Strasbourg, 27/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - Within the framework of its initiative on Better Regulation launched in March this year (EUROPE 8911), the European Commission adopted, on 27 September, a communication on the “outcome of the screening of legislative proposals pending before the Legislator”, which draws up a list of 68 legislative proposals to be withdrawn from the inter-institutional process after careful scrutiny by its services of no fewer than 183 draft texts pending at the Parliament and Council and dating back to before 1 January 2004. The Commission considers that the proposals are either not conform to the objectives of the new partnership for growth and employment in the context of the revised Lisbon Strategy or do not meet the standards for better regulation, or that the legislative process is not making headway or the outstanding proposals are now out of date or obsolete. In other words, the 183 proposals were screened according to different criteria, and especially: - their contribution to competitiveness or to better regulation, the guarantee that they will be adopted if they are maintained, or their obsolescence. Also, the Commission considers that, from among these 183 proposals, nearly 100 are truly new legislative initiatives, whereas the others deal with international obligations, administrative decisions, technical adjustments and, in some cases, processes of codification or simplification of Community law. Below are a few examples from among the 68 proposals that the Commission hopes to withdraw from the inter-institutional channel:
- Proposal for directive on the labelling of foodstuffs. The initial Commission proposal aimed at rekindling the debate on the list of ingredients for alcoholic drinks, and in particular by providing that the rules for labelling the ingredients of beverages containing more than 1.2% of alcohol by volume are to be adopted within a certain timeframe. The Commission notes that no progress has been noted on this either in Council or Parliament since it adopted an amended proposal in July 1999. The first reading is still pending and no Presidency has included this proposal on its agenda. It is felt that the lack of progress in Council, the lack of impact assessment and the need for a new global strategy on the labelling of foodstuffs (a new overall initiative is to be presented in this field) are all reasons leading to the Commission's wish to withdraw this proposal.
- Proposal for directive on banning heavy goods traffic at the weekend. The initial Commission proposal aims to ensure that a strategic road network remains open to heavy goods vehicles engaged in international road haulage without affecting the right of Member States to apply further driving restrictions. The Commission has submitted a modified proposal to the Council which was further amended in substance in August 2002. No progress has been made since and no impact assessment for this proposal has been carried out. The Commission therefore considers that the controversial reception by the other institutions and some Member States as well as the current blockage at Council (because of the links with the Eurovignette Directive), require its withdrawal for full re-assessment on the basis of a proper impact analysis. (See EUROPE 9028 on the protests made by the EP rapporteur, French Socialist Gilles Savary, on this subject).
- Proposal on sales promotion in the internal market. Sales promotions are important tools to market goods and services (sales, everything form of discount, promotional offers for a new product, free gifts and promotional games, etc.) and the initial Commission proposal aimed to eliminate restrictions to the free movement of services between Member States via the creation of a harmonised regulatory framework covering the cross-border use and commercial communication of sales promotions. The Commission had adopted this proposal on 2 October 2001, and the Parliament completed its first reading on 4 September 2002, with the Commission adopting the amended proposal on 25 October 2002. Noting that no progress has been made since and that a blocking minority in Council is opposed to mutual recognition in this field and is in favour of a directive rather than a regulation, the Commission considers that the proposal should be withdrawn for failing to make progress in the legislative process for a substantial period of time, and for never being subject to impact assessment.
The other major proposals include the proposal for a directive on the size of coffee packets, that on the statute for a European Association, that on the statute for a European mutual society, and the proposal for a directive on the safety requirements of cabin crews in civil aviation.
The Commission will present an economic impact analysis for the 5 proposals it has decided to keep. This will involve a draft regulation on shipments of waste, a draft directive on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a draft decision for the signing of the convention on mobile aeronautical equipment and a draft directive on VAT and administrative cooperation for travel agents. The remaining 109 proposals are maintained because the Commission considers they include the proposals that comply with the Lisbon objectives (for example, the proposals for codification to improve regulation), that they are purely technical proposals or mainly administrative.
On the other hand, the detailed examination of the draft regulation on optical radiation has led the Commission to conclude that aspects of the proposal on workers' exposure to rays from the sun should be scrapped. The Commission also decided to re-examine the draft directive on temporary workers, in light of future discussions on other proposals.
The Commission Communication finally explained that the withdrawal of pending proposals would be done as part of an overall examination of policies or with the goal of re-examining proposals in light of new policy factors and an overall impact assessment. The Commission also outlined that as part of the inter-institutional agreement, it would provide preliminary information to the Parliament (see other article) and the Council before officially withdrawing its proposals.
The Commission decision is part of a broad initiative to reduce bureaucracy and limit excess regulation that penalises European competitiveness. As well as the passage being revised and the withdrawal of any new Commission legislative proposals, Better Regulation is also based on two pillars: competitiveness and simplification of legislation and the Community acquis. The Commission is seeking to adopt a communication on simplification at the end of October. The Commission communication and the list of proposals to withdraw are available at the following address: (http: //europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/ regulation/better_regulation/index_en.htm).
Despite some criticism about the method, the initiative gains broad support from MEPs
Although a number of MEPs were indignant about the fact that the Parliament had not been involved in the Commission's choice of proposals to be withdrawn, there was clear support for the inititive in Strasbourg, on Tuesday. Martin Schulz, President of the Socialist Group, considered that the method lacked «transparency» and was to be criticised but that the aim of Mr Verheugen's initiative was to be praised. The president of the EPP-ED Group, Hans-Gert Pöttering, welcomed the Commission's initiative while calling for the withdrawal of legislative proposals pending to be accompanied by a «formal procedure» within the Parliament, committee by committee. The president of the ALDE Group, Graham Watson, gave broad support to the Commission (“Some proposals still pending are fifteen years old, and should be withdrawn now”, he said) while also deploring a certain lack of transparency. More vehement, the Greens/EFA Group also admitted that some proposals deserved to be withdrawn from inter-institutional channels but pointed out that it would refuse to examine the whole package proposed as a whole. Co-President Monica Frassoni said that they would examine “each proposal subject to withdrawal on a case by case basis”, in particular those concerning the environment. Presenting the communication to plenary after it was adopted by the College of Commissioners at the end of the afternoon, Günter Verheugen obtained clear support despite some criticism and warnings (support mainly came from the Liberals like Jules Maaten of the Netherlands and British Elisabeth Lynne) who, he said, appreciated the Commission's resolve to strengthen confidence in Europe and show that there is not a European bureaucratic monster. Better legislation is needed as well as more transparent legislation. The SME as well as large firms want a clear legal framework to strengthen Europe's competitive position on world markets, Mr Verheugen explained, specifying that this withdrawal initiative of legislation pending was only the “entrée for a menu with a consistent main course”: simplification of acquis communautaire, the next stage of the Better Regulation initiative. Françoise Grossetête of France (EPP) nonetheless warned that the simplification process should not lead to deregulation and affect social and environmental acquis and that better regulation should not mean less legislation. Mr Verheugen reminded her that the Commission's aim in simplification of acquis communautaire was to reduce the volume not the substance.