Brussels, 25/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - An improvised intergovernmental meeting was held on the sidelines of the European summit during the morning of Friday 25 October to “cut EU red tape”. The meeting was held at the initiative of British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Cameron organised a meeting between a handful of European leaders and British heads of business who, in a report to the British government ten days ago (see EUROPE 10950), had said how tired they were of the administrative burden imposed by the EU. Among those attending the exclusive meeting jointly organised with the president of the European Commission, there were German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Prime Ministers Enrico Letta (Italy), Donald Tusk (Poland), Frederik Reinfeldt (Sweden), Mark Rutte (the Netherlands), and Jyrki Katainen (Finland).
Pointed conclusions. British pressure apparently paid off as the Council conclusions call for “regulatory fitness”, which is a “success story for Britain and for Europe”, said Cameron, visibly “happy” about the outcome. Considering the conclusions to be the “strongest” for many years, he said this indicates “a change in the thinking, and in terms of what the EC is going to do and the priority given to identifying and removing unnecessary regulation”. The conclusions call for a substantial effort to be made on this at European and national level (a report being planned for the Council in June 2014 and annually via the European Semester), while bearing in mind the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, two points on which the Dutch prime minister firmly insisted, confirming his country's alignment to the British point of view when it comes to cutting red tape. Deploring the fact that his country is one of the countries with the most red tape, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta also considered his participation at the informal ministerial meeting very important, and wished to benefit from best practice in reducing the administrative burden.
Absent Socialists. An obvious absentee from the meeting, on the other hand, was French President François Hollande, who did not receive an invitation. Behind the word “simplification”, he said there is not always the same meaning and, he added, “we hope European regulation will be the source of efficiency and speed”, while underlining worker and environmental protection. Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, another Socialist who was not at the meeting, was of the same view. He spoke of his attachment to simplification but not to “ideological deviance”. Warning against a return to the “economic jungle”, he does not want “regulatory excess but just the minimum necessary”.
Barroso picks up the pass. The president of the European Commission, whose report of the REFIT programme for the reduction of administrative charges was supported by all, said the question should not become an “ideological debate between member states” but a “pragmatic agenda”. The approach should not, however, weaken European standards for workers, consumers, health or the environment, he said, going on to conclude his speech before the summit with a quote from Montesquieu: “Les lois inutiles affaiblissent les lois necessaires” (i.e. pointless regulation only weakens the necessary regulation). (MD/transl.jl)