According to the report released by the British government, the European Union’s red tape not only costs billions of euros every year but also hinders economic growth prospects. Prime Minister Cameron hopes that the report will help to kick-start reforms of the Union. British eurosceptics harshly criticize EU regulations as being “pointless, burdensome and costly”.
The report made more than 30 recommendations in a number of areas, such as oil industry, pharmaceutical industry, environment or even maternity leave rules and limits on working hours. If the rule forcing firms to keep health and safety record were scrapped, it could save up to 2.7 billion EUR, Britain’s Business Minister Michael Fallon said. Mr. Cameron thinks that the current European red tape negatively influences businesses even though there are many easy and practical ways how to cut down on the existing rules. Reducing regulations will be the core of Prime Minister’s endeavor to reform the EU before the referendum on the continuation of Britain’s membership in the Union takes place.
Throughout the European Union, confidence in the EU’s institutions has declined since the onset of the financial crisis. One of latest polls reports that 60 percent Europeans do not trust the EU, which is an almost two-fold decrease compared to the poll in 2007. The European Commission stated last month that it would respond to the criticism regarding over-regulation. The Commission’s boss, Jose Manuel Barroso said in response to Mr. Cameron’s statements that more than 5,000 laws and rules had been scrapped over past five years. Mr. Barroso also added that “common rules are essential to make the single market work properly, but I also want to make sure that the EU does not meddle where it should not”.
