Post by Asko Metsola

Good - and not so good - Digital Omnibus morning! Germany managed to gather a blocking minority together with Italy, Poland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Portugal, and Austria, and as a result, the Council vote on the Digital Omnibus has been removed from today’s Coreper II agenda (https://lnkd.in/dmDbMAz5). This is great news, as it gives the Council additional time to work towards a more ambitious approach under the upcoming Irish Presidency. Earlier this week Elinkeinoelämän keskusliitto EK – Confederation of Finnish Industries joined a joint business statement coordinated by Svenskt Näringsliv (many thanks to Carolina, Carola, and Julia). Together with colleagues from Sweden, Germany, Portugal, Italy, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Poland, Norway, and Belgium, we called on the Council to follow through on its original mandate to the Commission: to simplify and streamline EU rules in order to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. The statement remains fully relevant for the Irish Presidency, see attached. From a Finnish perspective, our government originally called for bold and genuinely ambitious measures to reduce the administrative burden on businesses. However, the Council amendments (unfortunately also supported by Finland) have been quite the opposite. On the Parliament side, the ITRE/LIBE draft report has now been published. (https://lnkd.in/dwKj_2Qe). The JURI and IMCO draft opinions had already moved away from a pure simplification and codification approach, instead introducing additional layers of oversight and burden. Still, I had higher expectations for a more balanced outcome in the draft report. A more detailed analysis is still needed, but at first glance the Parliament appears to be reintroducing some of the compliance burden the Commission sought to reduce. That said, the call for a targeted impact assessment on key provisions aimed at enhancing legal certainty can still offer a more balanced outlook. Our messages directed at the Council therefore remain equally relevant for the Parliament. A busy summer and autumn ahead!