COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMVttJNITIES 
COM (93) 545 final 
Brussels,24 November 1993 
COMMISSION REPORT TO THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL ON THE ADAPTATION 
OF COMMUNITY LEGISLATION TO THE SUBSIDIARITY PRINCIPLE 
COMMISSION REPORT TO THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL ON THE ADAPTATION 
OF EXISTING LEGISLATION TO THE SUBSIDIARITY PRINCIPLE 
I. The subsidiarity principle following the entry into force of the 
Treaty on European Union 
1. Subsidiarity principle 
The subsidiarity principle embodied in the Maastricht Treaty is 
assuming its full importance as the Community stands on the threshold 
of becoming a European Union endowed with new powers in areas such as 
currency, foreign policy and even defence. 
It is one matter to develop balanced policies in clearly-defined 
areas, as the Community has always endeavoured to do, but quite 
another to define levels of responsibility between the Union and the 
Member States with regard to the range of twenty or so activities now 
open to Community intervention (see Articles 3 and 3a of the Treaty). 
The aim of the subsidiarity principle is to see to it that decisions 
are taken as close as possible to the citizen, a constant watch being 
kept to ensure that action taken at Community level is justified in 
the light of the means available to national, regional or local 
authorities. 
The practical effect of the Maastricht Treaty is to require the 
Community to demonstrate that there is a legitimate need for each new 
initiative. 
Three questions must be answered in each case. 
What is the Community dimension of the problem? 
What is the most effective solution, given the means available to 
the Community and to Member States? 
What is the real added value of common action compared with 
isolated action by the Member States? 
To this demonstration of the need-for-action, the Treaty adds the 
requirement that each proposal, whether in an area of exclusive or 
shared competence, must respect the principle of proportionality. The 
intensity of the action should leave the Member States all possible 
room for manoeuvre in its implementation. Subsidiarity requires 
Community legislation to be limited to what is essential. 
There are two aspects to the subsidiarity principle: decentralization, 
but also a corollary function of integration, where effectiveness 
demands that a problem be solved in a common framework. 
The main aim of the subsidiarity principle, therefore, is to improve 
the quality of Community action. 
2. Scope of the subsidiarity principle 
Subsidiarity is first and foremost a political principle, a sort of 
rule of reason. Its function is not to distribute powers. That is a 
matter for the constituent authorities - the authors of the Treaty. 
The aim of the subsidiarity principle is, rather, to regulate the 
exercise of powers and to justify their use in a particular case. 
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The Treaty on European Union simply makes a distinction between 
exclusive and shared competence without specifying the limits. In the 
new areas, the Treaty carefully establishes case by case a dividing 
line between matters that may be covered by Community measures in a 
given area and matters that must be left to the Member States (for 
example, there is to be no harmonization on health, culture, education 
or training). 
Application of the subsidiarity principle has the following 
consequences: 
Community competence is not the rule but rather an exception to 
national competence; in other words, the Community must have 
powers specifically conferred on it; 
far from having the effect of freezing Community action, the 
dynamic of the subsidiarity principle should make it possible to 
expand it if required, or lirait or even abandon it when action at 
Community level is no longer warranted; 
the regulatory role of subsidiarity, for which need-for-action is 
the criterion, applies to shared competence only; it cannot be 
used as a pretext for challenging measures in areas such as the 
internal market where the Community has a clearly defined and 
undeniable obligation to act. 
The full effect of the subsidiarity principle depends on consideration 
by the Community's institutions of a number of questions of substance 
raised by the Commission in its Communication of 27 October 1992 
(SEC(92)1990): 
- What degree of constraint is to be applied for the implementation 
of shared powers? 
What are the limits on legislative action compared with 
non-binding means of action? In particular, what are the 
respective places of the directive or regulation in the absence of 
full recognition of the principle of mutual confidence? 
What is the role of subsidiarity in the management -and control of 
implementat ion ? 
The declaration and interinstitutional agreement initialled by 
Parliament, the Council and the Commission on 29 October 1993 make it 
clear that all three institutions must respect the subsidiarity 
principle. 
The interinstitutional agreement will make it possible to incorporate 
the subsidiarity principle more fully into the decision-making 
process. But subsidiarity cannot be reduced to a set of procedural 
rules; it is primarily a state of mind which, to be given substance, 
presupposes a political answer to the fundamental questions which 
application of the principle will undoubtedly raise once the Treaty on 
European Union enters into force. 
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II. Undertakings given by the Commission with regard to application of 
the subsidiarity principle 
Besides participating in the interinstitutional agreement, the broad 
lines of which were set out in its Communication of 27 October 1992 
(SEC(92)1990), the Commission has given three undertakings, in 
particular at the Edinburgh European Council, with regard to 
application of the subsidiarity principle: 
justification included in legislative proposals, 
withdrawal or revision of pending proposals, 
review of existing legislation. 
1. Justification included in legislative proposals 
Pending entry into force of the Treaty on European Union, the 
Commission has instructed its departments to provide detailed 
justification for all new legislative proposals, whether for 
regulations, directives or decisions. 
For some months now the explanatory memorandum has included detailed 
answers to a series of questions relating to the subsidiarity criteria 
(in the broad sense, including the principle of proportionality as set 
out in Article 3b of the Treaty and the conclusions of the Edinburgh 
European Council). The questions are as follows: 
(a) What are the aims of the proposed action in terms of the 
Community's obligations? 
(b) Does the proposed measure fall within the Community's exclusive 
competence or is competence shared with the Member States? 
(c) What is the Community dimension of the problem (in other words, 
how many Member States are involved and what solution has been 
applied to date)? 
(d) What is the most effective solution, given the means available to 
the Community and to Member States? 
(e) What is the specific added value of the proposed Community action 
and the cost of failing to act? 
