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European Commission - Speech Opening remarks by Commissioner Serafin during the European Parliament debate Cutting costs and unnecessary reporting obligations now – concrete next steps to deliver swift relief for EU's entrepreneurs Strasbourg, 21 October 2026 Honourable Members, dear Minister, The debate today is about a very simple question: is Europe doing enough to make life easier for those who create jobs, inves...
European Commission - Speech Opening remarks by Commissioner Serafin during the European Parliament debate Cutting costs and unnecessary reporting obligations now – concrete next steps to deliver swift relief for EU's entrepreneurs Strasbourg, 21 October 2026 Honourable Members, dear Minister, The debate today is about a very simple question: is Europe doing enough to make life easier for those who create jobs, invest, innovate and grow our economy? For many, too many companies, the answer is that they expect more. They still spent too much time navigating complex rules, filling in forms and meeting overlapping reporting requirements, that do little to help them grow, hire or compete. Nowhere is this more important than for SMEs. For them, excessive reporting means lost time and money. This is true for all red tape that holds Europe back and undermines our competitiveness. The Commission has, therefore, implemented an approach covering all administrative costs and changing the way we legislate. We implement right now 'simplicity by design'. That includes, first, legislation that implements the 'once only principle'. Before asking companies to provide any additional information on documents, we first check whether we already have them. Second, regulatory discipline: we introduce reporting requirements only when they are strictly necessary, and we will act at EU level only when justified in line with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. Cutting administrative burdens and reporting requirements is a clear priority across the whole College. Each Commissioner has been asked to contribute to this exercise. Our aim is clear: to remove unnecessary complexity from existing EU rules and ensure that new requirements are justified. Since the start of its mandate, the Commission has proposed measures that could save EUR 22.3 billion in administrative costs every year, provided the co-legislators maintain the level of ambition in Commission's proposals. That matters. Every euro saved in paperwork is a euro that can be used towards more investment, innovation, wages or growth. But we cannot achieve progress alone. The Commission is accelerating its efforts but real change requires all institutions to pull in the same direction. Furthermore, national and regional authorities must also play their part because a rule agreed at European level should not become more complex when transposed or implemented in the Member States. That is why the President has proposed a Pact against gold-plating. The aim is to increase transparency and limit unnecessary national additions that create complexity and fragment the Single Market, while safeguarding rights and protections. This Commission will continue to simplify EU rules and deepen the Single Market, because both are essential to Europe's prosperity and competitiveness. Thank you. SPEECH/26/2233 <@rel_link@> Press contacts: Balazs UJVARI (+32 2 295 45 78) Isabel OTERO BARDERAS (+32 2 296 69 25) General public inquiries: Europe Direct by phone 00 800 67 89 10 11 or by email
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