Red tape unit lashes out at Charlie McCreevy
VALENTINA POP
23.09.2008 @ 09:15 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Former Bavarian prime minister Edmund Stoiber, currently head of an advisory body aimed at cutting red tape across the EU, lashed out on Monday (22 September) against EU internal market commissioner Charley McCreevy for not responding to his proposals.
"I hope the European Commission, especially commissioner Charlie McCreevy will say yes or no to these proposals, which are not only consultative documents, but proposals to be taken seriously," said Mr Stoiber during a hearing in the European Parliament's legal affairs committee Monday night.
Edmund Stoiber has launched a competition called "Best Idea for Red Tape Reduction Award" (Photo: stoiber.de)
The former Bavarian prime minister was appointed head of high level group in 2007 by European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, when the EU adopted a goal of cutting 25% of the block's red tape by 2012.
According to the first results of the high level group, the European Union could save up to €7.3 billion a year only by reducing the obligations that EU legislation currently puts on business to provide information.
"Currently, there are 344 different reporting obligations for European companies. The total cost for all the companies to provide this information is around €20 billion. Now, the EU has set a 25% reduction target, which is a bold one, and the high level group has put forward a proposal that €7.3 could be saved if these obligations were reduced," explained Mr Stoiber.
"We presented these proposals already in May to commissioner McCreevy and he said a decision will be taken in the near future, but actually we haven't heard anything more from him since," Mr Stoiber complained.
He urged the MEPs to "influence" the commission in accepting the proposals. "It would be awful if you set up a high level group with all the pipes and drums in the attempt to move the commission, and this high level group makes proposals, but then nothing happens," the German conservative said.
"I think the president of the commission is taking things very seriously, but then when it comes to individual commissioners, they don't want to take these risky steps and change a few things," argued Edmund Stoiber.
When appointing it in September 2007, Barroso considered the high-level group as "a flagship project for the commission," while German Enterprise and Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said that "the group will play a crucial role in identifying the unnecessary administrative burdens we need to remove."
Appointed for three years and comprising of 15 "honorific members" plus three to four staff, the group only meets twice a year, with the next assessment on other legal areas scheduled for mid 2009, Mr Stoiber said.
In an attempt to involve the European public more in his efforts to clamp down on red tape, Mr Stoiber also launched, on 18 September a competition called "Best Idea for Red Tape Reduction Award."
Entries are to be assessed on criteria such as originality and degree of innovation, feasibility, reduction potential and transferability of possible solutions to other areas and member states.
The award will be handed out in Prague on 13 May 2009.
