‘Gold-plate’ laws costing billions, says commissioner
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.
The German commissioner threatened to spill the beans, when he retires shortly, about the pressure he has come under to bring in new legislation.
“Member states have a rabid urge to legislate ... all kinds of technical provisions are constantly being created in member states. You have no notion about the requests we get about what we should be legislating about.
Wait until I retire and I will give an indication of what I would like to do in the commission,” he said.
He has already said that extras are added onto legislation to keep domestic pressure groups happy or to suit civil servants.
Recently, a proposal to exempt micro business from certain accounting obligations, which could save the smallest businesses an estimated €7bn a year, was objected to by member states, including France and Belgium. Verheugen said the governments had been lobbied by what appeared to be a very large group, but said they appeared to be ready to change their minds.
The commission also proposes allowing electronic invoicing for contracts, which should save about €19bn, he said.
They need member states and the European Parliament to agree to the changes.
They have already passed measures that should save enterprises €7.6bn a year, but the total, if agreed, should reach more to than €37bn.
Verheugen pointed out that the commission could only do so much, as at least half of the red tape was the responsibility of member states.
“But no member state could describe what was being done to achieve savings,” he said.
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