Brussels, 16/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - The 4th pillar of the “Better Regulation” initiative (for assessment of mid-term review, see EUROPE 9306), the reduction of the administrative burden on companies, will be the main topic of discussion at the first Competitiveness Council under German presidency, to be chaired by Economy Minister Michael Glos.
Better Regulation - Ahead of the European Council of 8-9 March, the Competitiveness Council will have an exchange of views (public debate) on the plan of action adopted by the Commission on 14 November 2006 to reduce the administrative burden on companies by 25% by 2012 (see EUROPE 9306). Once approved by heads of state and government, the plan of action could begin in May 2007, initially providing an evaluation of administrative costs in 2008. A Community source said that, despite reservation about the level, Industry Ministers were expected to agree on a target reduction in the administrative burden of Community legislation. In addition, the Commission's wish that all 27 EU member states set the same target at national and regional levels is also a topic of some debate, with some states believing that this was a subsidiarity issue.
Automotive industry/CARS 21 - the Competitiveness Council will have the first exchange of views on the strategy for the sustainable development of the European automotive industry set out by the Commission on 7 February (see EUROPE 9361), based on the recommendations put forward by the high-level CARS 21 group in December 2005 (see EUROPE 9327).
Lisbon Strategy - Ahead of the European Spring Council, the Competitiveness Council will hold an exploratory debate on the state of play of the revised Lisbon Strategy after the Commission's last annual report (see EUROPE 9327).
Various - Industry Commissioner Günter Verheugen will present the legislative package on the free movement of goods adopted by the Commission at the start of the week (see EUROPE 9366). One directive proposes to make it the responsibility of the consumer member state to prove that goods, which are not harmonised at EU level, do not meet national technical specifications, in order to be able to wit-draw these goods from the market, rather than the current obligation on producers to prove that their goods complied with the legislation of the country. The German presidency will provide an assessment of the work of the Council on the cross-border exercise of shareholders' rights to vote in quoted companies. Following the opinion of the EP (see EUROPE 9367), it is expected this text will be adopted on first reading. The Commission will also present the latest scoreboard on transposition of European single market legislation into member states' national legislations, which, at the start of February, showed a marked improvement in the situation (see EUROPE 9357). This will provide an opportunity for the German presidency to argue for a more ambitious target to be set, possibly including the target of a transposition deficit of 1% of the body of legislation, compared with the 1.5% target in place today. The Commission will present its Green Paper on the review of the acquis communautaire on consumer policy, which will launch a huge consultation exercise oh the complete overhaul of European legislation with a view to adapting it to the digital world (see EUROPE 9362) (eh/mb)