(f) What means of action are available to the Community 
(recommendation, financial support, regulation, mutual recognition 
etc.)? 
(g) Are uniform rules necessary, or would it be sufficient to adopt a 
directive laying down general objectives and leaving 
implementation to Member States? 
Questions (c), (d) and (e) are not examined in the case of exclusive 
competence. When drawing the line between exclusive and shared 
competence, the Commission refers to the criteria outlined in its 
Communication of 27 October 1992. 
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Each proposal also includes a recital referring to the subsidiarity 
principle and taking account of the main elements of the answers given 
in the explanatory memorandum. 
As indicated in its Communication of 27 October 1992 to Parliament and 
the Council, the Commission believes that, in the interests of 
openness, explanatory memoranda should be published with proposals in 
the Official Journal in future. National parliaments, ordinary 
citizens and interested parties would thus be aware of the detailed 
justification for the initiative in terms of subsidiarity, and could 
make their views known before the proposal was adopted. It might also 
be useful in certain cases to publish an assessment of the proposal's 
impact on business in general and small businesses in particular. 
Detailed examination of the subsidiarity principle has already led to 
a reduction in the number of proposals put forward by the Commission 
in 1993 compared with previous years. Its legislative programme for 
1993 was drawn up and discussed with Parliament in the light of the 
subsidiarity principle and contains fewer proposals than earlier 
programmes. At the Copenhagen European Council the Commission 
distributed a list of specific cases in which it had decided not to 
legislate or alternatively to reduce the intensity of its proposals. 
In future it will notify not only the Council and Parliament but also 
all interested parties (by publishing a notice in the C series of the 
Official Journal) of its reasons for not following up a proposal 
initially included in its legislative programme. 
In addition, the Commission, as recorded in the conclusions of the 
Edinburgh Council, has declined to accept requests made by the Council 
at informal meetings that it should make proposals for directives. In 
the same vein, in order to avoid duplication, it has opposed Council 
resolutions asking it to draw up legislative proposals. 
Lastly, several Commission proposals, notably those on deposit 
guarantees, animal welfare and foodstuffs, are being discussed in the 
Council and Coreper in terms of subsidiarity. 
2. Withdrawal or revision of proposals 
The Commission informed the Edinburgh European Council of its 
intention to withdraw or revise some twenty proposals which were not 
fully justified in terms of subsidiarity, with reference either to the 
need-for-action or the intensity criteria. 
On 15 September 1993 Parliament adopted a resolution requesting that 
most of the proposals scheduled for withdrawal be retained. 
The Commission has also begun a revision, based on a number of general 
principles, designed to simplify the proposals listed in the Edinburgh 
conclusions: takeover bids, common definition of the concept of 
Community shipowner, comparative advertising, labelling of footwear, 
liability of suppliers of services, protection of natural persons in 
relation to data processed via digital telecommunications networks. 
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Parliament has also given its opinion on proposals for revision, 
asking for the retention of texts that the Commission had quoted as 
examples of the revision of existing legislation. 
The Commission has studied Parliament's 15 September resolution 
carefully and has made the withdrawals it felt were necessary. It is 
now revising the proposals requiring simplification. 
The Commission may well announce the withdrawal of other proposals 
whose pertinence and utility have been challenged or which have been 
overloaded with detail in the course of the legislative process. It 
should be noted that in 1993 the Commission has withdrawn some 
150 proposals which were technically outdated or politically obsolete, 
3. Review of existing legislation 
In Lisbon in June 1992 the European Council asked the Commission to 
draw up an overall report on the review of certain Community rules 
with a view to adapting them to the subsidiarity principle. In 
response to this request the Commission transmitted a memorandum to 
the Edinburgh European Council setting out the initial results of the 
review of existing legislation and giving a number of examples. In 
this way the Commission identified several families of existing rules 
and regulations for which it intends to propose a revision in 1993. 
Ill. Work on the revision of existing legislation 
It should be borne in mind that the Commission's work on the revision 
of Community legislation represents a second stage in an operation to 
simplify legislation. The first stage resulted from Community 
harmonization itself which, generally speaking, led to the abolition 
of a multitude of national instruments and rules and the elimination 
of decades of red-tape accumulated by the Member States. 
A shining example was the introduction of a single administrative 
document which eliminated a thousand different forms at a stroke. 
This administrative document was itself abolished with the 
introduction of the temporary VAT arrangements on 1 January 1993. 
The present review of existing Community legislation is an enormous 
task. Commission departments have scrutinized the families of rules 
and regulations for compliance with two of the subsidiarity criteria: 
What rules and regulations in areas of shared competence no longer 
pass the need-for-action test, on account of doubts about either 
the effectiveness, or the value added of action at Community level 
compared with action at national level? 
What rules and regulations in areas of shared competence fail the 
proportionality test (a) because they go into excessive detail, or 
(b) because they could be couched in a flexible type of 
instrument, such as a recommendation, code of conduct, agreements 
between the two sides of industry, mutual recognition, etc. rather 
than a binding legal instrument? 
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1. Precautions to be taken 
A number of precautions were agreed for the purpose of this exercise: 
the acquis communautaire should not be called into question, 
i.e. under the pretext of revision, the debate should not be 
reopened in the Council and Parliament on the fundamental 
principles of Community policies, or on particular points of an 
instrument considered essential by one or other Member State; 
priority should be given to the review of old legislation; 
experience has shown that it is more easily revised than more 
recent instruments; as a rule, the Commission does not intend to 
propose amendments to legislation adopted within the past two 
years; 
the review should be limited to rules and regulations of a 
legislative nature applicable to firms and individuals; it should 
not extend to areas in which major changes are under consideration 
(e.g. cohesion). 
2. Main considerations 
The Commission has grouped the legislation to be revised under three 
headings. 
