Commission axes pregnant workers bill

In a statement on Wednesday (18 June), the commission said that it was “good legislative practice to withdraw proposals that do not advance in the legislative process,” and noted that the proposals were either “outdated” or lacked support by MEPs and ministers.

The EU executive added that it had abandoned plans to table legislation on occupational health and safety for hairdressers. It also intends to repeal legislation relating to energy labelling, transport rates and the common agricultural policy.

The commission says it has slashed the cost of administrative burdens by €32.3 billion and scrapped more than 6,000 legal acts since 2005.

It introduced the so-called Refit programme last October after a number of governments expressed frustration about the volume of EU regulation on businesses.

UK prime minister David Cameron raised the issue at an EU summit last autumn, complaining that firms were being "throttled" by EU red-tape.

Politicians and business groups have argued that for every regulation and directive introduced another should be abolished.

Syed Kamall, who was elected leader of the conservative ECR group last week, commented that “the commission is correct to start focusing attention on areas where EU law should be repealed or reformed”.

“We need a culture change from the 1950s vision that every problem can only be solved by EU legislation,” he added.