ECCJ and 469 other civil society, trade unions and public interest groups tell President von der Leyen, European Commissioners and EU Member States that our rights, planet, health and justice are not for sale.

The EU risks a new race to the bottom. Under President Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission plans an unprecedented wave of drastic cuts to regulations that protect labour and social rights, human rights, digital rights, and the environment. The Commission and EU Member States might  spend the next four years dismantling rules for companies operating in the EU.

Rules designed to ensure that we can live fair, just and healthy lives are already poorly-enforced. Despite clear warnings, they’re now being withdrawn, weakened or gutted of meaning at a truly unprecedented rate.

Eight months into its term, it’s clear that the Commission’s new “unprecedented simplification effort” really means ‘deregulation’. Regulations that protect us all from the excesses of corporate greed, that ensure we can breathe clean air and put a healthy meal on our family’s table are on the chopping block. Rules that ensure we can work in fair and safe conditions, protect nature, fight discrimination, tackle corruption, have access to fair and safe financial products, and stop corporations from violating our digital privacy – that keep us all safe for today and tomorrow – are being slashed.

The Commission’s insistence that this is about removing ‘superfluous red tape’ is not backed up by reality. They claim that trusting companies to do the right thing will make the bloc more “competitive” and that slashing rules is needed to boost “innovation” for EU companies. But plenty of sad affairs from EU history tell another story, including the financial crisis and Dieselgate.

EU rules are being cut so that shareholders can exploit people and the planet with fewer limits. Our protection is being sold out for profit, and our trust in democracy eroded.

New measures give corporations a seat at the top table of EU law-making,[1] while those acting in the public interest are excluded by decision-makers. Flawed consultation methods further privilege corporate access. Meanwhile, civil society organisations representing diverse, societal interests risk being marginalized  by decision-makers. Making the situation worse, enforcement agencies and bodies are being hamstrung by austerity policies which cut their budgets and staff.

The Commission and Council of EU member states are trying to cut our protections on an almost daily basis. Several major proposals have been put rushed through without the Commission performing their duty in producing vital Impact Assessments. This is worsened by the use of the ‘urgent procedure’ which leaves no space for a democratic debate in the European Parliament.

Principles of rulemaking are vital to democracy. By taking shortcuts, the Commission silences critical voices, and reopens legislation which already resulted from a democratic process and therefore a compromise among political forces in the EU.

This perfect storm of deregulation runs the risk of empowering the far right and anti-democratic forces, enabling corruption, increasing inequalities, slow down the urgently needed climate action and environment protection, and depriving communities and workers of essential protections and services. The ‘simplification’ agenda has already gone too far:

• Corporate accountability and justice are further away than ever: The Commission and Council have drastically undermined climate action, environmental protections and human rights obligations in supply chains, by thoroughly weakening the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. Transparency on companies’ sustainability level and efforts is being slashed by significantly reducing the scope of reporting companies in the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the EU Taxonomy.

• Our habitats and biodiversity may lose essential protections, while chemicals threaten public health: The Commission has proposed to remove environmental obligations from its Common Agricultural Policy, including measures to protect wetlands and peatlands. EU chemical laws over cosmetics and labelling rules for hazardous chemicals are being targeted, while there are worrying indications that the proposed comprehensive ban on ‘forever chemicals’ (PFAS) will be weakened.

• Pressure is taken off polluters: Delays in mandatory transformation plans to make polluting industrial sites cleaner, more circular, and climate-friendly are undermining public transparency and corporate accountability in the industrial transformation.

• Weakened climate targets serve corporate wishes instead of planetary needs: the EC, with strong backing from EU Member States, has proposed a 2040 target to reduce emissions by 90% compared to 1990, that includes plans to weaken the policy architecture established through the climate law by introducing several forms of flexibility. Introducing international credits within the EU climate targets would weaken EU’s level of ambition compared to a purely domestic target, which already lags behind its global fair share.

• A decade of digital rights progress could be undone: the reopening of the backbone of the EU digital rulebook – the General Data Protection Regulation – means people’s sensitive data could be processed without protections. Further attacks on rights-based rules such as the AI Act, and the planned Digital Package, could undermine rules that protect all our digital lives against AI harms and surveillance from state and corporate actors.

• A race to the bottom for workers: Cuts to social rights and protections loom, as the envisaged proposal for a ‘28th regime’ would offer companies a more lenient set of European rules. This is an open door for circumvention of national labour laws and trade union rights.

• More poverty:   The Commission aims to redirect anti-poverty funds to support corporations and industries including tech and defence.

• The path to a just and equitable society is eroding in front of our eyes: “The attempted withdrawal of the Horizontal Anti-Discrimination Directive clearly indicates that people and rights are not a priority for the European Commission (although there are reports that the Commission has rightly reconsidered due to civil society and political pressure). The only area where new rules are increasing are those for the punishment and surveillance of marginalised communities, in a context of increased spending, legislation and policies centred on criminalisation, surveillance and militarisation.

• Financial reforms rolled back, paving the way for another crisis: Delays and numerous carve-outs are being introduced to the bank prudential capital rules agreed internationally after the global financial crisis 2007-2009. These rules are aimed at ensuring that banks manage their risks with sufficient buffers to cushion losses. In parallel, measures intended to support sustainable finance practices could be removed.