BRUSSELS — The European Commission is scaling back its legislative ambitions for 2027, prioritizing competitiveness, deregulation and economic security as the clock starts to run down on Ursula von der Leyen’s second term. According to a copy of its annual Work Programme and related annexes obtained by POLITICO, the EU wants to strengthen the single market, cut red tape, modernize industry and bolster its defense capabilities at a time of mounting geopolitical risks and economic uncertainty. It’s also killing off proposals that have no chance of passing, along with a crop of outdated regulations — including one on sales of butter stocks to the long-defunct Soviet Union.
Here are the key initiatives from the Work Programme, due to be announced Wednesday: The European Commission will officially abandon its ill-fated attempt to reform the way energy is taxed as part of its annual legislative kill list. The 2021 Energy Taxation Directive reform was designed to change EU tax rules to ensure electricity is taxed at a lower rate than fossil fuels; the idea was to incentivize the use of cleaner forms of energy. But member countries spent five years failing to agree on the measure because it could have forced some capitals to hike taxes on gasoline, diesel and natural gas.
The Work Programme also lists new legislation expected in 2027, including an energy “simplification package” alongside the post-2030 framework — a crop of reforms to climate and energy laws to meet the EU’s 2040 climate goals. The document does not explain what this simplification package will do. Other noteworthy measures include a Clean Heat Market Mechanism to support the adoption of heat pumps; a European Corporation on Critical Raw Materials to buy and stockpile metals needed in clean energy, defense and tech; a review of the Temporary State Aid Framework to help industries most impacted by high energy prices; and a review of CO2 standards for heavy-duty vehicles.
The European Commission will officially withdraw a major anti-greenwashing law. Proposed in March 2023, the Green Claims Directive was meant to complement the EU’s Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive — which in September introduced stricter rules for environmental claims — by telling companies how to provide evidence for their green claims. But it was shelved in June 2025 after a major disagreement between the Commission and EU governments over excessive reporting obligations for companies.
The file is “unlikely to secure support” among member countries within a “reasonable timeframe,” the Commission said. The European Commission will withdraw its proposed regulation on Financial Data Access. FIDA, as the proposal is known, would have given third parties access to financial data held by insurers, asset managers, pension funds and other financial heavyweights.
The proposal was meant to unlock the bloc’s financial data potential and boost fintech innovation. But traditional financial firms, insurers above all, rejected it and called for its withdrawal at every opportunity. Financial Services Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque has defended the file, presenting it as a key part of regaining competitiveness, and saving it at least once from simplification cuts by the Commission.
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