumers’ favour every day, making them well-aware of what consumers expect and need. To maintain and grow that relationship consumers need to trust that the products they buy are safe and compliant, that their rights are respected, and that they have access to redress, no matter where, from whom, and how they purchase products and services. This trust is the foundation for growth and innovation, enabling small, new and unknown traders to market their products and services to consumers. To earn trust, enforcement of EU regulation is required. Enforcement authorities need to improve cooperation and coordination at EU and national levels with their peers and across policy domains. They cannot solve it alone. They need to break down the silos.
#Complience4All
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[1] EuroCommerce made recommendations on the new competitiveness agenda, based on our analysis of the Draghi report, and suggested a Better Regulation Checklist to support the EU’s strategic direction.
Source – EuroCommerce
Eurelectric: Commission’s Compass puts electricity at the heart of Europe’s energy independence
Today, the European Commission (EC) released the much awaited policy manual for the next five years of its legislative mandate – also known as Competitiveness Compass.
All new legislation will be geared toward strengthening the EU competitiveness by ramping up productivity driven by innovation to make the EU “an economic powerhouse, an investment destination and a manufacturing centre.” In other words, the EU is getting ready to bring its money home.
Simplify baby simplify
A competitive Union is one that attracts investments but investors are often scared away by excessive red tape and regulatory constraints – reports the document. This is why the Commission – one of the most active regulatory bodies in the world – promised industry that it will regulate less, better and faster. This “unprecedented simplification effort” will start from de-bureaucratising sustainable finance reporting, due diligence and taxonomy under a Simplification Omnibus proposal expected by 26 February.
The proposal is a sight of relief for many utilities who have been experiencing an unsustainable surge in ESG practice requests from investors, slowing down their reporting process. The proposal should therefore put a stop to regulatory bodies’ endless creation of new guidelines and Q&A documents causing legal uncertainty. It should also allow time to implementing recent legislation such as the EU Taxonomy, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).
What happens to energy?
It depends on the vector. The Commission reaffirmed its intention of phasing out Russia oil and gas with a roadmap now expected by end of March 2025. Electrification, on the other hand, is promoted as an enabler of energy independence, provided it is supported by a well-functioning integrated market and a reinforced digitalised distribution grid.
“Eurelectric welcomes the Competitiveness Compass calls for deeper market integration, incentives for long-term contracts and the implementation of the Grid Action Plan. These measures all play to Europe’s strengths and will aid our global competitiveness.” – said Eurelectric’s Policy Director Cillian O’Donoghue.
Electricity will also play a key role in boosting Europe’s industrial competitiveness by ensuring clean and affordable power. This issue will be tackled upfront by the upcoming Affordable Energy Action Plan also expected by 26 February.
The electricity industry stands ready to supply consumers with clean and affordable power. It also recalls the importance of keeping a strong business case for investors to ensure continuous deployment of net-zero generation that will ultimately drive down the costs. We must continue financing power generation and infrastructure projects which are at the core of our energy transition.
Speaking of affordability, the Compass also flags energy taxation as a key gap in the energy market that will need urgent fixing via a revision of the European Taxation Directive.
“We strongly support a revision of the current energy taxation rules which perversely tax electricity more than gas. Fixing this imbalance is critical to aligning energy bills with the energy transition and make power prices more competitive.” – confirms O’Donoghue.
Source – Eurelectric
“EU compass must point towards the common good, not corporate profits,” warn NGOs
The European Commission’s new ‘Competitiveness Compass’ risks leading Europe astray, environmental NGOs warn. While it rightly calls for cohesion in energy and industrial policy, it remains alarmingly vague on which sectors will be deemed “strategic” and on how “simplification” won’t lead to a rollback on crucial environmental and social safeguards.
Published today, the ‘Competitiveness Compass’ echoes corporate concerns over energy costs and economic challenges, but sidelines key priorities such as zero pollution and citizens’ wellbeing, failing to guide Europe’s economy towards a clean, prosperous and circular future.
Promoting competitive decarbonisation without integrating social and environmental objectives undermines the very purpose of EU institutions: to serve and defend the common good, reminds the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), Europe’s largest network of environmental NGOs.
Christian Schaible, Head of Zero Pollution Industry, said:
“The EU is more than just a market. The ‘Competitiveness Compass’ must point in a clear direction: sustainable prosperity for all. Right now, the strategy misses key indicators to ensure that the EU serves society at large and addresses today’s social and environmental crises. There is no market competitiveness on a dead planet.“
Key takeaways
The EEB highlights several issues that merit close attention:
Lowering national ambition: For the first time, the Commission explicitly calls to “fight gold plating”, the practice of Member States adopting stricter measures when transposing EU laws. While some industries may view this as “over-regulation”, the Commission’s endorsement is surprising, as their role is to ensure EU policy goals are met, not to discourage stronger national action.