(a) Rules and regulations to be recast 
This involves modernizing and reordering all legislation with 
sufficient maturity to make it possible to distinguish the essential 
from the secondary in its operation. The accumulation of successive 
texts - not always consistent - to cover the entire sector 
necessitates the inclusion in a single instrument of general 
principles and important specific rules, particularly with regard to 
certainty as to the law and individual rights, and reduction of 
implementing rules to a single procedure. One example of this is the 
Customs Code adopted by the Council last year. The Commission is 
considering a similar recasting in the case of pharmaceutical products 
and the right of residence, for example. A clear distinction should 
be made between this and the customary legislative or declaratory 
consolidation exercise. 
(b) Rules and regulations to be simplified 
Recasting apart, experience has shown that simplification could prove 
necessary in the case of certain regulations since they contain 
excessive detail which could be covered by a national or regional 
instrument, or indeed by an international agreement. This is true in 
the case of the families of existing rules and regulations referred to 
in the Edinburgh conclusions. The Commission is planning to begin 
transmitting proposals for simplification of these rules and 
regulations to the Council. It has also identified other rules and 
regulations to be simplified e.g. takeover bids, indirect taxation, 
common organization of agricultural markets, etc. 
(c) Rules and regulations to be repealed 
Certain regulations should be repealed either because they are 
included in a recasting or because they have been superseded by the 
development of other techniques such as the "new approach" or mutual 
recognition. 
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3. Conditions for the success of the exercise 
Care must be taken that revision does not develop into a free-for-all, 
in which the various parties, with no regard for consistency, would 
propose the revision or repeal of legislation for reasons of 
expediency. 
The Commission would therefore draw the Council's attention to a 
number of general conditions on which the success of the revision 
exercise depends. 
however committed the Member States may be, attempts to 
simplify rules and regulations which do not satisfy the 
proportionality criterion run the risk of encountering 
resistance from national administrations which, because of 
a mutual lack of confidence, are anxious to obtain the most 
detailed regulations possible; the elimination of rules 
and regulations which do not meet the need-for-action 
criterion is proving even more difficult in the absence of 
an answer to the fundamental questions raised by 
subsidiarity, and particularly a consensus on areas of 
exclusive competence; 
an agreement on recasting with the Council and Parliament, 
along the lines of the agreement on consolidation which is 
in preparation, to ensure that examination of Commission 
proposals does not reopen discussions on points of 
substance going beyond the subsidiarity exercise or 
generate a plethora of amendments; 
the possibility of the Community actually exercising its 
external powers - in other words the Council accepting that 
the Community is competent to negotiate and conclude 
international agreements - where the Commission refrains 
from introducing internal legislation that would duplicate 
an international agreement; 
giving more weight to the principle of mutual confidence 
between Member States in areas which are from the health 
point of view sensitive, such as consumer protection and 
plant health inspections. The delegations which are most 
in favour of subsidiarity at a political level are often 
those which call for detailed harmonization at a legal 
level; 
a better use of the delegation of implementing powers to 
the Commission. 
The Commission is still convinced that the real answer to the problem 
of complex tulee lies in the introduction of a hierarchy of CortWtiunity 
norms to be examined, as required by the Maastricht Treaty, at the 
1996 Intergovernmental Conference. 
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The Commission also believes that once legislation has been revised it 
should be subjected to a new principle Of legislative drafting to 
ensure that amending texts do not proliferate once again. In future, 
as is already the case in certain areas (e.g. directive on the 
liberalization of capital movements), any amendment (or addition) to a 
Council regulation must be included in a proposal for a single 
instrument containing the new provisions and the provisions retained 
and repealing the old text, it being understood that discussion would 
be confined to the new provisions. The effects of such a reform would 
be to: 
put an end to the coexistence of successive regulations calling 
for a codification exercise which is overtaken before long; 
stabilize the volume of permanent legislation, thanks to the 
combined effect of a 25% reduction as a result of the proposed 
repeal of certain instruments, and a smaller number of new 
proposals. 
The Commission has looked carefully at the Franco-British list sent in 
June. It has reached the conclusion that sixteen of the twenty-two 
items listed should in fact be reviewed in one form or another. Its 
conclusions are set out in the attached memo. The Commission will 
also study the memorandum sent by the German authorities on 
16 November and any other contributions it may receive. 
Finally, the Commission would stress that in this report it has 
endeavoured to take the broadest possible look at all areas of 
Community legislation. It believes that only this overall approach 
can guarantee the efectiveness of the exercise. 
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CONTENTS 
page 
I. Rules and regulations to be recast 
1. Customs 10 
2. Right of residence 10 
3. Pharmaceutical products 11 
4. Competition 12 
5. Trade mechanisms for agricultural products 12 
II. Simplification of rules and regulations 
A. Families of rules and regulations referred 
to in the conclusions of the Edinburgh 
European Council 
1. Technical standards 12 
(a) Foodstuffs 
(b) Simplifications under the 
"new approach" 
2. Professional qualifications 14 
3. Environment 15 
(a) Water 
(b) Air 
4. Recognition of the possibility of 
Member States negotiating 
settlements with individuals 17 
5. Animal welfare 17 
6. Social policy 18 
B. Other rules and regulations which might be 
simplified 
1. Indirect taxation 19 
(a) VAT 
(b) Excise duties 
2. Company law 19 
3. Common organization of agricultural 
markets 20 
4. Transport policy 20 
5. Common fisheries policy 21 
6. Energy policy 21 
7. Consumer protection 22 
III.Rules and regulations to be repealed 
A. As a result of recasting 23 
B. As a result of the simplification under 
the "new approach" 23 
C. As a result of the extension of mutual 
recognition 24 
D. To take account of scientific knowledge 24 
E. As a result of the case law of the 
Court of Justice 24 
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The present report reflects work in progress and does not rule out 
the possibility of further proposals for revision or withdrawal. 
