Brussels, 21/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - According to the Commission, the improvement margin in the implementation of European legislation is considerable: nearly one third of the administrative burden on businesses is due to be ineffective implementation of EU provisions by the member states.
“Europe can do better” is the title of the report submitted to the president of the Commission, on Tuesday 21 February, by the leader of the high-level group of stakeholders on administrative burdens, Edmund Stoiber. After two years of work started in September 2010, the report compiles the best practices applied by each member state in reducing the administrative burden.
Among the 74 examples of best practices listed in the document are initiatives in favour of online administration or regarding intelligent solutions, particularly for SMEs, but also the direct participation of the stakeholders, useful guidelines and cross-border initiatives.
In total, the margin for improving the implementation of EU legislation is considerable, in the view of the European executive. Nearly one third of the administrative burden on businesses resulting from European legislation is actually due to its poor implementation by the capitals.
The report, which is accompanied by a list of recommendations, is available on the website of the secretary general of the Commission (http://www.ec.europa.eu/dgs/secretariat_general/admin_burden/ ).
President Barroso congratulated the group chaired by the former Minister President of Bavaria (1994-2007) “for this excellent report. It shows impressive examples of how member states implement EU law in an intelligent way so that its positive effects can unfold and are not hampered by unnecessary administrative burden at national level.” The capitals are called upon to learn from these examples and take “inspiration on smart regulation (to) further improve the business environment and support growth and jobs in Europe”, stressed the head of the European executive, who agreed to extend the work of the group chaired by Stoiber until the Commission's mandate comes to an end in 2014. In the future, the group's work will focus more on SMEs, but also on the “critical points” of the reforms needed in the public administrations.
By proposal of the Commission and approved by the European Council in 2007, the EU is pursuing the objective of reducing the administrative burden on businesses by 25% by the end of 2012. As part of the action programme undertaken to achieve this, the European executive has already proposed measures to reduce by 33% the administrative burden on the economy, equating to more than €40 billion. On this raft of proposals, the Council and Parliament have so far adopted measures corresponding to a reduction of 22%. The working group chaired by Stoiber has been advising and helping the Commission since 2008 in implementing the action programme to reduce administrative burdens in the EU. (EH/transl.fl)