STRASBOURG — Stop blaming Brussels bureaucrats for your own red tape.

That was the European Commission’s message to national governments Tuesday as it unveiled plans for an overhaul of its rules governing … rule-making.

When EU countries add on extra requirements to the bloc’s rules, it “creates barriers, raises costs and fragments the single market,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, the European commissioner in charge of economic matters. He was presenting the Commission’s plans to streamline its so-called Better Regulation guidelines — the internal rulebook for how it drafts, checks and applies EU laws.

After years of volatile energy prices and sluggish growth, companies and industry groups have been pressing Brussels to reduce the paperwork attached to EU rules covering everything from industrial permits, waste and pollution to pesticides and tech — arguing the burden is making it harder to compete with less-regulated rivals in the U.S. and China.

EU leaders have repeatedly urged the Commission to keep cutting regulation for key sectors as the bloc scrambles to boost its competitiveness.

But the Commission says Brussels is only part of the problem. EU countries, it argues, are making the burden worse by piling extra requirements onto laws when they apply them at home — then blaming Brussels for the mess.

That practice, known in EU jargon as “gold-plating,” has become a central target in the Commission’s latest push to simplify regulation, cut administrative costs and make it easier for companies to grow.

The Commission used the phrase “gold-plating” 20 times in its announcement, arguing that the practice hampers the effort to create common standards across the bloc.

The effort is part of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s promise to cut red tape for businesses by 25 percent and save the EU economy €37.7 billion a year in administrative costs by 2029.

The Commission said it will conduct a “regulatory deep cleaning” over the next two years to identify obsolete requirements and remove contradictions within its thousands of rules.

It plans to focus on twelve “priority areas,” including the free movement of goods and services, financial services, health, housing, food safety and the environment.

Better deregulation

For decades, the EU has prided itself on being a regulatory powerhouse.

It has built much of its global influence by writing rules that reach deep into the economy — from farming and energy to financial markets, consumer protection, tech and the environment — often forcing companies far beyond Europe to adapt to EU standards.

But that regulatory clout has become a political liability as growth slows and companies complain they are being strangled by rules their foreign rivals do not face.

“The Commission must finally deliver on its promise to cut red tape, particularly given the current global political situation,” said German center-right MEP Christian Doleschal. “Turning a blind eye is not an option.”

Since the start of Ursula von der Leyen’s second mandate as Commission president, the EU executive has put forward 10 so-called omnibus proposals that reopen existing laws to get rid of anything deemed overly burdensome.

“We are determined to bring about change so that in Europe and in the member states we can more quickly and effectively create an environment where companies can grow and develop the global competitiveness they need,” von der Leyen said during a meeting with leading conservative politicians in Berlin on Monday.

So far, EU decision-makers have agreed to reduce environmental disclosure obligations for companies, make it easier for small-scale farms to access EU money, and delay new requirements forcing companies to track and disclose where they source their raw materials.

More omnibus proposals are expected later this year, including on energy and taxation.

But the Commission also wants to rethink the lawmaking process itself, including by reducing the length of impact assessments and public consultation periods.

The plan to speed up lawmaking has alarmed civil society groups, trade unions, academics, businesses and citizens, who warn it could make EU decision-making more opaque and weaken scrutiny of the economic, social and environmental impact of new laws.

“Expediency and efficiency cannot come at the cost of democratic values, fundamental rights and evidence-based policymaking,” a group of 50 NGOs said in a letter to the Commission in February.

Last year, the EU Ombudsman Office slammed the Commission for not respecting the lawmaking process by trying to pass its deregulation proposals too quickly.

The Commission says it has listened to the criticism and will “assess the time-sensitivity of each situation and the possible detrimental consequences of delayed action.”

Oliver Noyan contributed reporting from Berlin.