Mr President, red tape within Dutch industry amounts to near enough EUR 9 billion per annum. This was revealed in the Netherlands last week by Actal, the newly formed Committee of Experts on the verification of administrative burdens. The average entrepreneur spends approximately ten hours on completing administrative tasks and forms. The Netherlands, as far as this is concerned, is no exception. Research has shown that unnecessary bureaucratic procedures within companies account for 4 to 6 per cent of the GNP of EU Member States. This is a heavy burden, which hits small companies particularly hard. I know of entrepreneurs who have quite consciously decided against further expansion of their businesses because they want to avoid having to take on staff at all costs. Many are deterred by the administrative red tape involved. In this way, the many obligations imposed by governments on entrepreneurs hinder the growth of production and employment. Some of the time, it is not even the legislation which is wrong or ineffective, but it is often the accumulation of obligations which makes the administrative pressures so heavy, and the European Parliament contributes to this in its own way. This reminds me of a report we discussed last year which related to the working conditions on construction sites. One of the prohibitions in that report, thanks to an amendment in Parliament, pertains to holding a ladder while someone is standing on it. Quite apart from the absurdity of such provisions, one wonders who subsequently monitors compliance with this kind of legislation. One of the key problems in our complex society is probably the fact that we produce far too many regulations in such abundance and of such complexity, that we ourselves are no longer able to monitor their compliance. The consequences can be disastrous, as a recent incident in the Netherlands proved once more. In my opinion, the heavy administrative burden on citizens and businesses, combined with the government’s incapacity to ensure compliance with the tangled web of rules, are reason enough to tackle the simplification of legislation and improvement of its quality head-on. While I welcome the SLIM project, which the Commission launched in 1996 and which is under discussion this evening, as I stated in my report, it is too little too late. Compared to the legislative machinery as a whole, it is only a drop in the ocean. That is why I argue in favour of added momentum, as well as shorter implementation periods for the results of the SLIM working parties and, obviously, for the organisation and manpower required in this respect. However, I attach yet more importance to simplifying legislation in its entirety. Particular attention will need to be paid to the way in which legislation is developed. After all, it is much easier to take simplifying measures in the early stages than to adapt existing legislation later on, at great cost, also for businesses. Every available effort must be made early on to lay down high-quality legislation and to restrict the administrative and financial consequences to a minimum. The Netherlands has seen the recent introduction of Actal, which I mentioned a moment ago. Actal is an independent watchdog whose duty it is to examine draft legislative proposals and to expose any negative administrative burdens on behalf of citizens and businesses. An excellent initiative which, I hope, will be copied liberally in other Member States and at EU level. I would make an urgent appeal to the European Commission to make a maximum effort to improve the quality of legislation and to restrict the administrative burden on citizens and businesses. If the current situation continues for much longer, the European Parliament, too, will need to consider the consequences of legislative proposals discussed here on citizens and businesses. If others fail to come up with the goods, we might have to follow in the footsteps of the American Congress and set up a service ourselves which maps out the administrative and financial consequences of legislation.

Political group: PPE-DE