Peter Liese: Good that the Commission focuses on reducing bureaucracy and increasing competitiveness / Climate targets can only be achieved if we do better and act more pragmatically / Revision of REACH should make life easier for industry / Targeted review of CO2 cars expected rather sooner than later

“It is good that the Commission focuses on reducing bureaucracy and increasing competitiveness in its work program for 2025,” said Peter Liese, spokesperson for the biggest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats) for environment, climate, and food safety, ahead of presentation of the Commission's work program on Tuesday this week.

A draft that was leaked last week lists many initiatives under the headline ‘Simplification and Competitiveness.’ “We need to stick to our climate targets, but we can only achieve them if we are more pragmatic, reduce red tape, and increase the competitiveness of our industry. That is why I welcome, in particular, that a targeted revision of REACH is mentioned in the draft under the headline ‘Simplification.’ The review should not add requirements for industry, but make REACH more applicable, particularly for SMEs. Sometimes, REACH stands in the way of the transition to carbon neutrality, for example, when some member states ask for a complete ban on so-called PFAS, which are necessary for the production of hydrogen and wind farms”, Liese emphasized.

Liese also strongly supports the inclusion of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism CBAM, into the omnibus procedure: “While we need CBAM to protect our industry against carbon-intensive products from outside Europe, we need to make it much simpler. It is not appropriate to bother SMEs that import a pack of screws from outside Europe with detailed reporting obligations."

Less bureaucracy in pharmaceutical production and medical devices too

Liese expects that a targeted review of CO2 cars will also be proposed by the European Commission in the short term. “Unfortunately, the issue of CO2 cars is not yet in the draft. But I am sure that the Commission will make proposals sooner rather than later to avoid penalties as much as possible while keeping the targets. This could, for example, be achieved by allowing companies that do not achieve their targets in 2025 to compensate by overachieving the targets in 2026 and 2027. This so-called ‘banking and borrowing’ is already included in the CO2 heavy-duty vehicles, and my group supports such a solution for light-duty vehicles as well”, Liese said.

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