Brussels, 30/11/2005 (Agence Europe) -Meeting for the Competitiveness Council in Brussels on 28 and 29 November, the ministers for industry once again lent their support to the initiative Better Regulation, which was launched by the European Commission last March to improve the regulatory framework, in order to reinforce the competitiveness of European businesses, by reducing superfluous burdens of red tape on businesses and the citizens. In its conclusions, the Council:
welcomes the tri-annual plan to simplify the Community acquis, which was adopted by the Commission in October (EUROPE 9056), and, in particular, its "in-depth sectorial approach", which will concentrate initially on the most regulated sectors, the automotive industry, waste and construction. The Council calls upon the Commission to present an annual progress report to update priorities in terms of simplification, in light of the permanent consultation of the stakeholders and contributions from the Member States. The Council recognises that in certain cases, in the interest of legal clarity and the smooth running of the internal market, a regulation may be more appropriate than a directive, but considers that "the decision on the choice of legal instrument should be taken on a case-by-case basis, fully taking account of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality". The Council also believes that the new approach of technical harmonisation and normalisation are effective instruments for the simplification of the acquis. It also emphasises the importance of having legal texts which are easily understandable to the citizens and businesses, and the role that codification can play in this context. It also favourably welcomes the communication of the Commission on a common Union method to assess the administrative costs brought about by legislation;
welcomes the adoption, by the Commission, last September, of a list of legislative proposals pending with the legislator to be withdrawn from the inter-institutional circuit (EUROPE 9036);
favourably welcomes the new guidelines of the Commission on integrated impact assessments, covering the three pillars of sustainable development and to which the main future legislative proposals will be subject. In this context, the Council calls upon the Commission to "examine a wide range of options which may help to achieve the objectives laid down by a proposal, including non-legislative options or continuing the process of harmonisation". The Council confirms that it will use the Commission's impact analyses to feed into the decision-making process when legislative proposals are being examined and, in this context, will take account of the independent assessment of the implementation of the system of impact analysis which the Commission is due to launch in early 2006;
welcomes the use made of the consultation of the stakeholders and the Commission's intention to extend it to sectorial working groups (such as CARS 21 for the automotive industry);
"reaffirms the importance of the action carried out by the Member States to improve the regulatory framework at national level" and guarantee more growth and employment. The Council, which is pleased with progress made in the Member States to improve regulation, as provided for in the national reform programmes, calls upon the governments to continue their efforts, using various instruments (simplification and impact assessment), to carry out an effective transposition of Community legislation.