Insight
Making the EU’s digital regulatory reset count: Four recommendations by Hannes Berggren, 2 September 2025 The EU digital rulebook has grown rapidly in recent years, becoming cumbersome and sometimes hampering trade. The forthcoming digital regulatory package is an opportunity to simplify the rules. Over the years, the EU has introduced new rules at a fast pace, often with laudable goals such as improving security, safeguarding competition or promoting sustainability. Today, however, EU companies face increasing regulatory hurdles because of the many regulations, which mandate reporting requirements that are sometimes both cumbersome and costly. As the landmark Draghi report rightly identifies, overregulation has become a barrier to European competitiveness. In response, the European Commission is in the process of introducing several so-called omnibus packages, aimed at simplifying regulation by reducing reporting requirements. This insight outlines four considerations for the EU’s digital package – a regulatory simplification package that is expected this Autumn – and the results it should deliver to strengthen the EU digital economy. Background The digital economy has been heavily affected by the cumulative burden of EU regulations. A Bruegel mapping exercise from 2024 identifies more than 100 different digital regulations for areas such as cybersecurity, e-commerce and data that companies operating in the EU now face. In concert, companies often note, these regulations can create a complex and costly web of overlapping reporting requirements, and limit their ability to innovate. Moreover, several of these rules allow for fragmentation across the single market, with different implementation in different member-states. It is therefore commendable that the Commission has begun addressing regulatory complexity, including in the digital economy. For example, it recently proposed to reduce the need for mid-sized companies, in addition to smaller companies, to keep records under the General Data Protection CER INSIGHT: MAKING THE EU’S DIGITAL REGULATORY RESET COUNT: FOUR RECOMMENDATIONS 2 September 2025
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