I. Rules and regulations to be recast 
Certain rules and regulations set out in a number of instruments 
need to be recast and brought together in a single instrument. 
1. Customs 
The Community customs code represents a recasting of around 
25 Council regulations and directives, 75 Commission regulations 
and directives and several hundred amending regulations and 
directives, all adopted since 1968. The recasting exercise 
involved simplifying and bringing all existing legislation together 
in two regulations: 
a Council Regulation of 12 October 1992, containing 
253 articles; and 
a Commission Regulation, adopted in June 1993, comprising 
915 implementing provisions. 
The subsidiarity principle has been applied, using intensity or 
proportionality as the criterion rather than need for action since 
this is an area in which the Community clearly has exclusive 
competence. Repetitive or excessively detailed provisions have been 
replaced by a set of more general provisions, reinforcing the old 
legislation by structuring it into a single system, without 
changing the substance. 
Recasting not only increases transparency but also produces a 
clearer division of powers between the Community and the 
Member States and between the Council and the Commission in the 
customs field (particularly in the case of Community transit 
arrangements). This enables each institution to concentrate 
exclusively on its main concern: basic legislation in the case of 
the Council and implementing rules in the case of the Commission. 
Furthermore, the two regulations will serve as a useful frame of 
reference for non-member countries (notably the countries of 
Central and Eastern Europe) wishing to step up cooperation with the 
Community. Lastly, by significantly reducing the plethora of 
separate rules and regulations, the customs code will make it 
easier to analyse existing legislation in the context of the 
accession negotiations. 
2. Right of residence 
The right of residence for Community nationals is governed by ten 
Council directives and regulations adopted between 1968 and 1990 
and by a 1970 Commission regulation. Initially, only those engaged 
in economic activity (employees and the self-employed) were granted 
the right of residence. Later however this was extended to other 
groups (pensioners, students and others not in gainful employment). 
Instruments governing the right to enter and leave Member States, 
the right of residence, types of residence permit and who qualifies 
for them, the rights of family members, exemptions for reasons of 
public order and other such matters, all use identical phrasing or, 
alternatively, refer to each other. 
The fact that the rules are scattered between so many pieces of 
legislation makes it difficult for individuals to establish what 
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exactly their rights are at Community level. By contrast, national 
rules are usually set out in a single, coherent set of legislative 
instruments and regulations. Given the prospect of "European 
citizenship" introduced by the Maastricht Treaty, some provisions 
should be updated to take account inter alia of the dismantling of 
internal frontiers. The case law of the Court of Justice should 
also be incorporated into legislation. The whole recasting 
exercise should be completed in 1994. 
3. Pharmaceutical products 
As part of the single market project, the Community succeeded in 
harmonizing all health-related aspects of human and veterinary 
medicines, restoring protection for innovation and making the 
implementation of socio-economic measures more transparent. Thanks 
to an ongoing process of clarification and simplification, 
Community pharmaceutical legislation now sets the standard 
internationally and has enabled the Community to launch a major 
international pharmaceutical harmonization initiative involving the 
United States and Japan. 
However, the Community's pharmaceutical rules are still laid down 
by a highly complex patchwork of instruments relating to the 
various aspects of medical and social protection, such as research 
and development tests, procedures and requirements concerning the 
marketing of new products, good manufacturing practice, labelling, 
advertising, patents, pricing and reimbursement through social 
security. 
The rules, published by the Official Publications Office in seven 
volumes and a number of languages under the title "Rules governing 
Medicinal Products in the European Community", comprise around 
20 Council regulations and directives, eight Commission regulations 
and Directives, two communications (on prices and parallel imports) 
and 50 or so explanatory notes for manufacturers on presentation of 
authorization files, testing and production. 
The Community will also be introducing a common 
marketing-authorization system involving the European Agency for 
the Evaluation of Medicinal Products. 
In this connection recasting would increase the degree of 
consistency and help put the main ideas behind subsidiarity into 
practice by: 
clarifying - particularly with regard to authorization and 
withdrawal - the difference between Commission decisions based 
on the opinion of the Medicinal Products Agency and decisions 
made by the national authorities and ensuring better 
coordination and hence increased consistency between decisions 
taken at Community and national level; and 
simplifying and updating basic concepts and clarifying 
terminology in the various Community languages, given the 
importance of terminology in this particular field, and 
eliminating needless repetitions of definitions and procedural 
overlaps, thus reducing the volume of regulations by more than a 
third. 
Its entry into force could be arranged to coincide with the 
setting-up of the Agency, i.e. towards the end of 1994 or the 
beginning of 1995. 
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4. Competition 
Most of the rules and regulations on competition (and state aids in 
particular) emanate from the Commission rather than the Council and 
take the form of guidelines and communications. Some of the 
guidelines have become extremely complex as a result of successive 
amendments to reflect economic developments or changes in common 
policies. To improve effectiveness and increase transparency, the 
Commission therefore intends to proceed to a gradual recasting of 
some of these guidelines once the customary detailed discussions 
have been held with national governments. 
With regard to aid to the regions, the Commission plans to produce 
a comprehensive map of regions eligible for Community aid and for 
national regional aids. 
As to the rules applicable to firms, the Commission intends to 
merge and streamline Regulation 2349/84 (block exemption for patent 
licensing agreements) and Regulation 556/89 (block exemption for 
know-how licensing agreements) in the course of 1994. 
5. Trade mechanisms for agricultural products 
The rules covering trade mechanisms (licences, refunds, levies, 
guarantees, etc.) need to be made more coherent. The legislation 
now includes instruments as diverse as horizontal regulations 
adopted by the Council, regulations on common market organizations, 
Council and Commission implementing rules, interpretative notices, 
judgments of the Court of Justice, etc. 
This exercise, which will take a number of years to complete, could 
start with a review of export refunds and make it possible to 
clarify the rules and spell out the responsibilities of the various 
Community institutions, national intervention agencies and 
operators. 