A dangerous 30% simplification target: Streamlining regulations is welcome, but simplification without thorough assessments could undermine critical health, social and environmental protections. It is not regulation that hinders businesses’ innovation, but a lack of clear rules. Further deregulation would only create a climate of uncertainty and penalise first movers while compromising progress and sustainability.
‘Technological neutrality’ is not competitive: The EU needs to focus its limited time and resources on proven, cost-effective solutions to mitigate emissions, such as renewables, energy efficiency, and grids, not on costly and risky gambles like new nuclear, oversized hydrogen projects and uncertain carbon capture and storage (CCS). Furthermore, mandatory emission reduction pathways need to be established, especially for hard-to-abate sectors, to ensure that industry is held accountable and moves timely towards climate neutrality.
Overlooking the importance of public investment in the strategic sector: The Compass neglects the need for additional financial resources to drive the socio-ecological transition, either through increased EU budget or EU joint borrowing. The EU urgently needs public investment in essential sectors such as healthcare, sustainable housing, non-toxic products and resilient food systems. Additionally, mandatory Public Procurement criteria should be introduced to ensure public funds support projects, products, services and materials that meet the highest environmental and social standards.
The EU is more than a marketplace: The Compass’ reliance on private capital markets and simplification to boost productivity growth will mainly benefit big businesses and banks. More market is not the solution as market liberalisation policies often contribute to economic downturns. To revive Europe’s industrial and productive capacities, we need strong governments that can discipline the market and direct reforms to greening our economy and reviving our public infrastructure and services.
Better coordination: The inclusion of the Competitiveness Coordination Tool can help create common priorities for Member States to work on together. The inclusion of energy infrastructure among the first pilot cases is welcome, but it should place greater emphasis on electrification and energy efficiency. In addition, the Competitiveness Coordination Tool should explore joint purchasing of key renewable feedstocks, such renewable hydrogen, and prioritise their use for the most emission-intensive sectors.
Source – EEB
BDI zum EU-Kompass für Wettbewerbsfähigkeit: EU-Kommission muss Kompass entschlossen auf Wettbewerbsfähigkeit ausrichten
Zum EU-Kompass für Wettbewerbsfähigkeit äußert sich BDI-Hauptgeschäftsführerin Tanja Gönner: „Es ist höchste Zeit, dass die Europäische Kommission ihren politischen Kompass entschlossen auf Wettbewerbsfähigkeit ausrichtet.”
- „Es ist höchste Zeit, dass die Europäische Kommission ihren politischen Kompass entschlossen auf Wettbewerbsfähigkeit ausrichtet. Die Unternehmen erwarten dringend klare Maßnahmen für Innovation, Entbürokratisierung und niedrigere Energiepreise am Standort Europa. Nur aus einer Position der Stärke heraus wird es Europa gelingen, den USA sowie China in dieser geopolitischen Lage auf Augenhöhe zu begegnen.
- Nach einer Studie im Auftrag des BDI finden 76 Prozent der Unternehmen in Deutschland die Abhängigkeit von chinesischen digitalen Schlüsseltechnologien beunruhigend. Die Europäische Kommission muss ihren digitalpolitischen Regelungseifer beschränken und gezielt in digitale Schlüsseltechnologien wie Mikroelektronik und KI investieren. Es ist folgerichtig, dass die neue EU-Digitalkommissarin ihren Fokus auf die Verbesserung der strukturellen Marktbedingungen, die Beschleunigung des Ausbaus und die Stärkung der Resilienz digitaler Infrastrukturen legen will.
- Bürokratieabbau bedeutet Wachstumschancen zum Nulltarif. Statt immer kleinteiligerer Regulierungen, Verbote und Einzelfall-Interventionen – Ausdruck eines tiefen Misstrauens gegenüber unternehmerischer Tätigkeit – müssen marktwirtschaftliche Rahmenbedingungen und unternehmerische Anreize gestärkt werden. Die Europäische Kommission muss mit dem angekündigten Omnibus nicht nur Berichtspflichten abbauen, sondern auch die Richtlinie zur Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung von Unternehmen, das EU-Lieferkettengesetz sowie die Taxonomie-Verordnung substanziell ändern. Weitere Entlastungsinitiativen müssen folgen.
- Die Industrie zahlt in Europa für Strom zwei- bis dreimal, für Gas sogar drei- bis fünfmal so hohe Preise wie in den USA. Eine bezahlbare und stabile Energieversorgung ist essenziell für die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der europäischen Industrie. Dafür braucht es kurzfristig einen verlässlichen EU-Beihilferahmen, der notwendige Entlastungsmaßnahmen ermöglicht und unterstützt. Langfristig ist ein effizienter Ausbau des europäischen Energiebinnenmarkts entscheidend, um Kosten nachhaltig zu senken.“
Die europapolitischen Forderungen des BDI zur Bundestagswahl finden Sie hier: LINK
Quelle – BDI