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EU launches bid to slash red tape
26.11.2004 - 09:52 CET | By Richard Carter

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Economics Ministers on Thursday (25 November) launched a new bid to cut EU red tape in a drive to make the regulatory environment in Europe easier for business.

The simplification drive reflects determination both by the Dutch Presidency and the Barroso Commission to improve Europe’s business environment and boost Europe’s competitiveness.

How very nice that the machine which has increased red tape continually for the past thirty odd years should now suddenly decide to put everything into reverse and start scraping it all. I wonder, is it only just now becoming clear to these unelected unaccountable Eurocrats that they have been forcing their ideas on us all without our agreement and they are going to eventually do something about it.

Or perhaps the cynical view might be that they are only creating headlines so the Europhiles can point to the slashing of all the red tape in an attempt to undermine what they perceive as one of the main planks in the Eusceptic argument against the EU in the run up to the referendums on the Constitution; or would that be just too cynical.

On way of applying a test would be to look at all the red tape they are going to slash, for this we can look to Dr North EU Referendum who, reporting “Taking the p***!” on a piece in the Times said:

“The EU, according to The Times has produced 101,811 regulations since Britain joined in 1973. And guess how many regulations they are putting in this “bonfire”? Perhaps a thousand; two thousand, maybe. Possibly even three of four thousand? Er… no exactly. P. Hewitt and her pals are have picked a mere 15 directives for the treatment - from an original list of 300.

And are these going to be abolished? Er… no, not exactly. Five directives relating to medical devices will be consolidated into two. The contents won’t be reduced, mind you, but they will be printed in three less directives. That’s progress for you”.