11• Simplification of rules and regulations 
A. Families of rules and regulations referred to in the conclusions of 
the Edinburgh European Council 
In advance of the Edinburgh European Council the Commission had 
identified several families of rules and regulations for review and 
has been scrutinizing them since early 1993 with a view to simplifying 
them. 
1. Technical standards 
The conclusions of the Edinburgh European Council state: "As far as 
technical standards are concerned, a series of directives embodying 
excessively detailed specifications could be streamlined and 
replaced, under the new approach to harmonization, by minimum 
requirements to be met by products circulating freely within the 
Community. The directives in question relate in the main to 
foodstuffs (preserves, natural mineral waters, honey, coffee 
extracts, fruit juices). The Commission will also propose that the 
scope of certain directives be clarified. Although adopted under 
the new approach to harmonization, these texts (the low-tension and 
machinery directives, for instance) present problems of 
overlapping." 
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(a) Foodstuffs 
Application of the subsidiarity principle to foodstuffs 
legislation is being considered in two phases. 
In the first phase, priority is being given to the two specific 
aspects identified in the conclusions of the Edinburgh European 
Council: 
i. 
rationalization of the "vertical" directives relating to 
chocolate products, jams, fruit juices, honey, sugars, 
coffee extracts, preserved milk and mineral waters; 
potential reduction of the number of specific directives to 
be adopted on foodstuffs for particular nutritional 
purposes covered by Directive 89/398/EEC. 
Commission departments have begun consideration of the measures 
that might be taken to simplify the "vertical" Directives, notably 
to avoid possible overlaps or inconsistencies with general 
legislation applicable to foodstuffs, and to limit the scope of 
the texts to essential requirements for the categories of products 
concerned. Consultations have begun with the Member States and 
the industries concerned, the Commission's objective being to 
present appropriate proposals in the course of 1994. 
However, in the case of the natural mineral waters Directive, it 
appears that a different approach should be followed, since the 
objective here is to harmonize essential requirements with a view 
to protecting public health. 
The Commission has also initiated consultations with Member States 
on the potential reduction of the number of specific directives to 
be adopted on foodstuffs for particular nutritional purposes and 
hopes to present a proposal in the matter in the autumn of 1993. 
In the second phase, the Commission is considering the feasibility 
of preparing a general framework directive on foodstuffs 
legislation, which will set out the general objectives of 
Community policy and seek to rationalize the specific provisions 
relating to additives, labelling etc. The Commission has already 
begun wide-ranging consultations on this issue. 
(b) Simplifications under the "new approach" 
In connection with the proposed "CE mark" directive, the 
Commission presented an amendment to the "low-tension" Directive 
to the Council to introduce procedures for evaluating conformity 
and marking under the new approach, so as to bring it into line 
with the "machinery" Directive. 
The Commission gave CEN/Cenelec a mandate to supplement or modify 
existing harmonized standards bearing the essential requirements 
of the "machinery" Directive in mind. 
The aim here is to establish a coherent framework of standards, 
which could be deemed to guarantee compliance with the essential 
requirements of both the "machinery" and the "low-tension" 
Directives. 
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Once the amendment to the "low-tension" Directive is adopted, the 
Commission intends to publish a new notice in the C series of the 
Official Journal, amending the 15 December 1981 notice on 
application of the "low-tension" Directive. It will cover every 
aspect of the Directive, including its application in combination 
with the "machinery" Directive. 
These three steps should clarify all the questions raised in 
Edinburgh. 
As regards clarification of the scope of other directives, the 
Commission has already begun work in several areas in connection 
with implementation of the Sutherland Report. The pending proposal 
on electrical equipment in explosive atmospheres will bring the 
three existing basic directives and nine amendments together in a 
single piece of legislation. 
The pending proposal on lifting equipment and lifts will recast 
the two existing directives and four amendments. The Commission 
will also be presenting two new proposals based on the "new 
approach", the first on pressure equipment, repealing existing 
legislation, and the second replacing the current basic directives 
on metrology and associated amendments. 
The Commission also intends to proceed to a gradual revision of 
legislation - based entirely on the "old approach" - on motor 
vehicles, (110 separate measures) and on agricultural tractors 
(38 directives), as and when changes are made to the Council or 
Commission directives. 
2. Professional qualifications 
The conclusions of the Edinburgh European Council state that "the 
Commission will review the already quite old directives on certain 
regulated occupations to facilitate implementation and reinforce 
mutual recognition." 
The first directives based on the recognition of qualifications are 
working relatively well. By contrast the operation of a number of 
rather old directives (doctors, pharmacists, midwives, 
veterinarians, dentists, nurses), based on the harmonization of 
training rather than mutual recognition, has proved to be rather 
unwieldy. These directives should be reviewed and simplified, 
beginning with procedural arrangements for the various committees 
involved. 
With regard to mutual recognition, improvements could be brought 
about by incorporating the directives on the recognition of 
certificates of professional experience into Directive 92/51/EEC of 
18 June 1992 on a second general system for the recognition of 
professional education and training, which complements 
Directive 89/48/EEC, after it enters into force on 18 June 1994. 
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3. Environment 
The conclusions of the Edinburgh European Council state: "On the 
environment, the Commission intends to simplify, consolidate and 
update existing texts, particularly those on air and water, to take 
new knowledge and technical progress into account." 
(a) Water 
The bulk of the Council directives on water protection date 
from the late 1970s, and few of them have been amended since. 
They comprise: 
the Directive on the quality required of surface water 
intended for the abstraction of drinking water, 
supplemented by the Directive on measurement and sampling 
methods and the Decision on a Community information 
system on the quality of surface water; 
the Directive on the quality of bathing water; 
the Directive on the quality of freshwater needing 
protection or improvement to support fish life, and the 
Directive on shellfish waters; 
the Directive on pollution caused by certain dangerous 
substances discharged into the aquatic environment; 
the Directive on the protection of groundwater; 
the Directive on the quality required of water intended 
for human consumption. 
