On 19 October 2021, the European Commission adopted its Work Programme for 2022, providing a detailed outline of the legislative initiatives we can expect to see over the course of the coming year. What are some of the key initiatives and themes for 2022?
In this article, we take a closer look at the European Union’s legislative and policy agenda for 2022 and set out some of the key initiatives to present a forward-looking view.
What are some of the key initiatives and themes for 2022?
In line with the priorities of the current Commission, the initiatives put forward revolve around six themes: the environment, technology, business and employment, foreign policy, education and lifestyle, and democracy and freedom.
Some of the key initiatives include:
- There is a continued strong focus on the environment, the Green Deal and tackling climate change, with new initiatives such as carbon removal certification, a new “right to repair” for consumers, and measures to reduce the release of microplastics in the environment. There are also several planned revisions to existing environmental legislation on water and air quality.
- Unsurprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to action in a number of areas, with perhaps the most striking initiative in the form of a “Single Market Emergency Instrument” to ensure a co-ordinated response to future crises and ensure solidarity between EU Member States. It will be interesting to see the text of this proposal when it is published (in early 2022, according to current estimates) as it could be significant. Another fallout of the crisis is the supply of semiconductors. A “European Chips Act” is foreseen in 2022 as the EU seeks to secure a stable supply of semiconductors.
- We also see the theme of “strategic autonomy” creeping into the Programme via the European Chips Act, but also via the amendment to the Blocking Statute Regulation. The latter has the potential to have a particular impact on financial services and the EU-US relationship.
- Financial services remain in focus with a planned reform of insolvency proceedings (part of the Capital Markets Union), a new initiative on instant payments, and another on facilitating SME access to capital. The reform to insolvency proceedings, while significant and with the potential to make a real difference, will be politically difficult to achieve because of the known resistance to change in justice ministries across the EU.
- There are important updates to competition policy. The vertical and horizontal block exemption Regulations will be updated, likely in May and December 2022, respectively. There will be a revision of certain procedural aspects of EU merger control in the first half of 2022, and a revision of the Notice on market definition at the end of 2022.
- The new relationship between the United Kingdom and EU has also impacted the Work Programme, with, for example a proposal to improve security-related information exchanges between the EU and third countries.
- Finally, with a clear eye on developments in Poland, the Commission is planning a new European Media Freedom Act in the second half of 2022. The aim is to increase transparency, independence and accountability around actions affecting media ownership and pluralism.
Read more about the annual work programme of the European Commission here.