„A slap in the face for Parliament“
Mrs Regner, the EU Commission has presented an „omnibus“ package to reduce bureaucracy. What do you think of it?
I can't see anything good about „Omnibus“. Of course, nobody can reasonably be against the reduction of unnecessary bureaucracy, because who wants to have a complicated life. But what the EU Commission calls cutting red tape is an abdication of responsibility.
In what way?
First of all, the EU Commission is tackling three laws: The EU supply chain law – Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and the taxonomy. This is all about corporate responsibility. After all, the core of these regulations and, in particular, the supply chain law – which I helped negotiate in the Social Affairs Committee – is that companies take responsibility. Now this decided law is not to be implemented – but more or less overturned.
Does that annoy you?
As an EU parliamentarian, I feel mocked. Democracy means that the guardian of the constitution, the EU Commission, submits proposals and we as the Council and Parliament turn them into law. Now a result that does not suit a few is simply to be overturned. To call this process a reduction in bureaucracy is a farce. „Omnibus“ is a slap in the face for the EU Parliament. And by the way: I also consider the EU Commission's initiative to be economically damaging.
Why?
The EU has always stood for quality worldwide. Consumers have confidence in EU products. We will do lasting damage to this trust if we take the axe to this. So the „omnibus“ project is also detrimental from a business perspective. Companies that have already started to adapt their activities to the new laws in an exemplary manner are now being penalised for doing so. Yet it is precisely these companies that we should be rewarded for their sense of responsibility with legal certainty. In addition, planning security for companies is dwindling if many things are changed again.
One of your key topics is tax justice. Former EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager used the weapons of competition law to actively combat aggressive tax avoidance by international companies. What do you now expect from the new EU Commission?
Teresa Ribera is now responsible for competition. And I am convinced that she will also be very committed to the fight against aggressive tax avoidance. Of course, the international environment, key phrase – Trump's withdrawal from the global minimum tax, is worrying. Furthermore, I am not naive and have to live with the fact that unanimity is still required in the EU on tax issues. Nevertheless, I will continue to campaign in the EU for initiatives that can ensure greater tax justice, such as an excess profits tax or BEFIT, the European legal framework for corporate taxation. We will keep at it.
