Commission turns to artificial intelligence to write better laws
BRUSSELS — The European Commission is now using artificial intelligence to draft new laws and simplify existing ones, it said in an annual review of progress on its ongoing simplification drive.
As part of a major plan to cut red tape and administrative costs for businesses, the EU is making deep reforms to how it creates and enforces rules on everything from tech, agriculture and migration to environmental protection and taxation.
To do that, the Commission is deploying new digital tools internally to "modernise" lawmaking. The tools aim to help its staff "identify similarities across legal acts, pointing at potential overlaps, inconsistencies or duplicates, as well as opportunities for simplification," it said in an annual simplification report presented on Wednesday.
According to the document, the Commission is also beefing up legal training and staff to make sure new rules are not overly complex.
"Our simplification agenda is more than figures in a report. It is a story unfolding every day in the offices, factories and farms across Europe," said EU Simplification Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis at a press conference. Small business owners are spending "less time filling in forms and more time focused on innovation and expansion," he added.
The EU's rulebook has been widely criticized for being overly complex and, at times, inconsistent. The Commission's simplification drive is designed to fix this, making it easier for businesses and governments to comply with its laws by reviewing old legislation and adopting digital tools.
Since the start of her second term as Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen has made simplification a cornerstone of her political agenda. So far, the EU has produced 12 so-called omnibus packages to revise and simplify existing legislation, which the Commission estimates will save the EU economy €22.3 billion in costs.
Brussels is also turning the screws on EU governments by pressuring them to implement laws properly. According to the report, the Commission launched 874 infringement procedures between August 2025 and July 2026, which is "the highest number in the last 10 years."
The Commission is also pushing back on governments piling on extra requirements when transposing European legislation into national law, a concept known as "gold-plating." The executive expects to sign a "pact against gold-plating" with EU governments by the end of the year.
Dombrovskis called for a "joint effort" on simplification between the Commission and member countries. The political demand for simplification is not always reflected in governments' national positions on legislative files, he warned.
Since the start of its simplification drive, Brussels has grown increasingly frustrated with EU capitals, arguing that while EU leaders call for more simplification at a political level, governments keep watering down the Commission's proposals to cut red tape during negotiations.
"That's why we risk that some of the omnibuses will end the legislative process with substantially less simplification than the Commission has proposed," the Dombrovskis said.
EU institutions have been figuring out how to use AI technologies to make laws, but some decision-makers have been urging caution. On Wednesday, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola urged lawmakers to be careful when adopting AI technologies in decision-making, arguing it should not replace critical thinking and that there must be “democratic accountability” in lawmaking.
