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nid 92242
Apr 28, 2026
adavies@vixio.com
European Union
European Commission
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1735 charsEuropean Commission Publishes Communication on Simplifying and Enforcing European Union Rulebook
On April 28, 2026, the European Commission published a communication titled "A Simpler, Clearer and Better Enforced EU Rulebook." The communication was issued by the Secretariat-General and addresses regulatory reform across the European Union.
The communication sets out the European Commission's approach to improving the clarity, accessibility, and enforcement of EU legislation. It focuses on three core objectives: simplifying existing rules to reduce complexity for stakeholders; clarifying regulatory requirements to ensure consistent interpretation and application; and strengthening enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance across member states. The initiative recognises that overly complex or unclear regulations can create barriers for businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, whilst also hindering effective regulatory oversight by national authorities.
The communication includes two annexes providing supplementary detail on specific regulatory areas and implementation considerations. These annexes outline priority sectors for regulatory simplification and propose mechanisms for improving coordination between EU institutions and member states on enforcement activities.
The European Commission intends this communication to serve as a framework for ongoing regulatory review and reform efforts. Member states and stakeholders are expected to engage with the proposals outlined in the communication as part of broader EU policymaking processes. The communication is available in English alongside its two supporting annexes on the European Commission website.
REFERENCES:
European Commission. (2026). A Simpler, Clearer and Better Enforced EU Rulebook. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/
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2126 charsEuropean Commission Proposes Plan for Simpler, Clearer and Better Enforced EU Rules
On April 28, 2026, the European Commission published its proposed plan to modernise EU law making, ensuring that laws are clearer, simpler and more efficiently enforced.
The plan calls for the commission to act in five key areas:
Simplicity by design: EU laws must be easy to understand, apply and enforce. The commission aims to embed "simplicity by design" into every proposal, ensuring clarity on who must act, how to comply and the consequences of non-compliance.
Strengthening the better regulation framework: the better regulation system sets out the principles that the European Commission follows when preparing new initiatives. It will be further improved to enhance transparency, stakeholder engagement and efficiency.
Regulatory deep cleaning: while the Union continues to pursue ambitious policies, it must also put its large stock of existing legislation in order. An action plan will tackle inconsistencies, overlapping and overly complex provisions in 12 priority areas.
Tackling regulatory gold-plating: the commission will help member states identify and tackle unnecessary complexity and barriers to the Single Market where they apply stricter or more extensive requirements than those set out in EU law.
Faster, robust enforcement: the commission will strengthen enforcement of the Single Market rulebook in selected policy areas. A focus will also be placed on reducing the number of long-standing infringement cases.
In doing so, the commission has also identified 12 priority areas where action is needed to remove outdated rules and eliminate contradictions. Financial services is included within those priority areas.
For the regulatory cleaning, it is expected to result in legislative or other measures that address outdated provisions, overlaps, inconsistencies or requirements creating unnecessary burden. It will also foster consolidation in areas characterised by high regulatory fragmentation, and it may lead to the withdrawal of individual commission proposals; for example, in cases where these might no longer reflect current realities or where legislative negotiations have stalled.