Six in ten European companies say that complying with new rules is an obstacle to their activity.

Omissions

• The 64% figure comes from a survey of SMEs (startups and scaleups), not of all European companies; the claim's broader 'European companies' framing is not directly supported by that survey.
• The survey question concerns 'regulatory obstacles or administrative burden' as a problem for the company in general, not specifically the burden of complying with 'new rules' introduced recently.
• The exact wording 'six in ten' is a rounding down of 64% found in the Eurobarometer data; no source found states exactly 60% for the precise metric of complying with new rules.
• The precise fieldwork and publication dates of the Eurobarometer survey could not be confirmed from the available search results; the MEP's claim must be read against the most recent survey available before 21 October 2026.
• BusinessEurope, an industry lobby with a direct interest in the deregulation narrative, frames the same data as 'more than 60% of EU companies' seeing regulation as an obstacle to investment, while simultaneously citing 55% of SMEs — indicating the headline figure varies with the exact question asked.

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Commission — Eurobarometer, Flash Eurobarometer 559 'Startups, scaleups and entrepreneurship'Regulatory obstacles or administrative burden is the top-ranking problem for SMEs, with 64% of respondents identifying this as an area that poses problems for [their company]. Survey covers over 12,000 SMEs in the EU27.
• SecondaryBusinessEurope — Better regulation and burden reductionRegulation is seen by more than 60% of EU companies as an obstacle to investment, with 55% of SMEs flagging regulatory obstacles and the administrative burden.