When standing next to a modern lorry, it is easy to forget the smell and smoke of the past. Yes, there are still problems with air quality in many parts of Europe, but much has happened since the early 1990s.
European legislation forced manufacturers to innovate, bringing down for example nitrogen oxides from lorries and buses with more than 90 percent, and now moving to electrification. This has saved many lives and helped the global competitiveness of European companies.
Organisations such as Business Europe have often tried to water down environmental action. On the other hand, many innovative companies ask for ambitious policies. Recently, around 100 European companies and investors urged the European Union to adopt a 90 percent reduction target for greenhouse gas emissions to 2040.
The contrast between forward-looking companies and business organisations is not new, but worth remembering when next week’s European Council summit (17-18 April) will discuss the strategic agenda for the next five years. The current competitiveness agenda is to a large extent driven by a big lobbying campaign— so far, not well covered by the media.
This includes a push against regulations, especially linked to the Green Deal, but also affecting consumer affairs, workers’ safety, gender equality and more. Already, the European Commission has put several planned proposals on the shelf, including on dangerous chemicals and workers protection.
Lobbying campaign
The Europe Unlocked initiative is arguing for less legislation. “From over-regulation to think-small-first policy making” is a key demand. This massive campaign is managed by Dentons Global Advisors, a giant lobbying company. With money from the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, Europe Unlocked engages with policy makers in EU capitals as well as in Brussels. It pays for studies by think-tanks in Brussels and promotes deregulation through extensive social media outreach.
Already during the Swedish EU Presidency first half of 2023, the influence of business organisations was significant. Much of the content in the competitiveness agenda promoted by the rightwing government in Stockholm came from the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. “We simply put forward to competitiveness agenda we thought that the EU was missing and that it needed”, stated Anna Stellinger at the confederation, and added “It’s wonderful that what started as an idea became the Swedish official position”.
A high-level meeting in November 2022 was the starting point for lobbying also from the pan-European business organisations. In the Stockholm declaration Business Europe called inter alia for more extensive “competitiveness controls” of new proposals. When meeting Ursula von der Leyen the same month, the business organisation demanded “regulatory breathing space”.
Similar views have been promoted by the European Round Table for Industry and in further bilateral contacts with von der Leyen. There are clear links to the European People’s Party and its election platform when it comes to the framing of competitiveness as a question of less regulation.
During recent months, lobbying has concentrated on Mario Draghi’s and Enrico Letta’s upcoming reports, with several meetings and high-level dinners. And at an industry summit in February, the Antwerp Declaration was adopted, urging less regulation and even an ‘omnibus proposal to take corrective measures on all relevant existing EU regulations’.
Business organisations are of course in their full right to campaign. But policy makers should listen more to impartial scientific analysis. Competitiveness is about many things, including research and development, access to capital and skills. To focus on deregulation is not based on evidence.
Extensive research by the OECD and by the European Commission itself shows that well-designed regulation can contribute to innovation, a key component of productivity and growth. There is no scientific basis for claiming that the exact amount of legislation is preventing competitiveness, it’s all about how it is designed.
A fact-based approach is needed when drawing up the strategic agenda and promoting European competitiveness. Paying too much attention to the lowest common denominator would weaken the European Union’s action on topics important to citizens, as well as hurting innovative companies that are crucial for economic development. Workers, consumers and nature would pay the price.
