SP(2007)5402

SP(2007)5401

Results of vote in Parliament

The European Parliament adopted a resolution based on the own-initiative report drawn up Giuseppe GARGANI (EPP-ED, IT) in response to the Commission working document entitled "First progress report on the strategy for the simplification of the regulatory environment". It urged the Commission to place greater emphasis on implementation, enforcement and evaluation of Community legislation, as an essential part of the "better regulation" process. It welcomed the fact that, for the first time, the simplification initiatives have been included in the Commission's legislative and work programme for 2007, in confirmation of the political priority to be given to the simplification strategy. Parliament called on the Commission systematically to include from now on, the simplification initiatives in a specific part of the legislative and work programme , to indicate what priority it intends to give to each individual simplification initiative and to set out its simplification proposals in its annual policy strategy at the start of the annual legislative programming process. The Commission must avoid the proliferation of documents containing lists of simplification initiatives, in order to have as clear a reference framework as possible.

Parliament suggested that Parliament, the Commission and the Council should conclude an interinstitutional agreement on an accelerated working method for simplification measures as a whole, and stressed the vital importance of cooperation between the Community institutions as a prerequisite for the success of any simplification strategy. In accordance with the terms of such an agreement, Parliament, together with the Council and the Commission, could set up special ad hoc structures with the precise aim of promoting simplification.

On codification , the Commission must address the difficulties relating to translation and prevent the submission of new legislative proposals from having a negative impact on the codification initiatives, thereby undermining the entire simplification process. Parliament asked the Commission to be consistent and refrain from setting out in its legislative and work programme plans for codification on the same topics as those in relation to which it intends to submit substantive legislative proposals. It proposed that the Commission once and for all adopt recasting as a standard legislative technique so that, for each initiative, the text can be available in its entirety, including where there are specific amendments. This would provide a clear indication of the new parts and those which are unchanged, thereby increasing the legibility of Community legislation. Where recasting is impossible, the codification of the legislative area concerned should be the standard legislative technique to be carried out within a six-month time-frame.

Parliament welcomed the commitment by the Commission to develop a solid set of methodologies for the work of simplification. It called on the Commission to persist in consulting the interested parties, for instance by extending to other sectors the initiatives already announced concerning agriculture and fisheries and by strengthening the measures it intends to adopt in this regard in the field of company law and copyright. The Commission was encouraged to develop further sector-specific analyses and the measurement of the administrative burdens generated by existing Community legislation.

The traditional legislative instruments should continue to be used as a general rule in order to attain the objectives laid down in the Treaty, with co-regulation and self-regulation supplementing or replacing legislative measures where these methods make improvements of equivalent or broader scope than legislation can provide. Any use of alternative regulatory arrangements should be in compliance with the Interinstitutional Agreement on better law-making.

Parliament went on to state that the Commission must make every effort to ensure that the process being promoted at European level to simplify regulation is not undermined at national level by internal rules or technical barriers. The Commission should guide and monitor this process also at national level, for instance by acting as a centre for collecting and disseminating the best practices developed within the EU and its Member States and, not least, responding to indications from stakeholders.

Lastly, it emphasised that regular impact assessments play a key role in the simplification process and that such assessments should be considered by the Council and Parliament when amendments are made to a proposal during the legislative process.

T6-0365/2007

Debate in Parliament

A6-0271/2007

A6-0271/2007

The Committee on Legal Affairs unanimously adopted the report by Giuseppe GARGANI (EPP-ED, IT) on the strategy for the simplification of the regulatory environment, and urged the Commission to put more emphasis on implementation, enforcement and evaluation of Community legislation, as an essential part of the ‘better regulation’ process. It welcomed the political priority to be given to the simplification strategy, and asked the Commission to set out its simplification proposals in its annual policy strategy at the start of the annual legislative programming process. The Commission must avoid the proliferation of documents containing lists of simplification initiatives, in order to have as clear a reference framework as possible. Furthermore, Parliament, the Commission and the Council should conclude an interinstitutional agreement on an accelerated working method for simplification measures as a whole. The Committee stressed the vital importance of cooperation between the Community institutions as a prerequisite for the success of any simplification strategy.

On codification , the Committee asked the Commission to be consistent and refrain from setting out in its legislative and work programme plans for codification on the same topics as those in relation to which it intends to submit substantive legislative proposals. It proposed that the Commission once and for all adopt recasting as a standard legislative technique so that, for each initiative, the text can be available in its entirety, including where there are specific amendments. This would provide a clear indication of the new parts and those which are unchanged, thereby increasing the legibility of Community legislation. Where recasting is impossible, the codification of the legislative area concerned should be the standard legislative technique to be carried out within a six-month time-frame.

