Brussels, 14/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - In an interview that appeared in the 14 September edition of German daily Die Welt, the chairman of the High Level Group on reducing the administrative load, Edmund Stoiber, promised to submit proposals that would see the EU make savings of €40 billion per year to Industry and Enterprise Commissioner Günter Verheugen on Friday 18 September. Among the steps to be taken, Stoiber suggests that tax centres recognise electronic billing in future. He proposes, too, that craftsmen, when transporting materials, should no longer be required to install a tachometer, the cost of which (up to €4,000) is prohibitive, to measure rest periods taken after distances of 150 kilometres. Stoiber also suggests setting up a European standards control council, comprising a group of independent advisers called on to assess the administrative impact of any new legislative proposal. The High Level Group on reducing the administrative load, which will sit for three years and is made up of 15 experts from business, SMEs, the unions, NGOs and university and political circles (for the make-up of the group, see EUROPE 9546), was put in place in 2007, at the request of the European Council to explore ways to help the European Commission in implementing an action plan to bring about a 25% reduction in red tape facing European firms and to keep bureaucracy down in Europe. (E.H./transl.rt)