Barroso’s regulatory purge spells trouble for environmentalists

By Anna McLauchlin

Date: 22/09/05

Europe's businesses and non-governmental organisations have judged European Commission President José Manuel Barroso's plan to scrap 69 pending EU laws a non-event, but some environmentalists have warned that it is not as harmless as it seems. Barroso's peers will approve and publish a final list on Wednesday (27 September).

The provisional list of proposals to be withdrawn consists largely of outdated laws or those that have been overtaken by events and are now covered by different rules. 12 of the 69 relate to the 2004 enlargement. In its communication statement, the Commission champions its "first ever comprehensive screening" and says that the laws represent nearly a third of all pending proposals from before January 2004. But some claim the exercise is just business as usual.

"The Commission is putting the best possible gloss on what is basically an administrative cleaning-up exercise," said Tony Long, director of WWF's European policy office.

"While this legislative 'clean-up' shows the Commission is serious about better regulation, many of the laws listed are merely anachronisms," said Hans-Werner Müller, secretary-general of the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (UEAPME). "The list must not be seen as a panacea for the ever-increasing regulatory burden in the EU; it must be part of a more comprehensive ongoing process."

Of the 15 pending laws on European business association's simplification wish list only two - on workers' exposure to sunlight and sales promotions - are included in the Commission's draft.

Others highlight areas of concern, such as the Commission's proposal to do away with signing the transport protocol to the Alpine Convention, which restricts the amount of traffic that can move through the Alps to protect its environment.

"If the Commission signs up then we can refer to the signature and ask for proposals to support it," said Markus Liechti from the European Federation for Transport and Environment, an NGO.

"The protocol is not in itself in danger, but if the Commission doesn't sign up to it then it will be weakened."

Charlotte Mogensen, fisheries expert at WWF, highlighted communications which make recommendations on herring and prawn fishing in the Baltic and North Seas.

"As far as I know the two communications... have not yet been adopted in other regulations, so I would be concerned at having them deleted."

The European Environmental Bureau also expressed concern over a proposal to carry out further analysis of 2003 proposals on fluorinated gases and the shipment of waste.

"Both these proposals are in second reading, so we don't know what would happen if they were suddenly discovered to be uncompetitive, but certainly we would not be happy if they were withdrawn and we don't see how the Commission could do it," said a spokeswoman.

WWF's Tony Long also said that the Commission's insistence on growth and jobs in this communication was an ominous sign for the executive's simplification programme, to be published next month. "If the criteria for dropping other pieces of legislation are similar, i.e. consistency with the Lisbon goals with no mention of sustainable development, then the true orientation of this Commission will be out," he said.

Article reports that there are concerns in the environmental lobby about the list of legislative proposals to be withdrawn by the European Commission, which was to be announced on 27 September 2005 in an attempt to avoid unnecessary legislation.