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cutting red Tape for Europe

Vice-President Günter Verheugen Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry spreads the word, 'Cutting Red Tape for Europe',
cutting red Tape for Europe

Evocative image from Directorate-General Enterprise and Industry

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(quote follows)

"Regulation is important and necessary, but implementation can also entail costs. Some of these expenses are linked to legal obligations to provide information either to public or private parties. They are called administrative costs.

Some legal obligations to provide information have become needlessly time-consuming, excessively complicated, or useless. Unnecessary and disproportionate administrative costs may hamper economic activity and/or irritate business, citizens, and public authorities. By reducing unnecessary reporting requirements, businesses can spend more time on their core activities, which may reduce production costs and allow additional investment and innovation, which in turn should improve productivity and overall competitiveness.

The Commission introduced in 2006 a distinction between administrative costs and administrative burdens: the latter designate costs specifically linked to information that businesses would not collect and provide in the absence of a legal obligation.

The Commission's Better Regulation strategy is aimed at measuring administrative costs and reducing administrative burdens. According to estimates, it would be feasible to reduce administrative costs by as much as 25% by 2012. This would have a significant economic impact on EU economy – an increase in the level of GDP of about 1.5% or around 150 billion Euro."

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