Seoul Gazette - EU vows to slash red tape but stick to climate goals

The European Union's focus has pivoted to competitivity due to concerns about sluggish economic growth, a sharp move away from EU chief Ursula von der Leyen's first term that focused on tackling climate change.

The issue has taken on acute urgency with US President Donald Trump pushing an America First strategy that risks a trade war with the EU.

"Our climate and social goals do not change," von der Leyen said as she promised a sustained push to cut "red tape" during a speech to industry leaders in the Belgian port city of Antwerp.

"We are staying the course towards our decarbonisation goals," she added, responding to criticism from climate campaigners and EU lawmakers who accuse Brussels of ditching environmental objectives to satisfy big business.

The European Commission reiterated its intent to make the bloc's economy carbon-neutral by 2050 and promised to stick with targets set so far, including a 90 percent cut to greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

To that end Von der Leyen said the EU would seek to mobilise 100 billion euros ($105 billion) in public and private funds to boost the clean tech sector as part of a medley of measures dubbed the "Clean Industrial Deal".

The package also hopes to help energy-intensive sectors since Europe's energy prices are significantly higher than in the United States.

First on the red tape chopping block, meanwhile, are a set of rules on environmental and human rights supply chain standards -- adopted with fanfare barely months ago but since attacked as too burdensome for businesses.

Business Europe, an EU lobby group, hailed the changes as a "positive step".

"By reducing unnecessary reporting and regulatory burdens, the (changes) will allow companies to contribute more effectively to the EU's sustainability objectives while also preserving the EU economy's competitiveness," said the group's director general Markus Beyrer.

- No 'chainsaw' massacre of rules -

Two major texts are in the EU's firing line: the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which requires large firms to give investors and other "stakeholders" information on their climate impacts and emissions, and steps taken to limit them.

The other is the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which demands that large companies fix the "adverse human rights and environmental impacts" of their supply chains worldwide.

The commission, the EU's executive arm, proposed to postpone the implementation of the rules in a bid to help companies better prepare.

Companies required to comply with the CSRD as of 2026 and 2027 will now have enough 2028 to do so, the commission said.

And the rules will apply only to 10,000 larger companies rather than the initial 50,000, effectively sparing 80 percent of the firms originally targeted, an EU official said.

The proposals will need approval from EU states and the European Parliament.

EU industry chief Stephane Sejourne said the bloc would reform itself "without a chainsaw" -- a nod to America's Elon Musk or Argentina's Javier Milei, who have made the saw a symbol of reforming zeal.

But climate groups slammed the proposals.

"The only real urgency in the deal seems to be weakening the reporting rules, not ensuring companies contribute to a fair, competitive and climate-proof economy," said Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe director Chiara Martinelli.

- 'Contradictory' day -

The changes to reporting obligations will likely be hotly debated in the EU parliament, with centrists, left-wing and green lawmakers opposed to weakening environmental rules.

"Today is a contradictory day for European climate action. With the Clean Industrial Deal, Europe confirms its commitment to its decarbonisation agenda and reaffirms its climate ambitions for 2040, while the (simplification) package weakens certain foundations of the Green Deal," EU centrist lawmaker Pascal Canfin said.

The Green Deal, the EU's ambitious climate plan setting the bloc on a path to become carbon-neutral by 2050, dominated von der Leyen's first term.

In an "Action Plan for Affordable Energy", the EU executive outlined how it would cut energy costs including telling states to cut taxes on electricity bills to help consumers and firms.

Business Europe, however, urged the commission to act faster.

"It is unlikely that the measures proposed today will be enough to lower energy costs in the short term," Beyrer said.

R.Song--SG