Brussels, 29 January 2025 (dpa/MIA) - The European Commission on Wednesday presented its plan to boost the bloc's faltering competitiveness and slash costly red tape, but it has left climate campaigners wary.

"Europe has everything it needs to succeed in the race to the top. But, at the same time, we must fix our weaknesses to regain competitiveness," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels.

"What matters is speed and unity. The world is not waiting for us," she added.

The EU has not kept pace with other major economies over the last two decades, the commission said.

The commission plans to focus in the coming years on accelerating innovation, reducing and stabilising energy prices, and diminishing excessive global dependencies.

To relieve businesses and attract new investments, the commission promised an "unprecedented simplification effort" to cut the administrative burden and simplify reporting obligations for firms by 35% and for small and medium-sized companies by 25%.

"We have a very clear signal from the European business sector that there is too much complexity," von der Leyen said.

Slashing red tape could save European companies over €37 billion ($38.4 billion) a year, she added.

This is to include reporting on sustainable finance and due diligence obligations which were introduced in recent years and are intended to direct investments towards the greenest companies and hold companies accountable for the environmental impact of their value chains.

Von der Leyen stressed that the EU will not change course but stick to its target of becoming climate-neutral by 2050.

"I want to be very clear, the European Union stays on course," she said.

Climate an environmental campaigners however are cautious about the announcement.

The presented programme "falls short of clearly addressing the need for substantial investment in clean tech and cheaper energy solutions," said Marcin Korolec, former Polish environment minister.

"We cannot overlook the pivotal role of targeted investments in achieving energy affordability and long-term competitiveness against China and the US," Korolec added, who now heads a green economy think tank.

"While regulatory simplification can help, on its own it is not enough to strengthen European industry."

The competitiveness strategy's success will be measured by attracting investment to Europe in business models with a low environmental footprint, said Martin Porter from the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership.

To be successful it must come with measures that provide long-term clarity for businesses rather than simply unravelling existing policies, he said.

The commission also plans to further harmonize labour law and tax policies across the EU's 27 member states and substantially increase investment in research.