The European Commission is seeking feedback on simplifying environmental legislation and reducing administrative burdens.

The commission this week opened a call for evidence on how to simplify this legislation, "by cutting red tape while upholding and better achieving the EU's environmental objectives of this legislation".

An upcoming environmental omnibus proposal will present measures to simplify legislation concerning the circular economy, industrial emissions and waste management.

This week's call for views serves to identify EU environmental policies that could be simplified for businesses without affecting the EU's environmental objectives or the protection of human health.

The feedback period for the call for evidence is open until the September 10, 2025.

Commissioner for the Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, Jessika Roswall is leading the initiative.

She said: “Our objective is to gather insights from stakeholders and citizens on how to simplify environmental legislation without compromising our high environmental standards.

"Reducing the administrative burden of environmental laws will help make them more effective and ensure better environmental protection in the long run.”  

The initiative aims to reduce administrative burden without affecting the policy objectives pursued by the legislation. The initiative will also consider permitting challenges relating to environment assessments.

The initiative is aligned with key EU initiatives, such as the competitiveness compass - the commission's roadmap for restoring Europe's dynamism and boosting economic growth - and targets of cutting administrative burden by at least 25% for all companies and at least 35% for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The compass also calls for accelerated permitting for sectors in transition to a clean and digital economy.