France pushes for ‘massive’ pause in EU red tape amid US pressure

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PARIS (Reuters) – France is pushing to cut red tape at European Union level, calling for a “massive pause” in new EU regulations, a delay in rules requiring companies to report on their environmental footprint, and changes to even freshly passed laws.

France’s proposals, detailed in a document dated Jan. 20 and seen by Reuters, come amid a broader backlash among EU companies against new environmental rules passed over the past few years that they say are hurting their competitiveness against U.S. rivals.

The bloc is facing fresh challenges with the new administration of President Donald Trump. Trump, who is promising to roll back U.S. corporate rules, weighed into the debate over red tape at the annual Davos meeting of the world’s business elite this week, urging the EU to make it easier to do business and reduce regulation.

In the French document, to be presented by Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad on Tuesday at an EU ministers’ meeting, France proposed to delay indefinitely a new EU directive on corporate due diligence and to delay by two years the CSRD corporate sustainability reporting directive.

The long list of proposals, which includes tweaks to agricultural norms or even the legal definition of “waste”, is part of what France has called a “simplification shock” designed to catch up with faster-growing U.S. and Chinese rivals.

“We are expecting strong measures in the first 100 days of the European Commission’s president, who has made it a priority,” French Finance Minister Eric Lombard told reporters on Thursday in a New Year address.

“We must focus on the bills that complicate the life of our companies and slows down their growth,” he added. Germany is also keen to lighten the burden on European companies.

The document was first reported by Politico.

(Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Frances Kerry)