EU Commission competing with Musk and Trump on deregulation

Brussels – The European Commission’s work programme for the next 5 years, published yesterday evening, plans to rip up protections for people’s rights and the planet to boost corporate profits, warned Greenpeace.

Greenpeace EU senior political campaigner Ariadna Rodrigo said: “Von der Leyen says she wants Europe to compete – she’s competing with Musk and Trump to wreck protections for people and planet. This Commission plan only helps Europe’s shareholders to be competitive, at the expense of prosperity, green jobs and a healthy environment for ordinary people. Global temperatures are breaking records, and with that come storms, floods and heatwaves that are wrecking people’s homes and livelihoods. Instead of building societies that support people and the ecosystems they depend on, this Commission is accelerating us towards disaster so companies can squeeze out more profits on the way down.”

Throughout the Commission work programme is a push for ‘simplification’ of legislation, with a package of rules on corporate sustainability due diligence and reporting highlighted for watering down. The work programme also foresees deregulation in the EU’s common agricultural policy, the largest EU expenditure, where protections for nature, climate, human health and animal welfare have already been stripped back in recent years.

The drive to cut environmental and social protections to boost business flies in the face of a recent European Investment Bank report that found the main barriers to investment are high energy costs, labour shortages, and economic uncertainty, rather than any burden caused by this legislation.