EPICENTER

25/02/2026

🤖 Europe’s tech ecosystem is still lagging behind global competitors, but the Digital Omnibus package is a rare chance to move from “regulatory superpower” to innovation leader. Here are three concrete shifts lawmakers should back as they dissect overlaps and inconsistencies across the EU’s digital acquis.

1️⃣ Make GDPR work for SMEs and start-ups

Introduce targeted exemptions for genuinely low-risk data uses so early-stage companies are not treated like Big Tech from day one.

Create lighter, lower-cost compliance tracks so founders can spend more time building products than navigating paperwork.

2️⃣ De-politicise enforcement of DSA & DMA

Set up an independent digital markets unit to oversee DSA and DMA enforcement, ensuring decisions are predictable and not driven by short-term political pressure.

Anchor content rules in a solid human-rights approach, with a clear definition of “illegal content” to avoid arbitrary takedowns and protect freedom of expression.

3️⃣ Make the AI Act a launchpad, not a lid

Expand regulatory sandboxes so smaller firms can safely test advanced AI without facing immediate, crippling penalties.

Clarify vague notions such as “high-risk” and “systemic risk” so rules are proportionate to real harms and do not push Europe into a “technology importer only” role.

If the European Parliament focuses on cutting overlaps while protecting rights, it can also unlock the investment and legal certainty European founders need to compete at the frontier of innovation. Time to move from a mind-set that prizes regulation over creation – and make Europe’s digital revival a reality.

11/02/2026

💶⚠️ The EU is considering the introduction of a digital euro as a new public retail payment instrument. But expert assessment suggests the case for such an intervention remains weak in a market that already delivers fast, low-cost, and innovative payment solutions.

📊 An EU Regulatory Observatory survey of experts finds the proposal is widely perceived as a regulatory expansion rather than a liberalising reform. Mandatory acceptance rules, holding limits, and operational requirements would extend the ECB’s footprint into an already competitive payments ecosystem.

🔍 While some potential benefits are acknowledged, such as strategic autonomy and resilience, experts largely view these as conditional and achievable through less intrusive alternatives, including interoperability, regulatory simplification, and private-sector innovation.

📘 Our new EU Regulatory Observatory briefing by Fundación para el Avance de la Libertad’s Vicente Moreno Casas and Bosco Aspe Maella examines the digital euro proposal in depth, highlighting concerns around necessity, proportionality, competition, privacy, and long-term monetary governance.

👉 Read it in full to see why experts remain sceptical, and what policymakers should prioritise instead.

https://www.epicenternetwork.eu/briefings/eu-regulatory-observatory-the-digital-euro/

09/01/2026

Tired of hearing the same perspectives? Join us for 'In Conversations With', a new fortnightly series featuring leading experts sharing unique national and free-market insights on Europe's economy and society.

From innovative ideas to honest discussions on growth, competition, and prosperity, we bring fresh voices to the table.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/33e6aXXf-9Y

16/12/2025

🗳️ Today’s European Parliament debate on the 2030 Consumer Agenda must put consumers back at the centre of EU policy.

As our EU-WIN blueprint shows, the EU’s competitiveness challenge is inseparable from consumers’ ability to choose freely, trust markets, and benefit from innovation. Yet in recent years, the EU has moved from enabling choice to managing it – adding layers of regulation that raise costs and reduce flexibility for consumers and firms alike.

Today, we call on the Commission and the Parliament to ensure that the new Consumer Agenda:
🔹 Prioritises consumer choice instead of prescriptive rules
🔹 Strengthens trust through transparency, not micromanagement
🔹 Reduces unnecessary bureaucracy, which currently drives up prices and limits market entry
🔹 Supports innovation and competition, the real engines of consumer welfare

A consumer policy that focuses on empowerment, openness, and trust is essential if Europe is to regain its competitive edge. Let’s make the 2030 Consumer Agenda a catalyst – not a constraint.

03/12/2025

💬 We’re told: work hard, pay into the state pension system, and one day the system pays you back. A simple, reassuring story passed down through generations.

⚠️ But the truth is less comforting. Today’s workers pay for today’s retirees, and the entire model depends on each new generation funding the last. And the consequences are becoming harder to ignore.

📉 Europe now faces a €19 trillion gap in stock market capitalisation. These gaps mean less long-term investment, weaker innovation, and reduced financial resilience.

💡 The solution? A shift towards funded pensions that create real savings, real capital, and real security for future generations.

📝 To learn more, check out our new briefing by Institut économique Molinari's Cécile Philippe and Nicolas Marques. 👇

https://www.epicenternetwork.eu/briefings/europes-193-trillion-capital-shortfall/

28/11/2025

📊 According to EPICENTER’s EU Regulatory Quality Index (EU-RQI), impact assessments too often overlook SMEs or treat them as an afterthought.

