Dombrovskis Pledges Better Regulation Communication at Orgalim Roundtable in Hannover

European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, responsible for Economy, Productivity, Simplification and Implementation, joined members of the Orgalim Council for a high-level roundtable at Hannover Messe on 20 April 2026. During the meeting, Dombrovskis announced that on 28 April he will present a 'Communication on better regulation and enforcement,' which will include changes to the legislative drafting process, improved impact assessments, and an action plan on 'regulatory cleaning' to reduce fragmentation and duplication across EU rules. The announcement builds on Dombrovskis' earlier pledge at the Hannover Economic Forum on 19 April, where he unveiled the Competitiveness Compass targeting at least €15 billion in annual administrative cost savings through ten reform proposals.

The roundtable focused on three policy areas—internal market functioning, environmental sustainability legislation, and digital regulation—drawing on Orgalim's newly published Simplification Report (April 2026). The report concludes that recent EU simplification initiatives deliver meaningful cost savings, but these are outweighed by cumulative regulatory costs from legislation introduced in both the last and current legislative cycles. Orgalim members cited overlapping requirements from the Cyber Resilience Act, Industrial Accelerator Act, AI Act, Data Act, CBAM, and chemical legislation including PFAS. Orgalim Director General Ulrich Adam noted the speed of simplification efforts, with ten Omnibuses proposed and three approved already, but stressed the need for a more structural shift.

Cross-institutional context The roundtable follows a series of recent EU industrial policy moves. On 17 April, the Commission outlined the Industrial Accelerator Act, introducing origin requirements for public procurement in strategic sectors. On 15 April, Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič addressed steel sector protection amid trade turbulence, while Commissioner von der Leyen responded to concerns about legislative inflation, with the number of EU legislative acts rising from 164 in five years to 372 in 2024 alone. The simplification agenda also echoes debates in the European Parliament, where on 15 April rapporteurs Tsiodras and Müller clashed over safety versus simplification in chemical regulations, and Lange and Kirton-Darling diverged on EU-China trade strategy.

Analytical core The cleavage between regulatory simplification and maintaining high standards is central. Orgalim members supported world-leading safety and quality regulation but argued that cumbersome administrative requirements disadvantage European companies, as innovation outpaces the regulatory framework. Dombrovskis reiterated targets of a 25% reduction in regulatory burden for all companies and 35% for SMEs, reflecting the disproportionately higher burden on smaller firms. Orgalim's membership is 98% SMEs. Positive impacts include reduced compliance costs and improved competitiveness for EU technology industries, potentially boosting innovation and growth. Negative impacts may include reduced consumer and environmental protections if simplification dilutes standards, though the Commission aims to maintain safety. Key stakeholders affected are EU technology producers (especially SMEs), EU consumers (via product safety and price), national authorities (enforcement), and EU regulatory bodies (process changes). The trade-off is between cutting red tape to spur economic activity and preserving regulatory safeguards for health, security, and the environment.