The traditional legislative instruments should continue to be used as a general rule in order to attain the objectives laid down in the Treaty, with co-regulation and self-regulation supplementing or replacing legislative measures where these methods make improvements of equivalent or broader scope than legislation can provide.

The Committee went on to state that the Commission must make every effort to ensure that the process being promoted at European level to simplify regulation is not undermined at national level by internal rules or technical barriers, and the Commission should guide and monitor this process also at national level.

Lastly, it emphasised that regular impact assessments play a key role in the simplification process and that such assessments should be considered by the Council and Parliament when amendments are made to a proposal during the legislative process.

PE388.426

PE388.734

PE388.366

PURPOSE: to present a first progress report on the strategy for the simplification of the regulatory environment.

CONTENT: the purpose of this Commission Communication is to take stock of the regulatory simplification process, which was first agreed upon in October 2005. It also examines on-going work in the pipeline and sets out new initiatives that will help move the simplification programme (2006-2009) forward. It is being presented alongside a related Commission Communication entitled “A strategic review of Better Regulation in the European Union”. See: INI/2007/2095 .

To recall, the overarching strategy of the Better Regulation policy, (Commission Communication: Implementing the Community Lisbon programme: A strategy for the simplification of the regulatory environment, see INI/2006/2006), is the adoption of a new strategy for the simplification of the regulatory environment. The over-arching objective of this strategy is to improve the quality and effectiveness of the acquis and to remove unnecessary burdens for operators, thereby contributing to the goal of enhancing the competitiveness of the European economy. The 2005 Simplification Strategy is a three year rolling programme (2005-2008). The Commission has identified 100 initiatives, covering 220 basic legislative instruments, requiring simplification. A further 43 initiatives have been identified for the period 2006-2009.

On-going work: a number of major simplification initiatives have now been confirmed for the 2006/2007/2008 period. In summary, they are:

- Agriculture : the merging of 21 Common Market Organisations into one single scheme in order to establish a more streamlined horizontal legal framework that will provide a single set of harmonised rules.

- Environment : a review of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive (IPPC) and other related legislation on industrial emissions.

- Construction : a review of the Construction Directive with a view to clarifying and reducing the administrative burden on SME’s.

- Statistics: a review of statistical reporting – aimed at SME’s in particular.

- Food/Feed labelling : the modernisation of food and labelling legislation in order to clarify rules to the end consumer.

- Consumer protection : the rationalisation and simplification of the whole consumer protection acquis in order to remove inconsistencies, overlaps, internal market barriers and distortions of competition.

- Cosmetics: a recast of the thirty year old Cosmetic Directive. This will help reduce the administrative cost of implementing and managing the Directive.

- Accounting and financial reporting standards : providing EU firms with an up-to-date set of Financial Reporting Standards by merging the current set of Regulation into one single Regulation. Currently there are over 2000 pages of accounting and financial reporting provisions.

- Automotive Regulatory Framework : a revision of the framework Directive on type-approval motor vehicles. This will allow for the replacement of EC Directives by UN/ECE Regulations and the introduction of necessary technical provisions for self testing and virtual testing in 25 EC and UN/ECE Regulations.

- Access to the road transport market and profession : four Regulations have been recast and one Directive in a bid to clarify and simplify the rules. The recast should allow for a more harmonised application of the provisions and encourage the cost-effective enforcement of the rules.

- New Approach: the technical New Approach Regulations/Directives have been consolidated. This has allowed for more consistent definitions, simplified certification procedures and streamlined administrative co-operations.

New initiatives reinforcing the Simplification rolling programme: The Commission is reinforcing its simplification actions with 43 new initiatives to cover the period 2006-2009. Some of the major new initiatives include the simplification of provisions relating to:

- medicines ( the so-called “Variations” Regulations);

- the mutual recognition of goods not covered by harmonised Community rules;

- novel/new foods;

- agriculture, and the administration/management thereof;

- the Common Fisheries Policy;

- the regulatory framework of the electronic communications networks and services;

- replacing the textiles Directives with a single Regulation;

- toys;

- limiting new legislative acts on Metrology and fertilizers;

- the revisions of the eco-label award scheme;

- the recasting of a Directive on the marketing of fruit and propagating material; and

- work-related to muscoskeletal disorders.

National reform programmes: regulatory requirements and implementation measures mainly originate at national level. The national reform programmes (NRP) are part of the new governance structure of the growth and jobs strategy (Lisbon strategy) and set out the economic reform policies at national level on the basis of Community guidelines. They are, therefore, of key importance in creating a better business environment in the EU. All Member States have responded to the guidelines on Better Regulation and have included measures to promote Better Regulation in their National Reform Programmes.

