Thank you for this opportunity to discuss the issue of gold-plating, right after the 2026 State of the Union Address by President von der Leyen that also addressed this problem.
I welcome the European Parliament's attention to this topic, which is highly relevant for the functioning of the Single Market and for businesses across the European Union.
The Communication on a Clearer, Simpler and Better Enforced EU Rulebook adopted this April announced an initiative to tackle the issue of regulatory gold-plating.
It follows up on the Single Market Strategy and the identification of the "Terrible 10" most harmful barriers.
I would like to quote President von der Leyen from earlier today in this house:
"Yes, we are doing our best at the European level to cut red tape. But now it is time for the Member States to step up. If we are serious about simplification, we also need a pact against gold-plating."
Gold-plating happens when a Member State, when transposing or implementing EU law in a given policy area, introduces a wider scope, stricter rules or obligations that go beyond the requirements set by the EU legal act.
Creating more burdensome procedures than what is necessary to implement the EU law can also be considered gold-plating.
Gold-plating is problematic for several reasons.
Divergent national rules create uneven conditions for businesses across Member States. This may distort competition and fragment the single market.
Excessive national requirements may also increase compliance costs, especially for SMEs, and can discourage cross-border activity and undermine competitiveness.
Large firms can often absorb complexity, SMEs cannot. This is why simplification is also a fairness issue.
As today's debate shows, the issue of gold-plating is high on the political agenda.
It is part of the broader simplification agenda and linked to the "One Europe, One Market" roadmap.
And it follows up on the European Council of 19 March 2026, which called on Member States to avoid gold-plating and disproportionate national requirements.
Unlawful gold-plating can be addressed through enforcement action, for example where it leads to national legislation being incompatible with a directive.
But often gold-plating relates to national policy choices or practices that are not contrary to EU law, but still undermine the Single Market and harming businesses. This is why action is needed beyond enforcement of EU law.
Subsidiarity is an essential principle, but it should not be used to increase bureaucracy.
It is a matter of striking the right balance.
The Commission will therefore work closely with the Member States, to pursue three objectives: better detection, better follow-up and, of course, better prevention.
For better detection of gold-plating, we aim to use stakeholder consultations, for example through implementation dialogues held by Commissioners.
Investigations under the Commission's Single Market focus areas for enforcement will also help detect instances of gold-plating.
For better identification, as well as better follow-up, the European Semester and the Single Market Enforcement Taskforce and the Single Market Sherpas can be leveraged further.
This year, the European Semester's Spring Package and country-specific recommendations include more references to national barriers to the Single Market, including gold-plating.
This analysis will be deepened further next year.
In any case, tackling legal gold-plating depends on the participation of Member States.
This is why the Commission is preparing a toolkit with an overview of best practices, to support Member States in detecting and preventing gold-plating.
As a first step, we have recently circulated a questionnaire to the Member States to gather information on national approaches, as well as a survey to stakeholders.
Finally, the Commission will also take into consideration the risk of gold-plating when making legislative proposals, and formulate them in a manner that minimises that risk.
For example, prioritising regulations over directives where appropriate, and comprehensively addressing the matter being legislated, can reduce the room for gold plating.
The co-legislators therefore also have an important role to play.
Thank you very much. I look forward to today's debate.
