The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU hosted the annual Single Market Forum in Stockholm on Tuesday 2 May. One message that emerged from the different discussion groups was that the EU must take better account of the burden its legislation places on businesses if it is to be competitive.
“When we talk to companies about doing business in Europe, they tell us that conditions are getting worse compared to the US. [...] There are some 150 legislative proposals in the pipeline. [...] This is a hindrance to entrepreneurship”, insisted Fredrik Persson, chairman of BusinessEurope, which represents businesses.
This appeal was heard by the European Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, who was also present. He stressed that the Commission wanted to reduce the information requirements for companies by 25%. He also pledged that the Commission would stop presenting proposals that could harm SMEs, by systematically carrying out an SME impact assessment before proposing a text.
“Regulation is necessary, but it must be tightly focused and must not diminish innovation and progress”, said Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
MEP Anna Cavazzini (Greens/EFA, German), on the other hand, believes that the EU should first focus its efforts on implementing the existing rules in the Member States. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)