Commission scales back 2027 legislative plans

The European Commission is planning a more limited legislative agenda for 2027, focusing on competitiveness, cutting regulation and economic security, Politico reported, citing the Commission’s annual work programme and annexes.

The programme, whose final version was published on Wednesday, says the European Union should strengthen its single market, reduce bureaucracy, modernise industry and increase its defence capabilities as geopolitical risks and economic uncertainty grow. The Commission says it wants to focus on key priorities in the second half of Ursula von der Leyen’s term.

With some existing initiatives, including the Industrial Acceleration Act, stalled, the Commission plans to prioritise the adoption of legislation already under consideration. It will also drop proposals unlikely to pass and repeal outdated rules, including a regulation on selling butter stocks to the Soviet Union, which no longer exists.

The Commission will withdraw an energy taxation reform that has been stalled since 2021, but plans to introduce new energy and climate measures in 2027. These will include simplifying legislation, promoting heat pumps, stockpiling strategic raw materials and helping industries affected by high energy prices.

It will also withdraw a proposed directive aimed at tackling unsubstantiated claims by companies about the environmental impact of their activities or products. The proposal stalled amid disagreements over the administrative burden it would place on businesses.

In the financial sector, the Commission plans to drop a proposal that would give third countries access to financial data, as well as the long-stalled plan for a European deposit insurance scheme. It intends to propose measures to simplify banking rules and improve competitiveness in early 2027.

A new package on digital transformation is due in mid-2027, with a focus on simplifying regulation and copyright. The Commission also plans to continue assessing data-retention rules and review transparency requirements for political advertising.

Other plans include simplifying transport rules, reviewing carbon dioxide emission standards for heavy vehicles and repealing an outdated regulation on crises in the road freight market. The Commission also says it will help safeguard freedom and security of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The programme also calls for removing barriers to trade within the EU single market and reducing territorial supply restrictions that contribute to differences in the prices of essential consumer goods across EU countries. The Commission plans to limit excessive national requirements and speed up permits for strategically important projects.

It will drop several stalled legislative proposals, including those on airport slot allocation and a common European bank deposit insurance system. Many of the proposals have been under consideration for years.