As announced in its legislative programme for 1993, the Commission 
is planning a review of all this legislation to simplify and 
streamline it in line with basic standards for water quality and 
discharges, updated to take account of scientific progress and 
practical experience. 
In line with the subsidiarity principle, the Commission intends to 
reorient rules and regulations towards compliance with essential 
quality and health parameters, leaving Member States free to add 
secondary parameters if they see fit. This means that, in future, 
water protection will be based in essence on two sets of 
directives: 
(i) Firstly, a set of directives comprising: 
a drinking water quality directive, covering water for 
use in the home and water used in the food industry that 
can affect the health properties of the final product. It 
would define general parameters, some of which would be 
fixed in technical terms at Community level and others at 
national level; one of the thorniest problems here will 
be the question of pesticide residues. This directive 
will ultimately replace the existing Directive on the 
quality of water for human consumption and perhaps part 
of the Directive on surface water intended for the 
abstraction of drinking water if the new directive 
- 16 -
on the ecological quality of surface water does not cover 
certain specific elements; 
a directive on the ecological quality of surface water 
setting general objectives to be fleshed out by national 
or regional authorities as the case may be. If this 
general approach is accepted, the existing directives on 
fish and shellfish waters and on surface water for the 
abstraction of drinking water can be repealed; 
a directive on the quality of bathing water. Parameters 
here need to be simplified and adapted to new scientific 
knowledge. Provision also needs to be made for 
subsequent revision, in the light of Community criteria 
and local realities, by a procedure that offers more 
flexibility than a Council decision requiring unanimity; 
- a directive on freshwater management and groundwater 
protection which would replace the existing Directive on 
the protection of groundwater from pollution by certain 
dangerous substances. This would define guiding 
principles for the qualitative and quantitative 
protection of groundwater, integrating it into a general 
freshwater management policy. 
These framework directives would replace existing texts on water 
quality. 
(ii) Secondly, directives designed to control pollution at 
source: 
the Directive concerning urban waste water treatment 
imposing requirements as regards the collection, 
treatment and discharge of urban and industrial waste 
water; 
the Directive concerning the protection of waters against 
pollution by nitrates from agricultural sources. 
These two Directives, adopted in 1991, comply with the 
subsidiarity principle in that they simply define an objective 
leaving Member States free to achieve it in their own way. 
The Directives on the discharge of certain dangerous substances 
provide a general framework and define specific provisions for 
applying discharge standards and quality objectives for certain 
industrial sources. 
The new proposal for a directive on the integrated prevention 
and reduction of industrial pollution is designed to supplement 
existing directives by requiring Member States to adapt minimum 
discharge standards to best practice. In line with the 
subsidiarity principle this adaptation will be a matter for the 
appropriate national authorities and will cover industries 
discharging the substances appearing on Lists I and II of the 
1976 framework directive. 
The consistency of this legislation could be boosted at a later 
stage with the drafting of a genuine Community code for water. 
- 17 -
(b) Air 
Unlike water, air is regulated on a wholly sectoral 
basis; only five air pollutants are currently regulated 
by specific, independent Council directives. 
There is no definition of objectives or of harmonized 
monitoring criteria for Community air quality standards. 
By contrast, there is a sizeable volume of legislation on 
source emissions (car and lorry exhaust gases, major 
combustion plants, fuel specifications), but they have 
the drawback of not being directly linked to enforcement 
of air quality standards. 
The Commission's plan is therefore to work for an 
agreement on the definition of objectives before 
embarking on its review of existing legislation. 
Air quality evaluation and monitoring procedures must 
first be established; only then will it be possible to 
simplify and rationalize a body of legislation that for 
the time being does not tackle the problem of air 
pollution in any general way. 
Work in progress on the water and air directives is a good example 
of what can be done to streamline and simplify Community 
legislation without compromising the high level of existing 
standards. 
The Commission is aware of the importance of those high standards 
on environmental matters. Application of the subsidiarity 
principle must not be allowed to lower these standards. The 
planned approach for air and water confirms that these principles 
will be observed, while efforts are made to achieve greater 
simplicity. 
4. Recognition of the possibility of Member States negotiating 
settlements with individuals 
In relation to the clearance of accounts, the conclusions of the 
Edinburgh European Council record the fact that "the Commission 
intends to give national authorities more responsibility for 
applying Community legislation by allowing them, under certain 
conditions, to negotiate settlements with individuals". 
This is a particularly delicate matter. It is true that, to protect 
the Community's financial interests, Member States should be 
encouraged to detect frauds and secure rapid repayment of debts. 
But it is still necessary to proceed with caution in the matter of 
negotiated settlements with individuals, even if they can speed up 
repayments, and the Commission's prior approval should be sought 
where large sums are involved, since the Commission is responsible 
for the proper implementation of the budget. 
The Commission is pursuing its reflections on this issue. 
- 18 -
5. Animal welfare 
The conclusions of the Edinburgh European Council state: "As to 
animal welfare, accession by all the Member States to the European 
Convention on the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes 
means that there is no point in retaining the Council directives 
introducing very strict standards, at Parliament's request, for the 
protection of pigs, calves and laying hens. However, minimum 
Community rules on animal welfare will be needed to guarantee fair 
competition and freedom of movement." 
The Commission has referred a communication on this matter to the 
Council and Parliament. Animal welfare is an area where 
application of the subsidiarity principle comes up against the 
concerns expressed by Parliament and various Member States, under 
pressure from public opinion, that very detailed basic legislation 
be maintained which guarantees swift and effective implementing 
measures. 
