Six simplification packages project €13 billion in annual savings

The Commission says six proposed omnibus packages could reduce administrative expenses by an estimated €13 billion each year for small and medium-sized enterprises, larger firms and public authorities.¹ That is a projection attached to proposals, not a record of savings already achieved, and it concerns recurring yearly costs.¹ A broader estimate applies if all 12 omnibus packages and other simplification proposals are adopted: annual administrative savings would then be around €22.3 billion, alongside a €5.6 billion reduction in one-off costs.¹ The two estimates describe different scopes and conditions: one concerns six packages already proposed, while the other depends on adoption of the full set and additional proposals.¹

The six packages address digital policy, environmental rules, automotive matters, food and feed safety, taxation and energy products.¹ Together, those fields show the range covered by the current proposals; the report does not assign a separate savings amount to any one of them.¹ The Commission’s account presents simplification as one part of a wider effort that also concerns timely national implementation and the enforcement of EU rules.¹ Its annual overview covers the period beginning 1 August 2025 and ending 31 July 2026, so its account is bounded by those dates rather than representing an open-ended assessment.¹

Some of the Commission’s work concerns making obligations clearer to people and organisations that must apply EU law.¹ For the AI Act, it established both a service desk and a single information platform to improve understanding of the law’s requirements.¹ These are information resources, distinct from the proposed omnibus packages and their projected cost reductions.¹ The overview also identifies an age-verification tool intended to protect minors online, which the Commission says will be made available to Member States and market participants in April 2026.¹

The age-verification measure is described in terms of availability to public authorities and market actors, rather than as a quantified outcome for users.¹ For households, a separate change comes through a new implementing regulation connected to the Citizens Energy Package.¹ The regulation is intended to make changing electricity suppliers easier and quicker for households.¹ These measures illustrate different forms of implementation: guidance about legal duties, a tool offered to Member States and market players, and a rule intended to ease a household process.¹

To assist national authorities with putting directives into domestic law, the Commission broadened an information-technology roadmap for transposition.¹ The expanded tool supports implementation of 37 directives, a count that refers to the directives covered by the resource rather than to cases or savings.¹ The Commission also describes work to discourage gold-plating, the term used in its account for national additions beyond what EU rules require.¹ In her 2026 State of the Union address, von der Leyen proposed a Pact against gold-plating, and the European Council backed the initiative.¹

The Commission is preparing a collection of good practices and practical advice on transposing EU rules to help Member States avoid gold-plating.¹ That planned guidance sits alongside the expanded roadmap tool, but the overview does not state that either measure has already reduced infringement cases.¹ In April, the Commission made a commitment to improve the speed and effectiveness of enforcement across policy fields.¹ It also identified a specific effort to strengthen enforcement of the single-market rulebook within that broader commitment.¹

During the reporting period, the Commission initiated 874 infringement procedures across all policy areas.¹ Separately, it says it is pursuing close to 2,000 cases involving alleged breaches of EU law by Member States.¹ The two counts measure different things: the first is procedures launched during the specified period, while the second is the broader number of cases now being pursued.¹ The overview links part of the increase in procedures to the number of directives whose transposition deadlines fall in a given year.¹

That explanation makes the annual launch total sensitive in part to the schedule of directive deadlines, rather than attributing the increase to a single cause.¹ The Commission’s commitment to stronger enforcement and its reported procedure count appear in the same overview, but the account does not say that the commitment caused the number of procedures launched.¹ Nor does the overview provide a breakdown of the procedures by policy field, despite stating that they span all policy areas.¹ The reported figures therefore describe the scale and scope of Commission activity, while the stated deadline effect supplies one explanation for variation in the yearly count.¹

Taken together, the report covers projected reductions in administrative burdens, practical help with implementation and a large body of enforcement work.¹ Its savings figures remain estimates tied to proposals and adoption conditions, whereas the counts of procedures and cases describe Commission enforcement activity.¹ The Commission’s account thus places simplification and enforcement within the same reporting period without treating them as interchangeable measures.¹ The report’s stated focus is to simplify EU legislation, support timely implementation and reinforce enforcement.¹