High Level Group on Administrative Burdens Thomas Bustrup 17thoct. 13 Administrative burdens and SMEs State of play and recommendations from a Danish perspective

High Level Group on Administrative Burdens 17thoct. 13 Thomas Bustrup Agenda 1.Introduction 2.A Danish Example - Business Forum for Simpler Rules 3.Remarks to ABR plus – priority list for HLG follow-up 4.Other areas where Danish SMEs face administrative burdens caused by EU-legislation 5.Recommendations for a Smart Regulation in the EU 2

High Level Group on Administrative Burdens 17thoct. 13 Thomas Bustrup Deputy Director General Member of the Executive Board Employed in the Confederation of Danish Industry since 1996 Responsible for SME policy EU affairs International relations and activities 3

High Level Group on Administrative Burdens 17thoct. 13 Thomas Bustrup 4 Confederation of Danish Industry Largest Business Organization in Denmark members within manufacturing, trade and service industry Member of BUSINESSEUROPE and Orgalime

High Level Group on Administrative Burdens 17thoct. 13 Thomas Bustrup A Danish example Business Forum for Simpler Rules 5

High Level Group on Administrative Burdens 17thoct. 13 Thomas Bustrup Business Forum for Simpler Rules Established in spring 2012 Mandate: to the end of Overall purpose to reduce the administrative burdens in the areas where businesses express a specific need for change

High Level Group on Administrative Burdens 17thoct. 13 Thomas Bustrup 7 ”Comply or explain” principle 80 pct. of all proposals so far are either approved or partly approved

High Level Group on Administrative Burdens 17thoct. 13 Thomas Bustrup Selected themes Statistical data Access to foreign labour Implementation of EU- legislation Regulation on occupational safety & health Digitalisation Public Administration at local level 8

High Level Group on Administrative Burdens 17thoct. 13 Thomas Bustrup Improvement in the public service at local level towards businesses Reduction of the time used by the public sector to handle applications Improvement in the reuse of statistical data Reduction of the public complexity towards businesses Improvement in the coordination between government authorities 9 What are the results…

High Level Group on Administrative Burdens 17thoct. 13 Thomas Bustrup Strengths and weaknesses Strengths Specific focus on the areas pointed out by businesses Give stakeholders a political platform to make a real impact on reducing administrative burdens Based on transparency, quality and dialogue Weaknesses Lack of internal pressure among civil servants to prioritize the smart regulation agenda Unable to handle proposals for smart regulation that stem from EU- legislation Cannot stand alone but must be complemented with other instruments to reduce administrative burdens 10

High Level Group on Administrative Burdens 17thoct. 13 Thomas Bustrup Remarks to ABR plus – based on priority list for HLG follow-up 11

High Level Group on Administrative Burdens 17thoct. 13 Thomas Bustrup Remarks to ABR plus – HLG priority list 12 Annual accounts/company law (Simplified audit regimes) Public procurement Taxation / custom (electronic invoicing) Transport (Digital Tachograph)

High Level Group on Administrative Burdens 17thoct. 13 Thomas Bustrup Areas where Danish SMEs face administrative challenges with EU legislation 13 A few examples: Legislative overlap between related directives concerning products used in buildings Overlaps and inconsistencies between REACH and other EU chemicals legislation, especially product legislation Inflexible Rules for the Assessment of the Risks to Safety and Health at Work

High Level Group on Administrative Burdens 17thoct. 13 Thomas Bustrup Recommendations for a Smart Regulation in the EU 14

High Level Group on Administrative Burdens 17thoct. 13 Thomas Bustrup Introduce a Business Forum at EU-level Problem: There is a need for a concrete political platform where businesses and stakeholders can present their proposals for simplification Possible Solution: Introduce a political instrument that can handle concrete proposals to reduce administrative burdens for businesses in the EU The political instrument could be acconpanied by a ”comply or explain” principle to secure the political will to make a real impact Example: The Danish Business Forum for Simpler Rules 15

High Level Group on Administrative Burdens 17thoct. 13 Thomas Bustrup Introduce a new net reduction target Problem: There is a need for setting a new net reduction target in the EU to follow up effectively on the ABR Programme Possible Solution: Set a new net reduction target to reduce the overall administrative burdens for businesses in the EU – at least within the selected areas from the top-ten consultation Example: New net reduction targets have been set in the Netherlands and in Norway 16

High Level Group on Administrative Burdens 17thoct. 13 Thomas Bustrup Introduce Impact Assessments on amendments from the Council or EP Problem: The decision process of EU regulation in Council and EP often leads to new administrative burdens for businesses, not included in the original impact assessment Solution: Introduce Impact Assessments on amendments introduced by Council andEP Example: Obligations for manufacturers in the proposal for a Consumer Product Safety Regulation 17

High Level Group on Administrative Burdens Thomas Bustrup 17thoct. 13 Questions & Comments