Brussels, 30/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - During adoption of the second progress report on the strategy for cutting red tape in the EU on Wednesday 30 January, Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry policy said: “Three years of hard work has led to the development of a new regulatory culture and is now delivering concrete, tangible results for businesses and for citizens in Europe. We have laid the foundations for a lasting success.”
The report lists a series of results already delivered and a set of further measures to be presented by the Commission in the course of 2008. Examples of simplification proposals already adopted include the "Single Payments Area" in the EU which could save the EU economy up to €28 billion per year and the new electronic Customs Code which will boost international trade and save businesses up to €2,5 billion/year. The simplification programme so far includes 164 initiatives in all the different area. 92 of them have so far been presented and the Commission vice president explains that the remaining 72 are expected to go ahead in 2008-09. Since 2005, the Commission has taken action or proposed to remove about 2500 obsolete acts from the acquis. The Commission also reported on the first year of operation of the Action Programme for reducing administrative burdens. €500 million is the estimated savings for companies by cutting red tape imposed on business resulting from the adoption of five fast track actions in 2007 with a further 800 million Euro savings expected to follow shortly. The Commission also announced its intention to come forward later this year with a further wave of fast track proposals in areas such as easing information requirements in the transport, agriculture and maritime sectors. The Commission also reported on how it is using impact assessments in the policy-making process. All new Commission proposals benefit from an impact assessment that provides a thorough analysis of all significant economic, social and environmental impacts. The independent "Impact Assessment Board", which the Commission put in place at the end of 2006, is monitoring and providing advice on impact assessments and this has led to significant improvements in the quality of Commission proposals. (O.L.)