On 11 February, the European Commission published its Work Programme for 2025 and Annexes presenting 18 legislative initiatives, and 34 non-legislative ones. The annexes also mention the annual plan for evaluations and fitness checks and a list of withdrawals of 37 proposals. The von der Leyen II Commission being placed under the sign of regulatory and administrative simplification, number of the new initiatives are presented to achieve this objective. The Work Programme calls for all EU institutions to follow an implementation and simplification agenda, pushing the implementation considerations earlier in the policymaking cycle and making stakeholders’ and practitioners’ consultation a cornerstone of the Commission’s approach.
A plan for implementation and simplification
Building on the Draghi report, the Commission plans on putting forward the Omnibus package divided into three parts: sustainability, small mid-caps and removal of paper requirements, and investment simplification. The Omnibus proposals will undertake different pieces of legislation, enabling a targeted approach while taking into account their interactions, to tackle issues such as streamlining sustainable reporting, due diligence, and taxonomy.
In parallel, the Work Programme includes an annual plan for fitness checks and evaluations of existing legislation, also detailed in the Annexes. The Commission aims to take a critical look at the EU acquis and stress-test the rules to identify room to consolidate, maybe even codify, and cut costs. This approach will be combined with strengthened cooperation at national and European levels, better enforcement, and enhanced stakeholder engagement.
Once more, the Commission seizes this opportunity to stress its long-term goal to reduce administrative burdens by at least 25%, and at least 35% for SMEs. However, staying true to numerous statements from its Commissioners, “simplification does not mean deregulation”, the Commission puts forward numerous legislative and non-legislative initiatives to boost sustainability and competitiveness in the EU.
Boosting competitiveness with the green and digital transitions
The Work Programme 2025 lays out an agenda for competitiveness aligned with the Competitiveness Compass published last month by the Commission, which gave an overview of the strategic framework for the coming years. Additionally, the Single Market Strategy will set a path to facilitate the cross-border provision of services and goods and eliminate barriers. Ecommerce Europe answered the public consultation launched in preparation for this initiative, stating that “a new momentum is needed to address existing barriers and fragmentation, prevent new ones from arising, and modernise the Single Market to accompany the green and digital transition”.
The Commission outlines its ambition to fully take advantage of the potential of AI to support innovation. Digitalisation will also be essential to competitiveness paired with innovation, by cutting administrative burdens, simplifying procedures for businesses, and promoting digital solutions. Making the European Union competitive will also be achieved alongside accompanying the green transition, with the Clean Industrial Deal at its forefront, which will support companies in regaining competitiveness while decarbonising.
Key files for e-commerce in 2025
Ecommerce Europe identified key files in the Commission’s Work Programme 2025. Monitoring the following initiatives and advocate for the e-commerce sector in their development will be essential, as they will have significant impact on the sector.
Planned for the first quarter of 2025, the Commission will present the First Omnibus package on sustainability (legislative) and the Clean Industrial Deal (non-legislative). This will be followed during the second quarter with the Single Market Strategy (non-legislative) and the Third Omnibus package, including on small mid-caps and removal of paper requirements (legislative). Jumping directly on the fourth quarter of 2025, we can expect a number of relevant files to e-commerce, starting with the Digital package (legislative, with impact assessment). The Commission will propose alongside impact assessments the European Business Wallet (legislative), the Digital Networks Act (legislative). Also very relevant to the sector, the 2030 Consumer Agenda, including an action plan for consumers in the Single Market (non-legislative) will be put forward, as well as the Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act (legislative, incl. impact assessment)
Additionally, the Commission included in its plan for upcoming fitness checks and evaluation the following files: the legislative acquis in the digital policy area (Q4), the Geo-blocking Regulation (Q4), the Customs 2021-2027 programme (Q3), and finally of the Customs Control Equipment Instrument (CCEI) programme (Q2).
Finally, the Work Programme included a list of withdrawals, which was very much talked about, especially for the ePrivacy Regulation Proposal, removed because no agreement was foreseeable. On the same justification, the Proposal for an AI Liability Directive was scraped away, the Commission committing however to assess if another approach or proposal should be chosen.