Europe's red-tape bonfire has pleased almost no one

This article was published on July 10, 2026 The EU’s deregulation drive is weakening the GDPR and delaying the AI Act, yet industry says it is too slow, while digital-rights groups say it goes too far Twenty months into the EU’s campaign to slash red tape, many of the businesses that demanded it are unimpressed. Firms told Politico the “simplification” drive is too slow, too costly, and too complicated. Politico spoke to 17 companies, consultancies, and trade bodies across sectors. A common complaint was that an institution built to write laws is ill-suited to undoing them. The EU is “hardwired” to create rules but poor at removing them, INEOS’s Richard Longden told the outlet. BusinessEurope’s Martynas Barysas said burden-reduction is “drowning in the inertia” of working-level talks. The frustration is a sharp turn from late 2024, when Ursula von der Leyen promised to lighten the load and industry cheered. Since February 2025 the Commission has tabled around a dozen “omnibus” bills across defence, energy, chemicals, agriculture, and tech, promising billions in savings. The Commission pushes back, calling its progress “unprecedented” and noting the cuts require getting 27 member st