Frankfurt, 28 April 2026 – Commenting on the European Commission’s communication on ‘Better Regulation and Enforcement of EU Law’, VDMA Executive Director Thilo Brodtmann says:

• “It is generally a good thing that the European Commission is still on track when it comes to ‘Better Regulation’ and its better-regulation communication shows that simplification remains high on the political agenda.”

• “The message comes at just the right time, as simplification is currently hardly reaching businesses: developments such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) or the Digital Product Passport (DPP) show that ‘simplification’ is not being put into practice in reality, but rather that legislation is being expanded and made more complex.”

• “One example is the explosion in the number of delegated acts: the fact that dozens of delegated acts are needed for a law to function is not only a sign of poor-quality legislation. It is also becoming virtually impossible for businesses and public authorities to keep up with the sheer volume and complexity.”

• “The VDMA calls on the EU institutions to turn their announcements into action and finally demonstrate the political will to simplify the when planning and writing legislation: the number of laws, the depth of regulation and the scope of application must be minimised. This is particularly important for current and upcoming initiatives, such as the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) or the revision of public procurement law, which carry a significant risk of bureaucracy. Here, things can be done right from the start – and leaving things out is also an option.”

The VDMA represents 3500 German and European mechanical and plant engineering companies. The industry stands for innovation, export orientation and SMEs. The companies employ around 3 million people in the EU-27, more than 1.2 million of them in Germany alone. This makes mechanical and plant engineering the largest employer among the capital goods industries, both in the EU-27 and in Germany. In the European Union, it represents a turnover volume of an estimated 900 billion euros. Around 80 percent of the machinery sold in the EU comes from a manufacturing plant in the domestic market.