Bureaucracy costs the European Union €150 billion per year.

Omissions

• The estimate concerns administrative burdens borne by businesses, not the EU's own bureaucracy or administrative budget.
• The primary European Commission documents frame €150 billion as the expected GDP increase from cutting administrative burdens by 25%, not as a directly measured annual cost.
• The exact €150 billion annual cost figure is not published as a Eurostat dataset; BusinessEurope's citation to 'Eurostat 2022' could not be verified.
• The main official Commission source dates from 2013, and some corroborating sources are secondary or business-lobby publications.

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Commission press release MEMO/13/787 — The High Level Group on Administrative BurdensIt is expected, in the medium term, to lead to an increase of 1.4% in EU GDP, equivalent to €150 billion.
• PrimaryEUR-Lex — Reducing administrative costsA reduction of this kind should create a 1.5% increase in GDP, i.e. almost EUR 150 billion.
• SecondaryABN AMRO Research — Sovereignty increases EU regulatory burdenThe annual administrative burden is estimated at EUR 150 billion, encompassing direct burdens.
• SecondaryBusinessEurope — From Ambition to Deliveryannual administrative cost of €150 billion. (Eurostat 2022).
• SecondaryINN Poland — 150 mld euro rocznie na papierologięTitle: '150 mld euro rocznie na papierologię. Tyle europejskie firmy płacą za nadmiar przepisów' (€150 billion a year for paperwork; this is what European companies pay for excess regulation).