Brussels, 17/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - In support of its proposed “partnership for growth and employment” as part of the renewal of the Lisbon Strategy, the European Commission on Wednesday adopted a package of “de-bureaucratisation” measures entitled “Better Regulation” (yesterday's EUROPE, p.9). “The Commission has taken a political initiative for better legislation, to reduce the weight of bureaucracy and to simplify legislation”, the Commissioner for Industry and Enterprise, Günter Verheugen, explained to the press. “Brussels represents a bureaucratic nightmare for business and the citizens. The wings of the European economy, represented by almost 25 million SMEs, are clipped by the costs of bureaucracy (…). We are ready to put Brussels' house in order, to cut red tape wherever we can and to simplify things when it is reasonable to do so. And we remind the Member States that they must help us in these efforts”, Mr Verheugen added. According a Dutch study he quoted, reducing the cost of administrative formalities by 25% could lead to an additional 1.2 points of growth.
This package of measures proposes: 1) an in-depth examination, changes to or the withdrawal of legislative proposals pending. The Commission has undertaken to put over 40 of its proposals still on the table in the Parliament (and pending first reading) under a microscope, and over 900 legislative proposals pending at the Council or the Parliament. It may make changes, replace or even withdraw some of them. In particular, the Commission will look at proposals which have made no progress in the legislative process for too long and which have not be subject to an impact study; 2) improved impact assessments. The Commission has undertaken to carry out a quality impact assessment for all legislative proposals. They will examine the ecological, social and economic consequences of all new proposals. Its intentions are “not to block all drafts; they must be accompanied by a cost/benefit analysis and a competitiveness test”, said Mr Verheugen; 3) a simplification of Community legislation. The Commission intends not only to improve readability but also to increase competitiveness. When a regulation appears too exacting for the citizens and for business, changes to it or possibly its repeal will be looked into. The Commission has already taken initiatives on such things as overly complex Community provisions on plant protection, medical devises and waste disposal, and Mr Verheugen stated that a communication on the simplification of legislation would be presented in October; 4) pilot projects to reduce the administrative burden. This excessive weight on the Member States' administrations is often linked to obligations to declare or notify certain things in line with Community legislation. The Commission will launch pilot schemes to measure and reduce this burden, especially for construction products, to which complex rules are applied. “The best solution for Europe would be not to have to legislate at all. Less would definitely be more. I will ensure that 'tough' Community legislation is considered only when all the other options, from voluntary agreements to adopting UN standards, are inappropriate”, said Mr Verheugen. 5) solutions to replace legislation. The Commission intends to promote recourse to European standards as a technical support to European legislation, and for the best use to be made of co-regulation and self-regulation; 6) a consultation of the citizens via Internet. The citizens, business and NGOs of the EU can give their opinion online of how better regulation could be achieved; 7) the active participation of the Member States. The Commission hopes that improving regulation will become an integral part of the national action plans of Lisbon. It recommends that the Member States take national measures in favour of better regulation, including impact analysis systems and simplification programmes. “It is clear that it will only be possible to improve legislation if the Member States cooperate. In fact, many recommendations which have costs for competitiveness will go on the Member States' accounts”, he said. He quoted a recent British study which found that 80% of the bureaucracy which is choking the European economy comes from the capitals, “for the simple reason that Community directives are transposed by them in a needlessly bureaucratic way”, he said. “Many of the obstacles to competitiveness originate in national administrative provisions. One of the reasons so many citizens shy off from the idea of setting up their own business is the national red tape”, Mr Verheugen noted. He congratulated Denmark and Spain, which have led the field in making business creation easier (with their one-stop shop approach which allows all of the formalities involved in setting up a business to be completed within a few hours).
Lastly, Mr Verheugen said that he had proposed that the Member States and the Commission start a high-level working group made up of national experts to establish a common timetable on “better legislation”.