The European Commission's push to reduce business bureaucracy depends in part on a competitiveness story that its own information does not back, according to specialists and figures from the European Investment Bank.

Those figures indicate that US firms actually face higher regulatory barriers to investment than their European peers.

Europe's claimed competitiveness shortfall with the United States and China now forms a central focus in Brussels decision-making. This theme ran through the 2024 Letta report on the single market and the 2025 Draghi report on The Future of European Competitiveness.

"The issue is not that Europe lacks concepts or drive. We possess skilled researchers and business founders who register patents. Yet progress stalls after that point: we struggle to move from invention to market application, and promising firms seeking growth in Europe encounter repeated blocks from uneven and tight rules," states the Draghi report.

Bureaucratic burdens, defined as needless and heavy rules, have been named the chief cause of difficulties for European businesses.

For instance, the Draghi report asserted that over 60 percent of EU firms view regulation as a barrier to investment.

Although the number holds true, it distorts the picture, notes Jonathan Zeitlin, professor emeritus of public policy and governance at the University of Amsterdam and visiting fellow at the European University Institute in Firenze.

"The partial application of statistics to back assertions on regulatory load, which support some of the Omnibus ideas, borders on political manipulation. It is clearly selective," he stated.

While researchers, the European Ombudsman and civil groups challenge the sense, approaches and outcomes of red-tape reduction in EU rules, one core issue lingers: Where does the proof lie for a regulatory divide between the EU and the US?

In discussion with EUobserver, Zeitlin expands on his critique, calling the logic close to political manipulation. Here is the basis:

What the data says