🏢 Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) power Europe’s economy – yet only 59% of EU directives between 2022–2024 assessed their impact on SMEs. That means nearly half of new EU laws are adopted without measuring how they affect small businesses, the backbone of Europe’s competitiveness and innovation.

💡 The solution? Make SME impact analysis mandatory and consistent, ensuring every directive supports growth rather than stifles it.

27/11/2025

🚨 As the European Parliament votes on the Report on the future of European competitiveness based on Draghi, EPICENTER’s message is clear: Europe needs more than Draghi’s diagnosis — it needs a different prescription.

Draghi is right about the problem: Europe is losing competitiveness.

But where Draghi calls for more public investment and more EU-level intervention, our Draghi’s Dilemma report shows something different:

🔸 Europe’s core problem isn’t too little spending — it’s too much regulation

🔸 Competitiveness won’t return through new EU programmes, but through real market liberalisation

🔸 SMEs need fewer barriers, not bigger Brussels budgets

If today’s vote is to matter, it must push the EU toward leaner rules, deeper markets, and genuine economic freedom — not more centralisation.

Europe doesn’t need a bigger toolbox. It needs the courage to use a lighter one.

Read our latest publication from Carl-Vincent Reimers from Timbro on the matter by following the link below:

https://www.epicenternetwork.eu/publications/draghis-dilemma-competitiveness-great-power-competition-and-europes-next-move/

25/11/2025

Today, the European Parliament debates the Report on the Protection of Minors Online.

Protecting children is essential — but we’re walking a very thin line. Safeguards must not become a gateway for state-level censorship or mass surveillance.

Instead of controlling or blocking content (which can be bypassed with any VPN anyway), Europe should focus on digital literacy, empowering young people with critical thinking and real freedom of choice.

Yes, minors face an overwhelming amount of harmful content and disinformation. But as the European Commission has already noted, over-blocking contradicts the DSA. Any restriction must follow a human-rights-based, case-by-case assessment, grounded in jurisprudence, not sweeping legislative bans.

We must also remain vigilant: autocratic governments could misuse the DSA for political purposes, especially given its impact on fundamental freedoms like freedom of expression. One solution? Consider creating an independent digital markets unit to enforce both the DMA and DSA, reducing the risk of politicisation.

Let’s protect minors — without giving illiberal actors new tools to repress.

21/11/2025

🧠✅ Our second installment of the APA BrainLab for the Conservative and Reformist group at the European Parliament on Digital reform and Innovation took place this week, timely on the same day that the European Commission announced its new Digital Package.

🗣️📈 The unconference format enabled open exploration of regulatory simplification, spurring innovation and investment by parliamentary assistants. With the support of the New Direction, and the office of Mr Cavedagna MEP. Our aim was to provide space to discuss, connect, and create outside of the formal legislative pipeline for APAs.

To learn more about upcoming sessions of the BrainLab, click the link below! 👇
https://lnkd.in/eMr8P7hq

20/11/2025

🗺️ Just 6.6% of EU directives between 2022–2024 began with a roadmap – the early planning document that outlines a law’s purpose, goals, and evidence base. Without a roadmap, even the best policy ideas risk losing focus before they reach the finish line.

📊 Today EPICENTER launched the EU Regulatory Quality Index, which shows how poor early planning undermines transparency and consistency in EU lawmaking.

💡 The fix: make roadmaps mandatory for every new initiative. Check the Index on the link below!

https://www.epicenternetwork.eu/publications/eu-regulatory-quality-index/

Istituto Bruno Leoni Κέντρο Φιλελεύθερων Μελετών Fundación para el Avance de la Libertad Fundacja FOR (Forum Obywatelskiego Rozwoju) Institute for Market Economics

19/11/2025

🔍 As the European Commission unveils the package today, a new analysis from EPICENTER's Regulatory Observatory shows that the reform improves clarity and cuts duplication, yet the weight of EU digital regulation remains largely unchanged. For SMEs and innovators, that means administrative processes may get smoother, but competitiveness challenges persist.

⚙️ Streamlining is a positive first step. The next one must be a deeper review of whether existing rules are proportionate, effective, and fit for a fast-moving digital economy.

📘 Read our publication on digital revival in Europe for what smarter, future-proof regulation should look like:

https://www.epicenternetwork.eu/publications/digital-revival-how-regulation-prevents-the-rise-of-european-tech-leaders-8838/

18/11/2025

💡In this episode of Conversations in the Epicenter of the EU, EPICENTER Director Adam Bartha sits down with MEP Morten Løkkegaard and Adrian Nikolov, Senior Economist at Bulgaria’s Institute for Market Economics, to discuss why regulatory simplification is urgently needed for a more dynamic, innovative Europe.

✂️ From better law-making to reducing burdens on businesses, our guests explore practical steps to make the Single Market work smarter – not harder.

Watch the full conversation now!

In this episode of Conversations in the Epicenter of the EU, Adam Bartha (Director of EPICENTER) was joined by MEP Morten Løkkegaard and Adrian Nikolov (Seni...