"There is still room for improvement in reducing bureaucracy"

Legislative proposals from Europe are impacting everyday business life, says Holger Schwannecke. He discusses successes in advocacy and important issues for the future.

This article is part of the special topic Bureaucratic madness in the craft industry

The European elections are fast approaching. On May 26, German voters can go to the polls and help shape Europe's future. Holger Schwannecke, Secretary General of the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts, explains why Europe is important for businesses. He looks back on the past legislative period and offers a look ahead to the next one.

Handwerksblatt: Why is Europe so important for the craft industry?
Swan neck: More and more legislative proposals are now coming from Europe. Whether it's corporate policy or financing, the handling of chemicals, air pollution control, consumer law, or Europe-wide standardization rules: European legislation today has a direct impact on businesses. That's why it's important that we know early on what's happening at the European level. For this purpose, we have a suitably equipped office in Brussels with 17 employees. For us, the ZDH representation at the EU is a kind of early warning system or sounding board: When something happens at the European level, whether positive or negative, we hear about it first through our Brussels office. When the legislative process then begins, we organize majorities in Brussels. And only those who are early can help shape Europe.

Handwerksblatt: How do you assess the legislative period now coming to an end from the perspective of the skilled trades?
Swan neck: Commission President Juncker has set some correct priorities. Fewer new legislative proposals, a review of existing legal acts, and improved impact assessments, to name just a few of the measures. Initial progress has also been made in the internal energy market and the digital single market. But there have also been critical developments. I am thinking here, for example, of the excessive tightening of the Posting of Workers Directive, social regulations, and consumer law. This puts a strain on our companies when they operate across borders, for example, and leads to a shift in the balance to the detriment of companies. Furthermore, it has become clear that Europe is making no progress on major issues, such as a modern asylum and migration policy. And let's not forget the Commission's constant criticism of the mandatory master craftsman's certificate.

Handwerksblatt: What were the greatest successes in advocacy?
Swan neck: Our most important success was preventing interference with our right to regulate professions as part of the Services Package. The electronic services card is also part of this. Here, the Juncker Commission has sidelined several of its own guiding principles, such as its commitment to reducing bureaucracy and subsidiarity. Specifically, it concerns the distribution of roles within the EU. We are increasingly seeing a trend for the Commission to interfere in day-to-day business. In doing so, it presents initiatives that are highly complicated and hardly applicable. Moreover, in reality, far from the Brussels institutions, they offer little added value. We have not been able to identify any solutions to problems in the internal market.
By the way, we're not the only ones saying this. As part of a broad alliance of affected national and European partners, we stopped the Commission's proposal to introduce the services card. The fact that the skilled trades were not alone in this view was demonstrated by the clear rejection of the services card by all relevant committees in the European Parliament.

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Handwerksblatt: What didn’t go so well?
Swan neck: There are several problems with European consumer law. There is no appropriate balance of interests between consumers and SMEs. What's more, SME interests are completely ignored. We also see this in the EU Commission's proposal for collective action. This proposal unilaterally favors consumers, even though SMEs are also harmed to the same extent. The ZDH is therefore committed to making EU consumer law more practical and taking the interests of SMEs into account in the current legislative proposals.

Handwerksblatt: Which issues will play a role in the coming legislative period?
Swan neck: Access to data is becoming increasingly important for craft businesses. We therefore need a legal framework at the European level that obliges manufacturers to make their data available to third parties. Another issue is state aid law. To ensure that small and medium-sized businesses can also receive meaningful support, it must be simplified.
Small grants, from which craft businesses in particular benefit, must be exempt from the aid regulations, even if the consultations are conducted through the chambers of skilled crafts. Furthermore, the EU budget for 2021 to 2027 still has to be negotiated. It is vital that the EU remains adequately funded even after Brexit. In doing so, it must tackle new challenges, such as in the areas of security, migration, and air pollution control policy. But there is still room for improvement when it comes to reducing bureaucracy. The Commission should first drive this forward within its own departments. Another important topic is environmental and climate policy, such as air quality. Digitalization permeates all policy areas. And last but not least, we naturally ask ourselves the exciting question: What will the composition of the new European Parliament be—and how will it work after the summer recess.