At this stage, 9 Member States have launched simplification programmes of varying degrees of ambition in the context of these NRPs. It is however essential that the EU simplification programme is complemented by a progress on simplification in all Member States and at all regulatory levels.

Examples of national initiatives include: administrative cost reduction; e-government and ICT solutions to cut red tape in public administration; review of legislation; simplification of taxation obligations, administration or reporting: especially one-stop shops for companies, SMEs and citizens, reform of corporate and capital income taxes; simplification of VAT obligations; improvement of the implementation of the internal market law to maximise its benefits; Common Commencement Dates (CCDs).

Exchanges of best practices between Member States and peer reviews are of crucial importance to improving the regulatory environment. The Commission is facilitating this work through the High

Member States and regions should be encouraged to work together on the development of

good practices, for example through the BEST initiative.

Conclusions: the simplification strategy, at the heart of the Better Regulation initiative, is beginning to bear fruit. In this report, the Commission expresses its determination to move the project forward and to deliver a strong regulatory environment. It calls upon both the Council and the European Parliament to intensify their involvement. It also reminds the Member States that they too have their part to play by exchanging best practices and implementing the simplification programmes.

COM(2006)0690
EUR-Lex

The present Commission Working Document is a direct follow-up to the October 2005 Communication COM(2005) 535: Implementing the Community Lisbon programme: A strategy for the simplification of the regulatory environment. It also complements the Communication on the “Strategic review of Better Regulation in the European Union”.

This document takes stock of progress achieved in the implementation of the October 2005 simplification, addresses ongoing work in the pipeline and presents brand new initiatives which will enhance the simplification rolling programme covering the period 2006-2009. One of the key achievements of simplification is the progressive coverage of all EC regulatory areas. The Commission Working Document will also present a state of play in terms of codification.

In parallel, this first progress report addresses the success factors for achieving the simplification goals, in particular a solid set of methodologies, improved inter institutional cooperation with the European Parliament and the Council to take the work to the final stages, increased use of self-regulation and co-regulation as well as simplification at national level to ensure that the EU simplification benefits are not cancelled out by new national rules or technical barriers.

This document outlines a number of major simplification initiatives relevant for competitiveness confirmed for 2006/2007/2008:

• Agriculture : merging of the 21 Common Market Organisations into one single scheme;

• Environment : review of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive (IPPC) and other related legislation on industrial emissions;

• Construction products Directive: revision of this Directive with a view to clarifying and reducing the administrative burden, in particular for SMEs;

• Statistics : lighten statistical reporting by economic operators, in particular SMEs;

• Food/Feed labelling : the modernisation of the legislation in this field;

• Consumer protection : rationalisation and simplification of the whole consumer protection acquis;

• Cosmetics : recasting the cosmetics Directive which has been modified more than 40 times;

• Accounting and financial reporting standards : Providing EU firms with an up-to-date set of Financial Reporting Standards by merging the current set of Regulation into one single and user-friendly Regulation;

• Automotive Regulatory Framework : the pending proposal for the revision of the framework Directive on type-approval of motor vehicles, when approved, will allow: i) the replacement of EC Directives by UN/ECE regulations. This simplification will streamline regulations and remove redundant requirements. Furthermore, it will help global industry to remove non-tariff barriers to trade, maintaining the EU's leading position as the developer of international standards and allowing industry to adapt faster to technical developments at international level; ii) the introduction of necessary technical provisions for self-testing and virtual testing in 25 EC Directives and UN/ECE Regulations;

• Access to the road transport market and profession : recasting four regulations and one directive;

• Consolidation of the technical New Approach Regulations/Directives for the marketing of products around consistent definitions, simplified certification procedures and streamlined administrative cooperation so as to facilitate the commercialisation of products while protecting manufacturers against non- conforming products.

Based on the rolling programme launched last year, the Commission is reinforcing its simplification action with 43 new initiatives for the period 2006-2009 to:

- stimulate innovation and reduce administrative burden stemming from regulatory requirements;

- reduce the total volume of the Community acquis and promote the transition to more flexible regulatory approaches.

In the future, the ongoing work on the reduction of administrative burden will feed into the simplification exercise which will, in his turn, contribute to an overall 25% joint reduction target for EU and national legislation to be achieved by 2012, as indicated in the “Strategic Review of Better Regulation”.

In line with this, the benefits of extensive consultations of stakeholders and impact assessments will help improve the quality of the Commission's new proposals and will better enable legislators to produce a regulatory environment that is in full compliance with the subsidiarity principle and is more conducive to competitiveness, innovation and growth. This is likely to alleviate the future simplification workload. Progress reports will be launched on a regular basis.

COM(2006)0690
EUR-Lex