Gold-Plating of EU Law

For years, EU law has been "enhanced" in its national implementation by so-called "gold-plating" practices – i.e. supplemented by additional regulations that go beyond EU requirements. "Although these practices have long been criticised, the 'gilding' of EU law is still commonplace, despite repeated commitments from Member States," notes cep expert Philipp Eckhardt, who authored the study.

However, the voices calling for gold-plating to be curbed are not getting any quieter. In a letter dated 12 October 2026, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed launching work on a Pact against gold-plating, with the aim of signing the declaration at a European Council meeting before the end of 2026.

The cepStudy, which was first published in German in December 2025 and has now been updated in light of recent developments, sets out several strategies for curbing undesirable gold-plating that should be implemented promptly. The aim is not to ban gold-plating across the board, but to limit it to practices that are considered acceptable, desirable and justified according to objective and uniform criteria.

Eckhardt first calls for a uniform understanding of gold-plating practices in the EU to be established. A clear distinction should be made between desirable and undesirable refinement strategies. In addition, transparency regarding the harmonising nature of individual EU regulations should be increased to provide clarity at an early stage about the remaining scope for action at national level.

Another proposal is the consistent development of guidelines for national implementation. These should clarify open questions – such as the interpretation or application of certain regulations – at an early stage. In order to justify deviations from a 1:1 implementation, Eckhardt also proposes the introduction of "comply or explain" mechanisms at national level. This would require national legislators to justify why they deviate from EU requirements. Finally, Eckhardt recommends actively combing through national legislation to identify and subsequently correct existing excessive implementations of EU law.

While it is highly welcome that the Commission is now stepping up its efforts to tackle gold-plating by establishing a Pact with Member States and several of the recommendations made in the cepStudy were taken up, the Commission’s plans fail to address one major issue. Gold-plating is still not defined, nor are welcome and unwelcome practices differentiated in a sound manner.