Brussels, 18/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is continuing to reduce red tape after a first attempt in 2013. Implementation of the Commission's Regulatory Fitness and Performance programme (REFIT) is in full swing and EU law is indeed becoming lighter, simpler and less costly.
In a report accompanied by the first annual scoreboard published by the Commission on Wednesday 18 June, it says the aim is to slash red tape and simplification is needed in areas such as identity documents, comply statistics, and the VAT one-stop shop. The Commission will prepare repeals of legislation in further areas too, such as energy labelling, transport rates and conditions, the common agricultural policy and in relation to standardised reporting in the area of environment. The Commission explains: “A close scrutiny of all pending proposals before the legislator has resulted in the identification of further proposals which are either outdated or without support by the legislator and should therefore be withdrawn. These include proposals on investor compensation schemes, pregnant workers, aviation security charges and on a compensation fund for oil pollution damage. A proposal on exempting micro companies from certain food hygiene provisions, pending in legislative procedure since 2007, will also be suggested for withdrawal”. In 2013, 53 items of draft legislation were withdrawn. The president of the European Commission commented: “We are making good progress. But results do not come overnight. Success demands continued efforts, clear political priorities and ownership by all EU institutions and in particular the Member States”. The Commission urges the Council of Ministers and European Parliament to join the simplification drive. Member states, too, will need to ensure that they do not add to red tape when they transpose EU law into their own legal systems. The Commission estimates that a third of red tape comes from transposition measures. The next scoreboard is due in 2015. Meanwhile two high-level groups working on reducing red tape will be merged into a single group as the Commission puts it money where its mouth is. (MD)