Welcome to Better Europe’s weekly update on EU Affairs.
MAYBE COMING SOON: THE EUROPEAN INVESTMENT ACCOUNT
How do Europeans see the impact of the EU in their daily life? A single currency, free roaming, and -in theory- open borders. Perhaps the Ecolabel if you buy sustainable products and services. And in 2013, the Commission even proposed to protect consumers against fraudulent refills of olive oil bottles in restaurants. But soon you might see another EU product in your household: the European Savings and Investment Account. Because Europe needs your money, to invest in the digital transition, green competitiveness, and, why not, the defence industry. The Commission’s plans for the Savings and Investment Union in terms of retail investments will soon become more concrete, following a consultation that closed earlier this week with 292 responses. In his “Much more than a market” report published last year, Enrico Letta called for the creation of a new retail investment product, with low fees, mandatory diversification and cross-border sales. And ideally a harmonised tax treatment. However, not a lot is left of this ambition, and the Commission is now planning to present a ‘blueprint’, a recommendation to Member States in September instead.
CLIMATE SABOTAGE AS FAR RIGHT TAKES THE WHEEL
We already knew the European People’s Party (EPP) was ready to throw Europe’s climate ambition under the bus, but now the far right is actually driving. On Tuesday, the EPP joined forces with far-right MEPs to decide who will lead Parliament’s work on the EU’s 2040 climate targets. Spoiler: it’s a member of the hard-right Patriots group, whose climate agenda reads more like a demolition manual than a roadmap. Socialists, Liberals, and Greens had pushed for an emergency procedure to at least have a Parliament position ahead of COP30. Same story, different file: the EPP also backed the far right’s motion to reject a Commission-drafted list of countries and their relative deforestation risk, in a symbolic move that nevertheless deepens rifts in the pro-EU majority backing Ursula von der Leyen’s second Commission. All this, on the eve of a motion of censure against von der Leyen over Pfizergate. Of course she survived the vote, but her majority is cracking and even Renew has lost trust in her leadership. Long gone are the days when Brussels boasted of leading the world on climate… and the worst may still be to come.
REPASI’S BIG IDEA: MAKING EUROPE EASIER FOR START-UPS
Brussels is one step closer to establishing the groundwork for a new legal framework to boost startup growth. German Socialist MEP René Repasi’s draft report on the 28th Regime – debated next week in the Legal Affairs Committee – lays the foundations for a new EU-wide company form: the European Start-Up and Scale-Up (ESSU). The goal is to have a simple, digital, and recognisable legal framework for entrepreneurs to scale across EU internal borders without legal headaches. Key safeguards aim to prevent abuse and protect national standards on labour law and codetermination, which is a sensitive point in Germany after many companies converted to Societas Europaea (SE) to flirt with national Mitbestimmung rules that guarantee the representation of workers on boards. As Parliament fine-tunes its input ahead of a plenary vote in December, the Commission has opened its Have Your Say consultation. From now until 30 September, citizens and stakeholders can weigh in on the initiative, a vital step before the Commission tables legislation in early 2026. To make the Single Market work for Europe’s next unicorns.