EU pro-business initiative cuts proposed regulatory bills News
EU pro-business initiative cuts proposed regulatory bills

[JURIST] The European Commission [official website] Tuesday withdrew 68 pieces of pending legislation [legislation withdrawn, PDF] as part of its initiative [EU backgrounder] to cut back on regulatory restrictions on EU businesses. A review committee led by EU Enterprise and Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen [official profile] reviewed 183 legislative proposals currently pending in the European Parliament. Some of the more notable measures to be cut included a weekend ban on truck traffic and certain food labeling requirements. European businesses previously expressed some skepticism [EU Observer report] about the initiative and argued that much of the legislation set to be cut would have been scrapped anyways. Instead, industry called on the European Commission to go farther in its efforts. The European Commission has a news release on the results. The Commission has said it will continue its efforts to simplify regulation by reviewing legislation [EU backgrounder] currently on the books. AP has more.