« We are strangled by Europe » – Diepresse.com
VIG CEO Hartwig Löger complains about excessive reporting obligations that cost money and time.
Vienna. In the United States, President Donald Trump has created his own authority with Doge to take care of leaner state structures. And in the EU Commission, too, it has meanwhile been carried out to reduce and/or soften laws and regulations. Because the competitiveness of Europe is becoming more and more falling behind compared to the United States and China. The growth is therefore limited, and industry has also been on the collar for a long time. This is partly due to the exuberant rules, which companies are exposed to in the EU.
« We are very strongly regulated by Europe, sometimes I also allow myself to use the word strangled, » said Hartwig Löger on Friday in the club of the business publicists. Since the summer of 2023, Löger has been CEO of listed insurance Vienna Insurance Group, which is active in 30 countries, especially in central and Eastern Europe. Previously, Löger was finance minister and short-term Vice-Chancellor of the Republic.
In terms of sustainability, for example, there are 36,000 pages of guidelines and regulations from Brussels. It is a « mega effort » to apply it within a company. « This not only costs time, but also money and takes the energy for entrepreneurial action, » says Löger. The VIG would have to spend 50 million euros on its sustainability reporting in the entire group.
Climate reporting is fundamentally important that the topic also has a need for society as a whole, but « but in the form that is required, it is sometimes absurd and counterproductive ». He therefore sees the limit of meaningfulness far exceeded.
In February, the EU has already submitted corresponding packages (under the keyword omnibus), which, among other things, aim at simpler and more efficient sustainability reporting. However, Löger hopes that « deregulation will not be done again via regulations and regulations ». In addition, the de -bureaucratization must be carefully considered. Because if smaller companies are excluded from reporting obligations in the EU supplier regulation, but larger companies still have to stick to it, it makes the matter « even more difficult » for the big ones.
Focus on some topics
Only some time ago, at a board meeting, he was again taught about a new set of rules that deals with the handling of insurance. In Austria, however, the last insurance company in 1936 was bankrupt: Back then, bankruptcy was opened through the Phoenix insurance. There have been some insurance banks in Romania in recent years, but there would have been a stronger supervision.
In his opinion, Europe needs a clear definition of topics that you want to decide at European level. In his opinion, defense and internal security are just as important as a common foreign policy line, but also the capital market union. But there are also regulations and standardizations that Brussels do not have to solve and that should therefore be better decided at the national level.
