BRUSSELS, 13th October, 2026 (WAM) -- Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have proposed an "emergency brake" on EU bureaucracy to reduce administrative burdens on businesses and strengthen the bloc's competitiveness.
In a joint letter to European Council President António Costa ahead of the 15th–16th October EU summit in Brussels, the three leaders called for a mechanism allowing the European Council to intervene as a last resort to halt or suspend new legislation deemed excessively burdensome.
They said compliance and oversight requirements should be "proportionate to the risks and expected benefits". However, the letter did not specify how the proposed mechanism would operate or who would be authorised to activate it.
The proposal is expected to prompt debate at the summit between countries seeking to ease regulatory burdens and those concerned about safeguarding EU standards.
The leaders also called for structural measures to accelerate planning and permitting procedures for investments in strategic sectors, including energy, decarbonisation, digital technologies, artificial intelligence and defence.
Under a proposed "priority rule", certain regulations could be temporarily suspended to facilitate strategic investments and prevent the erosion of Europe's industrial capacity, investment and competitiveness.
The three leaders further urged the EU to reduce reporting requirements, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and reverse the burden of proof so that the necessity of any reporting obligation must be demonstrated before it is imposed.
The summit will also review progress on the "One Europe, One Market" roadmap, adopted in the spring to strengthen the single market, alongside high energy prices affecting European industry and macroeconomic imbalances between the EU and China.