Jonathan Packroff

The German government's plan to subsidize approximately 10 gigawatts of gas-fired power plants has received the green light from Brussels. That means the first bidding round can take place as scheduled on Sep. 8.

Business leaders have expressed disappointment with the progress made in reducing bureaucracy. They say this progress is being undermined by the additional compliance burdens imposed by new legislative proposals.

On Wednesday, the European Commission plans to present new rules for EU-wide public procurement tenders. The price is to become less important as a selection criterion.

On Wednesday, the European Commission plans to present new rules for Europe-wide public procurement tenders. Under these rules, price will take a back seat as a selection criterion.

In this interview, the EU commissioner responsible for implementation and simplification explains the weak points in the simplification agenda and what the Commission is still planning to do to ease the burden on businesses.

The European Commission is not, after all, going to introduce an obligation for public contracting authorities, such as municipalities, to regularly provide information about future procurement projects. This is evident from the Commission's proposed regulation on public procurement.

A new European Commission security campus is intended to help strengthen ties between security agencies and the research community in Europe. This is expected to improve border security and the ability to decrypt encrypted messages, for example.