Ambitious three-year strategy to simplify EU laws[de] 

Vice-President Verheugen presented the new initiative to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 25 October 2005. After having undertaken a broad consultation with member states and stakeholders the Commission proposes to simplify, repeal or rewrite over 220 EU laws (comprised in more than 1,400 legal acts). The process will take more than three years (until 2008).

The exercise will use different methods:

• repealing laws which have become "irrelevant or obsolete". Examples given are a directive which classifies wood and defines the size of knots, or 28 directives dealing with car parts (which are also regulated by a UN Economic Commission regulation); to prevent the obsolescence of EU laws in the future, the commission thinks about introducing "sunset clauses" (provisions that automatically terminate the validity of a law after a certain date) or review clauses to new proposals;
• codification (the assembling of an original law and its historical modifications in one new text). Example: 45 directives on cosmetic products will be codified in one text, which does not change anything to the substance;
• recasting of laws (rewriting to clarify and improve consistency). Examples: 20 directives dealing with safety and health of workers at work; directives on the labeling of food stuffs;
• more use of co-regulation (eg. standardisation). Example: CE marking rules which defines a product as safe; in other areas also better use of information technologies;
• replacing Directives with Regulations  to avoid that member states add extra administrative burdens to EU directives when they transpose them (this process is sometimes referred to as "gold-plating" and leads to business still having to deal with different implementations of EU law).

The sectors which will be targeted on a priority basis with this simplification exercise are the car industry, construction and the waste sector. But other areas such as foodstuffs, cosmetics or the pharmaceutical sector will see some EU law simplified or rewritten over the next years. 

The full list of the legal acts under consideration can be found in the annexes to the Commission communication.

As a follow-up to the communication, the Commission will make concrete proposals that have to get explicit approval by the Council and the Parliament. 

The Commission also underlined in its communication that a lot of the feedback from stakeholders during the consultation process referred to the need to implement better regulation in the member states. The Commission hopes that its example will inspire member states to start similar better regulation campaigns.

In his presentation to the Parliament, Vice-President Verheugen made clear that, for the Commission, better regulation does not equal deregulation. "This is not about less Europe, this is about a better Europe. This is not about de-regulation, this is about better regulation. In many cases one single EU regulation is by fare more effective and cheaper than 25 national rules. And: We are not putting EU policy objectives, such as environment or consumer protection in doubt. By simplifying, we reach the same goals with more effective means!", Mr Verheugen underlined.

The UK Presidency welcomed the Commission's initiative. UK Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Alan Johnson, said: " "The challenge now is to turn words into action and to ensure that Better Regulation remains at the top of the EU agenda."

SME lobbying group UEAPME also embraced the Commission proposal. Hans-Werner Müller, UEAPME Secretary General stated: "Critics have a tendency to automatically dismiss better regulation as an agenda for undermining social and environmental standards. This approach is divorced from reality. The Commission has re-iterated the fact that better regulation does not mean deregulation. The existence of a clear and coherent regulatory environment is vital for small businesses in Europe”.