Over the last twenty years or so a number of Community instruments 
have been adopted on the protection of animals on farms, during 
transport and at the time of slaughter. At the same time, the 
Council of Europe has concluded various conventions on the same 
subjects, to which the Community is or could easily become party. 
As a result there is a certain amount of overlap and, in some 
cases, inconsistencies. 
The Commission has examined the matter in depth. Its aim is to 
arrive at a situation whereby conventions to which the Community is 
in fact party would be applied uniformly throughout the Community 
by transposing them into Community instruments. These instruments 
would also incorporate the recommendations adopted to implement the 
conventions and give them a similar legal effect to that of 
Community rules. 
In so doing the Community would reserve the right to include any 
additional rules which were necessary to guarantee the free 
movement of goods and equal treatment of Community producers and 
also to disregard certain unnecessarily detailed aspects of 
international conventions, in keeping with the subsidiarity 
principle. 
6. Social policy 
The conclusions of the Edinburgh European Council state: "Turning 
to social policy, the Commission considers that the group of 
directives based on Article 118a of the Treaty is too recent to 
warrant re-examination. Instead its priority will be to supplement 
them by implementing all the provisions of the Charter of the 
Fundamental Social Rights of Workers. However, early steps will 
have to be taken to simplify and codify the body of older 
regulations on the free movement of workers." 
The Commission has adopted a OLeen Paper ori European Suc'ial Pulley, 
the aim being to initiate a broad debate on the future options of 
the Union in this field. Contributions must be in by 31 March 1994. 
The Commission has already set to work on the legislation 
concerning the free movement of workers: the consolidation of 
RtHjuUt iona Nos 1408/71 and 574/72, which coordinate national 
legislation on social security, is included in its legislative 
programme for 1994. 
- 19 -
The Commission is in the process of examining the operation of the 
"acquired rights" Directive, in consultation with national experts. 
Once its study is completed, which should be in the first quarter 
of 1994, the Commission will present a proposal for amending the 
Directive, in a bid to simplify its application and enhance its 
effectiveness. 
8. Other rules and regulations which might be simplified 
The Commission has identified several areas in which an effort 
might be made to simplify legislation, short of a wholesale 
revision which is not possible given the technical nature of the 
texts and the large number of derogations and special arrangements 
that have been allowed. 
1. Indirect taxation 
(a) VAT 
The Council rules and regulations on VAT are extremely 
complicated. The harmonization of national legislation 
on the VAT base, highly technical by definition, includes 
numerous exemptions. Admittedly, the approximation of 
rates which took effect on 1 January 1993 has helped to 
simplify the European VAT system. This "transitional" 
system did away with tax controls at borders. Tax is 
still levied in the country of consumption pending the 
adoption of the simpler "definitive" system of taxation 
in the country of origin. 
This being so the Commission sees little point in 
undertaking a general review of the latest rules since 
firms are just beginning to come to terms with them. 
However, measures are being drawn up to simplify specific 
points. With an eye to the introduction of the 
"definitive" system, the Commission will propose a 
fundamental recasting of all VAT legislation in 1995. 
This will involve the gradual abolition of derogations 
and special arrangements. 
(b) Excise duties 
Community legislation on excise duties is also very 
complex, both as regards structure (the base) and duties 
(rates). However, unlike VAT legislation, it already 
lays down a definitive system, with no need for 
transitional arrangements, since the basic principle is 
that tax is levied in the country of consumption. 
However, the legislation on excise duties is on the whole 
more recent than that on VAT and it would be better to 
wait for a running-in period of two or three years before 
embarking on a simplification exercise. The Commission 
therefore takes the view that no simplification of the 
existing directives can be considered before 1995. 
2. Company law 
This field has already been covered by Community legislation (ten 
or so directives on minimum capital, annual accounts, mergers, 
etc.), but there are also serious gaps as several proposals, in 
particular those relating to the place of employees in company 
structures, are still before the Council. The proposals in question 
- 20 -
often apply the subsidiarity principle by leaving Member states 
with a choice of options or even by presenting instruments to be 
applied on a voluntary basis, for example the Statute for a 
European Company. The legislation in force is very technical and 
contains many derogations, for example for company accounts. But 
until progress can be made in the Council on pending proposals, it 
seems premature to consider recasting or indeed consolidation. 
However, the Commission has been proposing for several years that 
the legislation on small and medium-sized firms be simplified. At 
present this appears to be the most appropriate way of applying the 
subsidiarity principle in the field of company law, at least in 
terms of proportionality. 
3. Common organization of agricultural markets 
Legislation on the market organizations does not lend itself to 
application of the subsidiarity principle in that when a common 
organization is established for a given product, Member States may 
no longer legislate in the area covered by Community legislation. 
Moreover, to ensure equality between producers and certainty as to 
the law, the rules must be extremely detailed, often at the request 
of the Member States. The Commission has already embarked on a 
major consolidation exercise - included in its legislative 
programme for 1993 - covering the market organizations for around 
ten different products. At present, with reform of the common 
agricultural policy still* under way, it hardly seems feasible to 
embark on a major recasting of the market organizations. In its 
new proposals under the reform, the Commission has endeavoured to 
apply subsidiarity by leaving it to the Member States to lay down 
the implementing rules relating to specific national or regional 
characteristics. 
However, as part of its action to combat fraud, the Commission has 
begun the task of simplifying legislation to make it more 
accessible and hence to facilitate application of the rules by the 
Member States and recipients. 
Moreover, this need was reaffirmed by the Council when it approved 
the reform of the common agricultural policy. The Commission has 
entrusted a group of experts with the task of examining the 
following areas, in particular from the subsidiarity point of view: 
problems encountered in administering and supervising the rules 
because of the complexity of the instruments concerned; 
instances in which legislation may be ill-adapted to commercial 
and technical realities. 
