Germany, Italy request ‘emergency brake’ power to stop new EU laws

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz meet on the morning of a European council summit, in Brussels
Photo: AFP

EU capitals must be able to intervene to stop new legislation from Brussels if they say it’s too burdensome for governments and businesses, the leaders of Germany, Italy and Belgium wrote on Monday.

In a letter addressed to European Council President António Costa and seen by POLITICO, the three leaders said the bloc needs an “emergency brake” mechanism to help boost its flagging economic competitiveness.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever also called to “significantly accelerate planning and approval procedures,” suspend “certain regulatory areas for a specified period” under a new “priority rule.”

“We call for further ambitious simplification packages to decisively advance the cutting of red tape in the European Union,” they wrote, adding that the Commission must ease the burden “first and foremost” on small and medium-sized businesses.

“More broadly,” the letter reads, “our common objective should be to prevent unnecessary regulatory burdens and related costs from causing permanent losses of European industrial capacity and further weakening investment and competitiveness.”

Coming days before an EU leaders’ meeting, the call echoes demands first stated in March after a summit focused on European competitiveness, and it comes amid worsening signs for the bloc’s industrial sector.

Leaders will debate the EU’s long-term budget, energy prices, and support for Ukraine when they gather in Brussels on Thursday for a two-day European Council summit.

...This move by the leaders of leading Western European nations introduces a new fault line within the European Union.

The "old" European economies no longer possess the strength or resources to shoulder the burden of financially supporting the other EU members alongside with Ukrainian regime. They argue: "We pay, so we should make the decisions! We pay, so we should determine EU policy!"

This looks like fair for the “old” but not for the rest. What is even more important, if the principle of decision-making by consensus within the EU is revised, then the very concept of "European solidarity" — and the foundations of the European Union itself — will be cast aside.

It appears that the mounting financial deficit in Europe is steering the EU toward disintegration.

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