Governments failing to deliver on red tape, says industry 

Presenting the report on 5 June, Arnaldo Abruzzini, the secretary general of Eurochambres, which represents European chambers of commerce and industry, accused the national governments of failing to deliver, saying "Brussels is not the devil, it is the member states". 

SME criticism of member states was also voiced by Edmond Stoiber, who heads a Commission high-level group (HLG) set up in 2007 to assist Commissioner Günter Vergeugen in determining current EU legislation that could be streamlined. 

Recognising "a steady stream of new laws and regulations coming from thousands of European, national and regional politicians and civil servants," Stoiber called for "a change of mindset, with a political debate on cutting red tape not only in the EU, but also in national and regional parliaments". 

Although everyone was in favour of less red tape, Stoiber said his group still faced heavy opposition from some sectors, referring in particular to resistance from pharmaceutical manufacturers towards reducing reporting requirements. Stoiber said he intended to put forward specific proposals to move the bloc's "Better Regulation" agenda further forward ahead of the European elections. 

On top of this, SMEs which set up a so-called "Low Level Group on better regulation" in 2007 to provide recommendations to the Commission are calling on the EU executive to accelerate its efforts. They want the Commission's objective of reducing administrative burdens by 25% by 2012 to be brought forward two years to 2010. 

"We are already years behind schedule," stressed Abruzzini, pointing out that European businesses need a "long-term, predictable, transparent and easy regulatory framework to be able to face future challenges" as early as today. 

Up to an additional €500 million of savings could be made by reforming the EU's structural funds and turning them into guarantee funds for start-ups, according to Christoph Leitl, the president of the SME Union, which is also member of the Low Level Group. 

Verheugen says he will present a new package of proposals on cutting red tape for SMEs in July.