EPP Group wants EU Commission to get serious about scrapping unnecessary laws

Parliament resolution calls for tougher rules for impact assessments of old and new EU laws

The EPP Group in the European Parliament wants the European Commission to get serious about scrapping unnecessary laws. "The initial plans of the European Commission to change internal rules for impact assessments are very worrying. Instead of getting tougher, they discard the so-far compulsory 'SME Test' for new laws," says Markus Pieper MEP, Chairman of the SME Circle within the EPP Group.

"If Jean-Claude Juncker wants the EU to be big on big things and small on small questions, then this must be reflected in the internal checks and balances as well. The Commission needs an internal mechanism to make sure that we are never again going to see oil can regulations and the like," stresses Pieper.

The resolution, drafted by Pieper, calls for an internal Impact Assessment Board within the Commission, that is "not subject to political control". New laws "should not be adopted unless accompanied by a positive opinion from the Impact Assessment Board", says the resolution. Parliamentarians also want the compulsory 'SME Test' of new laws to be maintained.

The Commission needs an internal mechanism to make sure that we are never again going to see oil can regulations and the like Markus Pieper MEP

In addition to this, the EPP Group calls for an independent body outside the EU Commission to scrutinise both old and new laws to see whether they are necessary, in line with the subsidiarity principle and how much bureaucracy they create. "This is a constitutional model which showed good results in countries such as Sweden, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Germany. This kind of 'Better Regulation Watchdog' would be completely independent and composed of experts from all Member States," Pieper explains.

The resolution initiated by the EPP Group has been supported by all political Groups in the Parliament except the Greens and Anti-EU parties.