Council highlights priorities for simplified legislation

The Competitiveness Council has drawn up a list of EU legislation
needing urgent simplification to cut red tape
for companies. A new approach on impact assessments has also
been endorsed.

At its meeting on 25 November, the Competitiveness Council
adopted a list of EU legislation it wishes to see simplified as
part of a drive to create a more competitive environment for
companies operating in the EU. The list of 15 priorities
covers legislation in a range of policy areas, including
internal market, company law, environment, agriculture
and health. The area of transport is being highlighted as
a particular priority.

The Council’s list identifies the problem with each piece of
legislation and offers possible solutions but it will be up to
the Commission to plan legislative proposals or take other
appropriate actions in its rolling programme. The Commission is
expected to report about its actions taken in this regard at
the next Council session in March 2005.

“I made clear that cutting red tape and better regulation will
be one of my priorities. I will make that my personal trademark
over the next five years,” Günther Verheugen, the commissioner
for enterprise and industry, was quoted by
the Financial Times  as saying.

EU ministers have also agreed improvements in the
Commission’s integrated impact assessment system on the basis
of a Commission report which highlights the need to enhance the
“competitiveness dimension” [ie the consequences of EU legislation
on the private sector].

Better lawmaking is a cornerstone in the Barroso
Commission’s drive for economic reforms and the Lisbon agenda,
whose objective is to make the EU the world’s most competitive
region by 2010. 

Read more with Euractiv

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