EU Member States Demand One-Year Pause on New Legislation

A group of 15 European Union member states has called for a one-year pause on the introduction of new legislation by the European Commission. The initiative, officially presented during a meeting of European ministers in Brussels, aims to prioritize the review, simplification, and potential repeal of existing regulations over the creation of new ones.

Initiated by Austria and supported by Germany, the coalition includes Italy, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, and Slovakia. The primary objective is to reduce bureaucracy by identifying and eliminating duplicate reporting requirements that burden both businesses and administrations.

Proponents of the measure, including Sepp Schellhorn and Claudia Bauer, emphasized the need for a systematic overview of current EU laws and a faster exchange of best practices among the 27 member states. The proposal seeks to focus on the maintenance and efficiency of the existing legal framework rather than legislative expansion.