‘Gold-plate’ laws costing billions, says commissioner

GOVERNMENTS have been accused of adding billions of euro to the cost of running a business in Europe because of their addiction to gold plating.

Competition Commissioner Gunter Verheugen said they had a “rabid urge to legislate” and this included adding on expensive requirements to European Union legislation, known as gold plating.

Only Britain and the Netherlands were making much of an effort to tackle it, he said. The European Commission plans to cut the cost of red tape by at least 25%, or €40 billion, over the next two years.