Austria leads 16 EU states in push to reduce bureaucracy

A coalition of 16 European Union member states, led by an initiative from Austria, is calling for a freeze on new EU regulations to prioritize the reduction of bureaucratic burdens. The Alliance for the Reduction of Bureaucratic Burden at Member States Level (ARBB) advocates for a ‘European Year of Consolidation and Implementation,’ focusing on enforcing existing laws rather than introducing new legislative initiatives.

The group, which includes Austria, Germany, Italy, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, and Slovakia, aims to boost EU competitiveness through simpler, evidence-based lawmaking. A key focus is combating ‘gold-plating,’ the practice where member states add extra national requirements on top of EU directives, which creates friction in the single market.

Austrian Europe Minister Claudia Bauer and State Secretary Sepp Schellhorn emphasized the need for better networking between states to share best practices and for the European Commission to actively review and reduce requirements for businesses.