Under President Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission is preparing to dismantle or drastically weaken a wide range of regulations that protect social rights, human rights, the environment and digital freedoms. This initiative – presented as “simplification” and “competitiveness” – risks undermining decades of democratic, social and environmental achievements across the European Union.

In response to this alarming trend, a broad European coalition of NGOs, trade unions and citizens’ groups has drafted and published a joint statement to alert public opinion and call on policymakers to act.
This statement is released in connection with the Commission President’s annual “State of the European Union” speech [1].

FIAN Belgium, as the national section of FIAN International network, stands with this collective mobilisation. We share the conviction that no so-called “simplification” can justify dismantling the safeguards that ensure human dignity, equality, and the protection of our planet.

By endorsing this statement, we join our European and international partners in calling on the EU and Member States to :

• strengthen, not weaken, rules that protect workers, consumers, the environment, and fundamental rights ;
• ensure transparency and accountability for companies ;
• provide enforcement authorities with the resources to apply these rules ;
• protect civic space and the participation of organisations acting in the public interest.

The European civil society – diverse and united – sends a clear message today : our rights, our health, our planet, and our democracy are not for sale.

Read the full statement here