‘’We do not give up to our standards, but they need to be possible to apply’’, says Ceemet Director General Delphine Rudelli on a Business Europe panel with Commission EVP Roxana Mînzatu.
On 18 February, BusinessEurope hosted a panel discussion on ‘Stepping up EU simplification efforts in the field of social affairs’ in Brussels.
The discussion focused on stepping up EU simplification efforts in the field of social affairs, alongside Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for social rights and skills, quality jobs and preparedness.
Opening the event, Markus J. Beyrer, Director General of BusinessEurope, mentioned that “Together with the cost of energy, regulatory complexity is one of the two top reasons deferring investments from Europe.” Mr Beyrer presented a series of concrete proposals aimed at simplifying EU social legislation without weakening worker protections. Business Europe is calling on the Commission to deliver meaningful regulatory burden reduction across key files, including the Pay Transparency Directive, the Platform Work Directive, the Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive, and the REACH Regulation.
Among the proposals are a “Stop the Clock” on the transposition of the Pay Transparency Directive to allow time for proportionate recalibration, targeted clarifications to the Platform Work Directive, streamlined reporting requirements under the Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive, and better alignment between REACH and occupational safety and health legislation to avoid regulatory overlap.
The panel, moderated by Mattias Dahl, Chair of BusinessEurope’s Social Affairs Committee, brought together senior voices from across Europe’s social policy landscape. Alongside Executive Vice-President Mînzatu and Delphine Rudelli, Director General of Ceemet, speakers included Steffen Kampeter, Chief Executive Officer of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations.
Simplification vs. deregulation
Executive Vice-President Mînzatu welcomed the timing of the debate, noting it came shortly after key industry discussions in Antwerp. “This is a good moment to have this discussion,” she said. “My job is to calibrate proposals to support both workers and companies. Both are equally important. Companies need to be productive, and workers need competitive companies. One without the other cannot proceed.”
At the same time, she acknowledged the importance of stability: “A stable and predictable regulatory framework is important. Opening existing files for discussion has its risks.”
Deepening the Single Market and labour mobility
For the Commission, simplification also means deepening the Single Market. “It is not only about free movement of goods and capital, but also free movement of skills,” Mînzatu said, announcing that a Fair Labour Mobility package will be presented in September.
Her priority is to close negotiations on Regulation 883/04, which coordinates social security systems across borders. “The Single Market needs clear rules on social security,” she stressed.
The upcoming Fair Labour Mobility initiative will include ESSPASS, aiming at a more digitalised approach to labour mobility procedures. Skills portability will also be central. With labour shortages persisting across sectors, the Commission’s Skills Portability Initiative (SPI) will seek better recognition of qualifications. “The lack of available skills continues to be one of the biggest obstacles,” she noted, linking this to Europe’s reindustrialisation efforts and the reorganisation of supply chains in a challenging geopolitical context.
Simplification must be tangible
For Ceemet and its members, simplification must be more than a slogan. “In the MET industry, we are more concerned than ever about these challenges,” Rudelli said. “We live in a globalised world, with long supply chains, raw material problems and intense competition. The skills shortage is a big issue in our sector.”
She agreed that rules cannot automatically be equated with administrative burden. “But that’s not what employers claim. We just cannot deny that the number of rules in Europe is a problem.”
On the ground, companies often struggle to apply complex requirements. “Companies cannot properly adapt the rules, not because they don’t want to, but because it is almost impossible to do so. Have you tried to calculate the minimum remuneration applicable to a posted worker?” she asked.
Even though 95% of companies in the MET sector are SMEs, they are often required to apply an entire acquis designed with larger structures in mind. “When you have to apply an entire set of rules, it becomes very problematic. What companies need is a clear and stable regulatory environment.”
Steffen Kampeter, CEO of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA), reinforced this point with a strong example: in Germany alone, around 320,000 people are employed to deal with regulatory reporting and compliance. “The more regulation you get, the less SMEs will participate in the economy. They are disproportionately hit.”
For Ceemet and Europe’s industry employers, Europe’s high social standards must be preserved, but they must also be workable in practice. This requires simplification of the rules when they lead to administrative burden, better regulation principles to be applied throughout the legislative process (e.g. with targeted impact assessment at the start, but also at the end of the process), and better enforcement and implementation of existing rules before considering new legislative initiatives.