Merz wants to stop excessive regulation by the European Union

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday at a meeting with business leaders who support his CDU/CSU coalition that he would push for limits on excessive regulation from Brussels at the EU level.

He announced that he would present a “concrete list of very precise demands” at next week's informal EU summit in Copenhagen.

“You know that I am a staunch European. But the way things have developed in the European Union in recent years—with more and more regulation—cannot continue,” Merz emphasized.

He added that it was time to “throw a spanner in the works of this Brussels machine in order to put an end to the constant regulatory drive of the European Union's legislative apparatus.”

The news was published by the Brussels weekly magazine Politico, which considers this to be Merz's sharpest criticism of the European Commission to date – even though it is led by his party colleague Ursula von der Leyen. His clear words could therefore also indicate new tensions within the European People's Party.

(politico, sab)