Erhvervs-, Vækst- og Eksportudvalget 2015-16
ERU Alm.del Bilag 70
Offentligt
26 November 2015
Dear First Vice-President Timmermans,
As you know, the European economy is at a pivotal moment. In many countries
economic recovery is on the way. But it is not secured for the long term. The
challenge of global competition is intense. We must rise to this and deliver new
sources of growth and productivity, unleashing the potential of all businesses
from the smallest start-ups to the biggest multinationals.
This requires real change. Our regulatory system needs to be fit for the 21
st
century. This means better and simpler regulation. Unnecessary burdens in EU
legislation must be removed while always taking into account proper protection
of consumers, health, the environment, employees and financial market stability
and respecting existing protection standards.
We welcome your leadership and the more strategic approach already taken by
this Commission in pursuit of this objective. We welcome the streamlined 2016
Commission Work Programme and its focus on competitiveness. We also
welcome the Commission’s commitment to the ‘Think Small First’ principle,
and the resultant improvements already delivered, and hope we can use the
ongoing negotiations on the Inter-Institutional Agreement on Better Regulation
to obtain equally strong commitments from the Council and European
Parliament. However, we feel this could be further strengthened to ensure that
this commitment translates into action.
We support your commitment to better regulation. Like you, we recognise the
need to address the quality of EU legislation as well as to reduce its overall
regulatory burden, without undermining its policy goals. This must include both
the existing acquis and new proposals in order to ensure that EU regulation is
transparent, simple and is achieved at minimum cost, while fostering
competitiveness, growth and jobs.
We must build on the momentum for change in our regulatory culture and
ensure that progress is never rolled back. It must nourish entrepreneurship and
innovation, and provide for the future prosperity of all our citizens.
You have demonstrated great ambition in the reforms you have already
introduced and in your better regulation package of May 2015. But one
particular – and essential – reform is still missing: we now need to establish
targets for reducing the burden of regulation in particularly burdensome areas,
in line with the conclusions of the Competitiveness and European Councils.
ERU, Alm.del - 2015-16 - Bilag 70: Notat vedrørende implementering af EU’s indre markedslovgivning, fra erhvervs- og vækstministeren
At the same time we recognise that all institutions have a responsibility to
reduce the burden of regulation on businesses, such as by supporting the
effective implementation of reduction targets once agreed and introduced. Many
Member States have successfully introduced burden reduction targets in their
national better regulation efforts which can inspire targets at a European level.
The introduction of such burden reduction targets would mark a major step
forward in our approach to smarter regulation. This would of course be fully in
accordance with the principles of the single market. The effects would be
clearly experienced by our businesses and economies and would impact on the
way the EU is perceived by our citizens. The Union must concentrate its action
on areas where it makes a real difference; it should refrain from taking action
when Member States can better achieve the same objectives.
Given the leadership you have already shown on this agenda, and in the spirit of
a joint commitment on better regulation we look forward to a discussion with
you on these matters at the Competitiveness Council on 30 November.
Dr Reinhold Mitterlehner, Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Science,
Research and Economy
Austria
Vladislav Goranov, Minister for Finance
Bojidar Lukarski, Minister for Economy
Bulgaria
Ivan Vrdoljak, Minister of the Economy
Republic of Croatia
Constantinos Petrides, Deputy Minister to the President
Cyprus
Jan Mládek, Minister of Industry and Trade
Czech Republic
Troels Lund Poulsen, Minister for Business and Growth
Claus Hjort Frederiksen, Minister of Finance
Denmark
Alexander Stubb, Minister of Finance
Jari Lindström, Minister of Justice and Employment
Finland
ERU, Alm.del - 2015-16 - Bilag 70: Notat vedrørende implementering af EU’s indre markedslovgivning, fra erhvervs- og vækstministeren
Emmanuel Macron, Minister for the Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs
France
Sigmar Gabriel, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy
Germany
Mihály Varga, Minister for National Economy
Hungary
Dara Murphy, Minister of State at the Departments of the Taoiseach and
Foreign Affairs
Ireland
Maria Anna Madia, Minister of Simplification and Public Administration
Federica Guidi, Minister of Economic Development
Sandro Gozi, State Secretary in charge of European Affairs
Italy
Evaldas Gustas, Minister of Economy
Rimantas Šadžius, Minister of Finance
Republic of Lithuania
Christian Cardona, Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business
Professor Edward Scicluna, Minister for Finance
Malta
Vazil Hudák, Minister of Economy
Slovak Republic
Boris Koprivnikar, Minister of Public Administration
Slovenia
Luis de Guindos, Minister for Economic Affairs and Competitiveness
Spain
Mikael Damberg, Minister for Enterprise and Innovation
Sweden
Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer
United Kingdom