VERE recently reported: "Federal Council against gold plating". This was about the overfulfilment of European law requirements, especially by the German government. Gold plating is now also an issue at EU level. On 12 February 2025, the European Commission announced measures to reduce bureaucratic hurdles for companies and strengthen competitiveness within the EU.
As Euractiv reports, the EU Commission wants to prevent individual countries from making EU laws more complicated through additional national regulations ("gold plating"). This leads to unnecessary bureaucracy and makes trade in the single market more difficult. Companies have been criticising this practice for a long time, as it makes it more difficult for them to comply with regulations. The Commission therefore wants to take stricter action against unnecessary national rules and, if necessary, take legal action against member states that violate the deregulation requirements.
Many countries often introduce new requirements that are not necessary. At the same time, however, it is difficult to take action against "gold plating", as national law is often independent. Only if these regulations directly violate EU law can the Commission intervene – which is rarely the case. The EU now wants to better coordinate the member states and call on them to comply with the deregulation targets, but remains dependent on cooperation. Detailed information can be found in the EU Commission's document A simpler and faster Europe. It states verbatim:
"The Commission will pursue a resolute enforcement action as guardian of the Treaties, to ensure that rules are implemented, and to fight fragmentation of the Single Market and any unlawful gold plating."
The VERE Association will keep you informed about further developments regarding Gold Plating. Would you also like to have your interests represented by a strong SME association? Then join our VERE Association today: thanks to our many thousands of members, the annual membership fee is only €25.00 plus VAT (can be cancelled annually). You can find the VERE membership application here:
