11/12/2025
The European Union has entered a new political cycle with “regulatory simplification” elevated as a flagship promise. From sustainability reporting to digital governance, the Commission’s Omnibus packages are presented as a remedy to Europe’s competitiveness woes. But as the latest TEPSA EUCO Debrief makes clear, simplification – done wrong- risks weakening, not strengthening, Europe’s capacity to compete, protect, and lead.
The Good Lobby’s founder, Professor Alberto Alemanno – among the first critical voices of the simplification agenda for undermining its own aim of strengthening Europe – is one of the contributors to the TEPSA Debrief.
Exempting thousands of companies from sustainability reporting will not eliminate complexity; it will simply shift it to national capitals, inviting a patchwork of domestic rules that businesses will struggle to navigate. The same dynamic now threatens the digital sphere: the Commission’s Digital Omnibus proposals lower long-standing safeguards in the name of flexibility. By weakening the protection of personal data, narrowing key definitions, and allowing big tech broader use of personal data, the package expands the power of both state authorities and dominant tech firms while reducing oversight. Rather than simplifying the rulebook, it dismantles hard-won guarantees of privacy, transparency, and redress.
“By relinquishing its regulatory sovereignty, Europe becomes precisely what Draghi warned against: economically dependent, technologically subordinate, and strategically weak. Washington applauds this “simplification” not because it will strengthen Europe, but because it ensures Europe stays weaker.”
The EU can be both competitive and values-driven. But it cannot achieve either by cutting corners. Read the full TEPSA study here.