The Cyprus EU Council Presidency and negotiators from the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on Tuesday evening regarding the legislative package known as "Omnibus IV." This agreement covers legislation for mid-cap companies, as well as digitalisation and common specifications.
As highlighted by Marilena Raouna, Cypriot Deputy Minister for European Affairs, "this marks a decisive step towards a more competitive Europe."
"With this agreement, we are extending support measures beyond SMEs to growing companies, helping businesses to develop, innovate, and create jobs across the Union," she noted.
She added that "we are also promoting the 'digital by default' principle, reducing unnecessary bureaucracy and costs for businesses."
"With this agreement, we are taking another step towards turning the promise of simplification into tangible deliverables for European businesses," Raouna said.
The new legislation aims to digitise existing physical requirements through the application of the "digital by default" principle and introduces a process for the development of common specifications by the Commission.
Additionally, two new acts—a directive and a regulation—extend certain mitigation and support measures available to both SMEs and companies that no longer fall under the SME definition, known as mid-cap companies.
These companies play a vital role in the EU economy, providing 6% of total employment and holding a prominent position in key sectors for the EU's competitiveness, such as electronics, aerospace and defence, energy, energy-intensive industries, and healthcare.
The definition of a new category of mid-cap companies is expected to help avoid excessive gaps in requirements and facilitate a smooth transition from the SME category to the mid-cap category. It will also allow mid-cap companies to remain in the same favourable environment as when they were SMEs, while providing better incentives for SMEs to expand.
The new legislation amends 20 EU legislative acts for products based on the rules of the single market, aiming at digitalisation and common specifications. In particular, the new legislation provides for the digitalisation of the EU declaration of conformity, as well as communications between competent national authorities and economic operators.
It also introduces alternative solutions for demonstrating a product's compliance with EU rules through "common specifications" instead of harmonised standards in certain exceptional cases, thereby providing greater legal certainty, reducing costs, and increasing competitiveness.
In the Commission's initial proposal, the new category of mid-cap companies included businesses with fewer than 750 employees and a turnover of up to €150 million or an annual balance sheet total of up to €129 million.
In the provisional agreement, these thresholds were increased to include companies with fewer than 1,000 employees and an annual turnover of up to €200 million or an annual balance sheet total of up to €172 million.
Furthermore, within five years of the new legislation coming into force, the Commission will review its application, including its impact on reducing the administrative burden and on the competitiveness of mid-cap companies. The transposition deadline for the directive into national law was set at 15 months after its entry into force.
Regarding digitalisation and common specifications, the co-legislators maintained the core idea of the Commission's proposal while amending various technical elements. The agreement introduces clarifications regarding access to digitally available information and a company's "digital communication elements."
The text also provides that, in cases where there is a risk of serious harm to consumers, safety information is always available in printed form. Common specifications will serve as an alternative option only when harmonised standards are unavailable or inadequate, thus promoting coherence across the EU acquis.
The deadline for transposing the directive into national law was extended to 24 months to give Member States sufficient time to implement the amendments.
The provisional agreement must now be approved by the Council and the European Parliament before being finalised by the legal-linguists for the formal adoption of the acts by the co-legislators at a later stage.
CNA/EK/EPH/2026
ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY