21/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 21 May, the Competitiveness Council decided to repeal directive 68/89/EEC on the classification of wood in the rough. In future, it will be up to standardisation organisations to set the classification criteria for the wood industry. In a press release, European Enterprise and Industry Commissioner Günter Verheugen welcomed this “first tangible withdrawal of a European law” since the “Better regulation” programme was introduced. The Competitiveness Council also reached political agreement on simplifying European rules on pre-packed products. Directives 75/106/EEC and 80/232/EEC will ultimately be repealed and the scope of directive 76/211/EEC will be extended.
The European Parliament has already been consulted on these two legislative proposals. The Commission has announced that its legislative simplification programme would intensify in future and would encompass sectors such as construction, business statistics and the environment. (mb)