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"Gold-plating" of EU legislation has become a structural challenge for companies operating across the Single Market. While Member States are often permitted to introduce additional national measures when implementing EU law, these divergences frequently create fragmented compliance requirements, administrative burdens and increased costs for businesses.
Drawing on examples from AmCham EU member companies across digital policy, cybersecurity, data protection, telecommunications, environmental regulation, consumer protection, tax transparency and labour law, the paper shows how national additions to EU rules can result in parallel compliance systems, duplicate reporting obligations, country-specific product adaptations and barriers to cross-border operations.
The paper highlights four key findings:
Divergence between Member States is often a bigger cost driver than any single regulatory requirement.
Fragmentation extends beyond directive transposition and also arises through opening clauses, national guidance, administrative practices and regional measures.
Minimum-harmonisation legislation can still create significant Single Market fragmentation.
Gold-plating occurs at both national and sub-national levels.
The European Commission should address these issues through greater consistency in implementation, increased transparency around national additions, reduced duplication in reporting and registration requirements, stronger implementation dialogue and the use of Single Market enforcement tools where appropriate. The objective is not to remove legitimate national discretion, but to prevent unnecessary regulatory barriers within the Single Market.
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