Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-11-24-Speech-2-416"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20091124.35.2-416"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr Papastamkos, this question gives me the opportunity to relate to you a very pleasing tale of success. The Action Programme for reducing administrative burdens in the European Union is one of the pillars of the better lawmaking programme. I first mentioned back in the spring of 2006 that I intended to cut European businesses’ bureaucracy costs arising from European rules by 25% by 2012 and that it would be necessary, in that regard, for the Commission to put forward proposals to that effect by the end of 2009.
The Commission has not only put forward the relevant proposals, it has gone beyond that. It has done this on the basis of a quantification that we have carried out across Europe. Anyone can say that they are cutting costs by 25% when no one knows how high the bureaucracy costs actually are in Europe. That is why we organised the largest ever quantification, through which we wanted to determine what the actual costs arising from European legal acts and their implementation are for European businesses, insofar as relates to documentation, statistics, information and the like.
The results were roughly what we had expected. European businesses spend EUR 124 billion a year on this bureaucracy, which is approximately half of total bureaucracy costs for European businesses. In other words, we produce 50% of those costs here in Strasbourg or in Brussels.
With regard to the British press and British Members of this Chamber, I want to add, specifically, that it would be completely wrong to draw the conclusion from this that the internal market itself causes bureaucratic costs amounting to EUR 124 billion. If we did not have these European rules, there would be 27 sets of different national rules in all these areas, and the burden on European businesses – insofar as they participate in the internal market – would be much greater. I want to make that point very clearly, strongly even, because I am really tired of hearing downright calumnious comments about the costs of the internal market via certain media outlets in Europe. Nonetheless, we believe that EUR 124 billion is too high a figure and that, through better lawmaking, we can both fully achieve the goals of our legislation and reduce the costs involved.
The Commission has therefore made the appropriate proposals, and the result is as follows – I would just like to give you the figures. The measures that legislators have already adopted – and that are therefore already in force – are cutting the costs of bureaucracy for European businesses by EUR 7 billion a year. The potential savings from those measures that the Commission has proposed and that legislators have not yet adopted amount to EUR 31 billion per annum. The Commission is currently working on further proposals that it will be putting forward shortly and that will offer potential savings of a further EUR 2 billion, meaning that we will have total potential savings of more than EUR 40 billion a year. That would more than meet the target of a 25% cut in these costs, provided that the measures are actually adopted by legislators.
I have one final comment to make, and that is that the programme is being complemented by corresponding national programmes in all the Member States. I am pleased to be able to report to you that all 27 Member States now have comparable programmes in force. It will not surprise you, however, when I say that not one Member State has so far managed to attain the highly successful figures I have been able to relate to you today for the EU’s measures."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples