Strasbourg, 24/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - At the European summit on Thursday 24 October, British Prime Minister David Cameron brought up the subject of the impact of excessive European administrative regulation on the business environment.
He drew on the mid-October task force report drafted by British chief executives who list the 30 examples of European legislation that have the most damaging impact on businesses.
On the sidelines of the summit on Friday morning, the British prime minister will chair discussions on excessive legislation. Participants will include major British business leaders and a number of European heads of state or government, including the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel and the Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Estonian and Italian prime ministers.
There is no word of whether French President, François Hollande, will attend this meeting. France does not approve of any weakening in social or employment provisions that could result from a reduction in excessive regulation. In a document outlining its position on the administrative burden, France said that proceeding to simplifications that would reduce the level of protection for consumers, workers or the environment, was untimely.
The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, will be participating in Cameron's initiative. At the beginning of October, the European institution presented in its balance sheet of action taken to reduce administrative red tape by way of its REFIT programme (see EUROPE 10934).
In a letter addressed to heads of state ahead of the summit, European CEOs and chambers of commerce welcomed this initiative and report from the British task force. They called for proportionate and well-thought-out European legislation and urged European leaders to make a commitment at the summit to identifying “where the burden of regulation can be reduced to allow businesses to generate the growth that will benefit us all”. (MD/transl.fl)