No successful transitions without moderation

In the space of a few weeks, the European authorities have been forced to roll back environmental standards that had been democratically adopted with the agreement of the Member States: compulsory set-aside for farmers, a ban on imports of products ‘derived from deforestation’, and absolute protection for wolves.

Other steps in this direction are to be expected which will affect for example the ban on the manufacture of internal combustion engine vehicles from 2035, the ‘duty of care’ for companies towards their suppliers, and ‘greening’ obligations for the financial sector.

This huge scale-back is neither right-wing nor left-wing. It is the result of excessive regulation. A belated, moral and passionate awareness of environmental requirements has led to ill-considered fervour and its inevitable legislative consequences. The result has been a backlash that is unlikely to abate any time soon.

Europeans' immoderate love of standards and constraints has once again found its voice. The Member States and their administrations are equally responsible for this, along with European legislators.

Rather than focusing on results and the motivation of players to achieve them, as is the case on other continents, we focus on what we believe to be the best means of achieving them and try to impose them from above.

The result is a growing number of rules that hamper economic activity, exasperate citizens and exacerbate extremes. The most edifying example is the European taxonomy, a list of activities declared acceptable and therefore a table of those to be banned.

If a success is to be made of the digital and environmental transitions, before legislating Europeans must consider the impact of their decisions on international relations, the economic situation and growth, and give priority to innovation.

It was Brazil, Indonesia and other developing countries that took exception to Europe's deforestation law, showing that our arrogance was matched only by our certainty that a tougher stance here would set an example to the world.

It is our industrialists, who are fed up with the constraints and obligations weighing down on their activity to the point where the major German car groups prefer to invest in Chinese factories and the European chemical industry is being forced to move abroad.

It is Mario Draghi who has dared to say that excessive regulation in Europe is hampering innovation and largely explains why we are lagging behind the digital giants.

To make a success of these transitions, which require considerable sums of money and a total transformation of our production methods and habits, we need to mobilise all the players, encourage growth and free up innovation, in other words make our economy more agile rather than fossilising it in a corset of constraints.

Rules are necessary, of course, but we must avoid creating obstacles to creativity, intelligence, risk and success.

In the face of major challenges - climate, ethics, security - we do not need excessive enthusiasm leading to rules decided under pressure. What we need are more effective policies, conducted first and foremost with common sense and moderation.