EU Internal Markets and Competitiveness

The domestic market for Finnish businesses should be the whole of Europe. At present, growth is being held back by fragmented markets, burdensome regulation and a lack of financing. These barriers must be tackled together. Businesses need to be able to reach customers across borders and secure the funding they need to invest.

I want companies founded in Europe to be able to grow into global players while remaining here. That is why, during this parliamentary term, I am focusing particularly on cutting unnecessary regulation, strengthening the single market and unlocking the flow of capital. Europe’s competitiveness will not improve through new strategy papers if the obligations that make it difficult for businesses to operate remain unchanged.

My key priorities

• Cutting unnecessary regulation and duplicate reporting requirements. Businesses must be able to focus their time and resources on product development, customers and growth rather than unnecessary reporting. EU rules must therefore be simplified and overlapping obligations removed. Member States must also stop imposing unnecessary national requirements on top of common EU rules. This is why I believe EU legislation should, wherever possible, take the form of regulations, which apply directly and uniformly across Member States.
• Creating a genuinely functioning single market. Businesses must be able to operate throughout the EU without having to navigate the same information requirements and procedures separately in every Member State. I am championing the EU Inc. model and the removal of national barriers so that business growth does not stop at national borders.
• Unlocking the free flow of capital across borders. Tax and administrative barriers to cross-border investment must be removed, and insolvency rules harmonised. European savings and pension funds must be better able to finance business growth.
• Setting clear targets and deadlines for reforms. Member States must commit to removing barriers within the single market and capital markets. We need clear deadlines and effective monitoring to ensure that agreed reforms are actually implemented.

Cutting red tape must make a tangible difference to businesses

Europe must also assess regulation in terms of the cumulative costs it imposes on businesses. An individual reporting requirement may seem minor, but overlapping obligations consume time and money. Small businesses do not have their own legal departments to keep track of constantly changing rules.

I am pushing for reforms that eliminate unnecessary obligations, make rules clearer and reduce the need to submit the same information to multiple authorities. Regulatory simplification must deliver real, practical benefits for businesses.

The EU’s omnibus simplification packages amend several pieces of legislation at once. They are central to the work being done during this parliamentary term to strengthen competitiveness. I am involved in this work as a lead negotiator on reforms concerning business financing, digital regulation and the operating conditions of the defence industry.

The single market provides access to customers, while capital markets provide access to finance

Businesses need both access to markets and the financing required for product development, production and international expansion. Reducing regulatory burdens, strengthening the single market and improving access to growth financing all serve the same objective: making Europe an attractive place to invest and grow a business.

Europe cannot afford to spend another decade merely talking about a Capital Markets Union. Member States must remove barriers to investment and deliver the necessary reforms. We need more long-term risk capital so that innovations developed in Europe can also be commercialised and scaled up here.

Technology, clean energy and defence require substantial investment. Public budgets alone cannot meet these financing needs. That is why EU funds must be used in ways that also mobilise private capital. Loan guarantees are an effective tool for this: the EU shares part of the financial risk, while businesses remain responsible for building commercially viable operations.

How I have advanced these priorities

I served as the lead negotiator for the Committee on Budgets on the InvestEU omnibus reform, working alongside the lead negotiator from the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. We successfully brought the reform to completion, increasing the EU investment guarantee by €2.9 billion and easing reporting requirements. In a single reform, we strengthened investment financing while reducing administrative burdens.

I also drafted the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection’s opinion on the EU’s long-term budget. My work continues on initiatives to simplify digital regulation and the rules governing the defence industry.

Key achievements

• InvestEU reform adopted. As the Committee on Budgets’ lead negotiator, I helped secure a reform that increased the EU investment guarantee by €2.9 billion and simplified reporting requirements.
• Opinion on the EU’s long-term budget. I drafted the opinion of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, which was adopted in April 2025.
• Continuing to simplify regulation. I am serving as the lead negotiator for the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy on the simplification of digital regulation, and as one of the lead negotiators on reforms to the operating conditions of the defence industry.