Brussels, BELGIUM – As the European Commission finalises its work programme with legislative and policy plans for 2025, the digital sector urges concrete actions to tackle regulatory fragmentation and overlapping compliance obligations that increasingly hinder growth and innovation across the EU.
In its response to the Commission’s consultation on the Single Market Strategy, which closes tomorrow, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA Europe) outlines a to-do list for the Commission to finally turn the EU Single Market into a tangible reality.
For Europe to become more competitive, the Commission should prioritise three tasks in 2025: implement existing rules better, instead of just creating more laws; improve EU lawmaking processes; and recalibrate Europe’s approach to tech regulation to boost competitiveness.
The Association highlights several structural challenges that demand immediate action. More than ever, digital businesses are grappling with overlapping EU regulatory obligations across multiple frameworks today – such as seven conflicting cybersecurity incident-reporting requirements, each with different thresholds and procedures.
Adding to this complexity, legal uncertainty is growing as critical implementation guidance for major tech legislation, such as the Digital Services Act, is still missing. Recent proposals – including the Financial Data Access Regulation (FiDA) – also risk introducing conflicting legal requirements, potentially forcing companies to break one law in order to comply with another.
While all parts of the economy are calling on the EU to strengthen the Single Market by ironing out problems with existing legislation, the Commission appears to be going full steam ahead with new and often unnecessary proposals like a Digital Fairness Act and Digital Networks Act.
First and foremost, the Commission’s upcoming plans and Competitiveness Compass should prioritise the urgent need for simplification and regulatory streamlining, CCIA Europe stresses.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Europe’s Head of Policy and Deputy Head of Office, Alexandre Roure:
“The EU can no longer afford to continue creating tech policies based on theoretical aspirations that end up failing to reward innovation. Many concrete problems need fixing right now.”
“Only by focusing on real-world impact and prioritising the clear enforcement of current rules, Europe can restore business confidence to invest and innovate in the Single Market.”
“Instead of repeating the same mistake of rushing into more digital legislation without knowing the impact, going forward the Commission should always first identify whether European citizens and businesses actually experience a concrete problem in the first place.”
“If a genuine issue is identified, Europe must openly debate whether it can be addressed through existing laws or more effectively by non-legislative means.”
Notes for editors
The European Commission is expected to present its 2025 work programme on 11 February.
The European Council has tasked the Commission with developing a new horizontal Single Market Strategy by June 2025. In response, the newly appointed Executive Vice-President, Stéphane Séjourné, launched a call for evidence, open until 31 January.
