“I hear about other projects from the Commission, like creating new environmental benchmarks for 2040,” he said. “This is not the time to add complexity, but to see how we can make sure our companies are competitive on the international stage.”
“At a basic level, we can’t allow decarbonization to reinforce Chinese and American industry. So let’s have a pause on further norms and let’s accompany our companies, protect them.”
While hacking away at regulation, the EU also needs to overcome decades of inertia and start to unify its fragmented single market so EU companies can draw on deeper stores of capital and grow large enough to compete with American and Chinese rivals, Haddad said.
He emphasized the need to push ahead with the formation of a so-called capital markets union — an idea that has failed to gain critical mass among EU countries despite years of advocacy by Paris and Berlin.
“There will be proposals in coming months which go in this direction on the capital markets union, whether it’s on securitization or on a European savings account or a single supervisory authority,” he said. “Now is the time to go ahead with these things.”
Another item on Haddad’s wish list: a common legal regimen for companies across the bloc. Currently, companies wishing to expand beyond their national borders need to grapple with 27 different legal systems — a problem that former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta has vowed to solve by creating a 28th, European regime.
“I’d go even further,” Haddad said. “I know the Commission is working on a 28th regime of corporate law. We’re not going to harmonize everything overnight. But let’s add a 28th regime for companies that can choose between a national or European regime if they want to develop on a European scale.”