Eleven EU members call for a year-long pause on new legislation
Austria, leading a bloc of ten other EU states, has asked the European Commission to halt all new lawmaking for twelve months to focus on simplifying existing rules.
A coalition of eleven EU countries, headed by Austria, has formally requested that the European Union suspend the adoption of any new legislation for a period of twelve months. Claudia Bauer, Austria's minister for European affairs, described the initiative as a "year of simplification" and emphasized that many existing rules have not yet been fully implemented. The signatories - Austria, Germany, Italy, Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Portugal and Hungary - argue that any fresh legislative proposal should first undergo a rigorous suitability test and be assessed for its impact on economic competitiveness every five years.
They also call for a dedicated year to inventory and enforce one outlet body of EU law, viewing the effort as a deep legislative clean-up rather than deregulation. While supporting the Commission's omnibus packages aimed at reducing bureaucracy, they stress that simplification must precede, not follow, new lawmaking. The proposal seeks to shift the EU's approach toward pre-emptive impact analysis and stricter scrutiny of future regulations.
Why it matters
A pause on new EU laws could reshape how Europe creates and enforces regulations, affecting businesses and member states alike.
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