Brussels, 05/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - European employer organisations are unhappy that some EU member states are not taking full advantage of the current economic boom to introduce structural reforms and consolidate their budgets. Progress is being made in terms of R&D and innovation but not when it comes to the budget, red tape and labour market regulations, regret Businesseurope, Eurochambres, Eurocommerce and EUAPME in a joint press release. They call for clear pledges to be made at the European Council this week in five key areas. Welcoming the objectives of cutting EU red tape by a quarter by 2012, they want this move to tackle national legislation and rules drawn up under the comitology procedure, rather than focussing only on EU directives and how they are transposed into national law. The press release notes that the common market is suffering from protectionist moves, illustrating member states' lack of confidence in one another, and calls for a stronger partnership between the European Parliament and member states in this domain. It is high time to introduce tangible measures to cut the cost of patents and simplify the current patchwork in the EU, they add, believing an innovation-friendly framework is essential, along with improving the operating of the labour markets. Reforms in this connection should focus on boosting flexibility at work, they argue, and cutting non-salary labour costs. EU business leaders want the WTO to reach agreement and conclude the Doha Trade Round. (ab)