1. Le programme européen de réduction des charges administratives Journées européennes dinformatique juridique Paris, 11 décembre 08 Genevieve Pons-Deladriere Cette présentation, faite à titre personnel, nengage pas la Commission européenne European Commission Enterprise and Industry

2. Introduction Measuring administrative costs Preparation of sectoral reduction plans Achievements in reducing burdens Consultation with stakeholders National programmes to reduce burdens Next Steps Contents

3. Burden reduction = less paperwork, more jobs, more resources for investing to remain competitive; even more important in difficult economic times Jan 2007: launch of Action Programme; scope = 42 legal acts in 13 priority areas (80% of EU burden) Aim: measure costs imposed by information obligations; suppress unnecessary requirements; improve efficiency of legislation without undermining purpose Jan 2009: Second Progress Report on Action Programme; positive assessment Introduction

4. Large-scale baseline measurement; interviews with enterprises in all Member States 356 EU information obligations (IO); 9,906 national IOs (1,022 going beyond EU requirements) Administrative burdens of 130-170 bn.; taxation, company law and food safety largest areas Qualitative insights: need to take international origin of IOs into account; administrative costs not always equal to administrative burden Measuring administrative costs

5. Next step: identify further reductions in each priority area Processing of reduction ideas from consultants and stakeholders Analysis based on measurement; cost and irritation as indicators; comparative analysis Good progress in the two largest priority areas: VAT and company law Preparation of sectoral reduction plans

6. Fast Track Action packages for 2007 and 2008; total savings of more than 2.3 bn.; 10 out of 21 adopted More than half of the 42 legal acts in the scope of the programme have been amended; reduction proposed or achieved is in the billions (e.g. 2.5 billion via integrated customs territory/paperless environment alone) Measures for early 2009 in VAT and company law have cost reduction potential of 25 bn. Achievements in reducing burdens

7. Reducing burdens is not something the Union can do on its own; three pillars of stakeholder involvement: Online/offline consultation: around 350 submissions received in 2008 Major conferences in Brussels and in most Member States, co-hosted by national authorities High Level Group of Independent Stakeholders on Administrative Burdens (Stoiber Group); advising the Commission on key initiatives and new ideas Consultation with stakeholders

8. Six countries (AT, CZ, DE, DK, NL, UK) have already adopted Burden Reduction Programmes prior or in parallel to the EU effort 2007 Spring European Council calls upon all Member States to adopt reduction targets of similar ambition to the EU A total of 21 Member States have adopted reduction targets; majority of them opted for targets of 25% Commission provides starter kit to Member States which embark on baseline measurements National Programmes to Reduce Burdens

9. Identify the specific reductions to be made in each of the 13 priority areas and present all proposals stemming from the Action Programme before the end of the mandate Extend the Action Programme to further legal acts Disseminate good national transposition practices at sectoral level Reinforce the administrative burden part of impact assessments by putting in place new IT tools Next steps