Stepping up EU simplification efforts in the field of social affairs
To explore how to advance EU simplification efforts in social legislation, we hosted an event on 18 February 2026 in Brussels together with our member federations the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA) and the Confederation of Danish Employers (DA), featuring Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness.
In his opening remarks, our Director General Markus J. Beyrer underlined the urgency of action: “Regulatory burdens, together with energy costs, are the top factors deterring investment in Europe. European companies are spending as much on compliance as they do on innovation. This is undermining future growth and jeopardising the creation of quality jobs.”
The panel discussion with Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu, Steffen Kampeter (CEO of BDA), Delphine Rudelli (Director General of Ceemet), moderated by Mattias Dahl (Chair of BusinessEurope's Social Affairs Committee), focused on reducing regulatory burdens, improving the implementation of existing rules and ensuring that the upcoming Quality Jobs Act delivers on simplification. The discussion emphasised the importance of social dialogue and simpler legislation to preserve Europe’s social model, enabling companies to invest and create quality jobs.
Alongside the event, we also published concrete ways to simplify EU social legislation while preserving workers’ rights. Our goal: facilitate compliance through more competitiveness-friendly social legislation to sustain Europe’s social model in a particularly challenging period for European companies.
