Why 15 EU Countries Want a One-Year Pause in New EU Legislation
Summary: This article explains why Austria, Germany and 13 other member states are asking the European Commission for a one-year pause in new EU laws, what their review plan would cover, and why the Commission is not promising a moratorium.
Fifteen EU member states want the European Commission to stop proposing new laws for a year. The demand is in a joint paper led by Austria and backed by Germany. It is a direct push from a large group of governments for the EU to focus on the rules it already has.
The paper uses diplomatic language, but the request is blunt: a special "European year of implementation and consolidation." During that year, the focus would be on implementing existing legislation, simplifying it, improving interoperability, assessing cumulative burdens, aligning enforcement and removing duplicate reporting duties. The member states also want a systematic overview of EU laws for individual economic and social sectors. That, they argue, is the only way to decide whether a law is truly necessary, needs updating, should be simplified or should be repealed.
Before the Commission proposes anything new, the countries want it to check whether the proposal would create double reporting obligations or "new levels of legal obligations."
Austria initiated the letter. Austria's European Minister Claudia Bauer described the aim as relief. "Our common goal must be to noticeably relieve companies, citizens and administrations," she said at a ministerial meeting in Brussels, according to reporting from Top Agrar.
The supporters are Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.
The Commission has responded politely. Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said the Commission is grateful for the proposals and will examine them carefully. He did not promise a pause.
His caution comes from the Commission's own recent workload. Over the past year, it presented more than ten "omnibus" packages meant to simplify EU legislation. Dombrovskis argues those packages first need time to take effect. Many are still moving through the legislative process. Instead of a moratorium, he asked member states to process the packages quickly.
The absence of France and Spain from the supporters is also notable. Two of the EU's largest economies are not part of the push. That narrows the political weight behind the demand, even with 15 countries on board.
The question now is whether the paper translates into an actual Commission commitment. The request is a concrete pressure point for member states that view the EU's regulatory output as too heavy. But the Commission's first response points to its existing simplification agenda as the answer, not a full stop on new laws.