One Europe, One Market! Ursula von der Leyen announces radical reform of the EU

The European Union is planning a radical reform of the single market to strengthen its competitiveness on the global market. This was announced by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, after the informal meeting of leaders in the Belgian town of Alden-Biesen, as stated in a statement on the European Parliament website.

The detailed reform plan, entitled "One Europe, One Market", will be presented in March, but Von der Leyen has already announced its main provisions.

A "deep cleaning" of all EU legislation is planned, with a fight against gold-plating – the excessive complexity of European rules by national governments.

To this end, more regulations will be introduced instead of directives, delegated acts will be limited to technical issues and sunset clauses will be introduced — automatic termination of outdated laws.

In the nearest future, the European Commission will present the "28th regime“ (EU Inc) — a new form of European company with uniform rules for all 27 member states. Entrepreneurs will be able to register a business completely online within 48 hours in any EU country.

In April, a draft of new rules on mergers will be presented, which will make it possible for large European corporations to emerge, capable of competing with Chinese and American giants on the global market.

The first phase of the creation of a single capital market, which includes market integration, joint supervision and securitization, should be completed by June. If not all 27 countries agree, the EU can apply the mechanism for “enhanced cooperation“ — when at least nine countries progress faster than the others.

By the next European Council, the European Commission will present a draft Industrial Accelerator Act with requirements for European origin of goods in public procurement for strategic sectors.

A review of the Emissions Trading System (ETS) is also planned to focus more of the funds on decarbonising industry.