Priority is being given to the sheepmeat and beef and veal sectors 
and to animal health legislation. 
4. Transport policy 
Although the Commission recently launched several major initiatives 
on transport (White Paper, safety at sea), it was not until 1985 
that Community legislation in this field took on substantial 
proportions. There is therefore little scope for large-scale 
revision. 
- 21 -
However, there would appear to be a need to simplify certain old 
rules, in particular those concerning the weights and dimensions of 
road vehicles and roadworthiness testing, as soon as the last two 
instruments (on brake testing and speed-limiting devices) have been 
adopted. 
5. Common fisheries policy 
Like agricultural legislation, fisheries legislation covers an area 
of exclusive competence, where application of the subsidiarity 
principle is limited by the requirements of equal treatment for 
operators and certainty as to the law. 
Nevertheless, there are plans for considerable simplification and 
decentralization within the common policy. The first stage in this 
process was the adoption of the new basic regulation in 
December 1992, which spelled out the three principles of freedom, 
subsidiarity and comprehensiveness. Freedom, in the sense that once 
the balance between fishing effort and resources has been achieved 
within the Community fleet, the regulatory framework governing the 
common policy should give freer rein to market forces relaxing 
regulatory constraints. In fact, Member States are free to choose 
the criteria for allocating and using the allowable catches 
assigned them. Subsidiarity, in the sense that, subject to the 
constraints referred to above, responsibilities are properly shared 
between the Community, the Member States, the regions and the trade 
organizations, each of which enjoys a necessary and sufficient 
margin of manoeuvre in the choice of means and their application. 
It should be noted in this context that it is for Member States to 
issue and manage fishing licences for vessels flying their flag. 
Comprehensiveness, in the sense that the common policy covers the 
entire fishery-food sector, and an awareness of the 
interrelationships here may lead to significant synergic savings. 
It should be noted in this context that the new monitoring 
arrangements for fishing activities extend technical controls not 
only to conservation and resource management measures but also to 
structural measures and measures relating to the common 
organization of the market in fisheries products. 
More specifically, certain areas of the common policy (such as 
structural intervention) are being recast in line with the 
principles set out above, while the provisions governing other 
aspects have been or are about to be consolidated (markets and 
technical measures respectively) to make them more accessible to 
those working in the field. In the case of external resources, the 
second generation of fisheries agreements with non-member countries 
are starting to appear (e.g. agreement with Argentina), reducing 
the extent of intervention by the Community and proportionately 
increasing the role of Community shipowners. 
6. Energy policy 
It is important that the Commission should have official 
information about Member States' investments in the energy sector. 
However, Regulation No 1056/72 on the notification of projects of 
Community interest in the oil, natural gas and electricity sectors 
- 22 -
could be substantially simplified, particularly as regards its 
technical annexes. The Commission will be making the appropriate 
proposal in the near future. 
7. Consumer protection 
Community legislation on the pricing of food and non-food products 
is based on three directives: 
- Directive 79/581 of 19 January 1979, amended by Directive 88/315 
of 7 June 1988, which made it compulsory to indicate prices 
(selling price and unit price) for food products. Exceptions 
to the general rule are allowed for products prepackaged in 
pre-established quantities and Member States are also allowed to 
exempt small retailers; 
- Directive 88/314 of 7 June 1988, which requires the unit prices 
of non-food products to be indicated; however, Member States 
may require individual pricing for certain categories of 
product; 
The instruments adopted by the Council, which depart in many 
respects from the proposals made by the Commission at the time, 
have created a number of difficulties in practice. These can be 
Summed up as follows: 
the provisions are extremely detailed and cumbersome to 
implement; 
industry and distribution, particularly in the food sector, are 
encountering serious problems in applying the legislation; 
a number of Member States have indicated that they would like to 
see the legislation revised before the end of the transitional 
period (June 1995); 
the options chosen have led in practice to the promotion of 
standard quantities, creating problems elsewhere. 
The Council meeting (Consumers) on 2 March 1993 adopted a 
resolution on future action on product labelling in the interests 
of the consumer, inviting the Commission to consider informative 
labelling requirements. A working party representing suppliers and 
consumers has been set up to this end. In this context the 
Commission plans to propose a simplification of the three 
Directives mentioned above in the course of 1994, following 
consultations with the Member States and the parties involved. 
- 23 -
III. Rules and regulations to be repealed 
This list is selective and is largely influenced by what has been 
said above. It includes the main regulations which will be 
repealed but does not, at this stage, identify provisions which 
will be repealed in whole or in part as a result of the 
simplification of certain pieces of legislation. 
A. As a result of recasting 
Customs 
In addition to the repeal of over 100 regulations and directives 
recast in the Council Regulation of 12 October 1992, the Commission 
Regulation laying down provisions for the implementation of the 
Customs Code will result in the repeal of 77 regulations and 
directives. 
Right of residence 
Ten or so Council Directives and Article 10 of Council 
Regulation 1612/68 on freedom of movement for workers within the 
Community could be repealed. 
Pharmaceutical products 
Recasting would make it possible to repeal 20-odd Council and 
Commission Directives. 
Agriculture 
Recasting the rules on trade mechanisms would lead to the repeal of 
a series of Council and Commission regulations. 
- Foodstuffs 
The possibility of recasting Community legislation will be 
considered following the adoption of a framework directive defining 
general objectives and a number of specific directives streamlining 
provisions on additives, labelling, etc. and repealing a series of 
existing directives. 
B. As a result of simplification under the "new approach" 
'Vertical' Directive on chocolate products, jam, coffee and 
chicory extracts, preserved milk, fruit juice, honey: 
Simplification is being considered to eliminate inconsistencies and 
overlapping with existing horizontal legislation and to limit the 
effect of these directives to essential requirements. 
Electrical equipment, lifting equipment and lifts, pressure 
equipment, metrology 
Application of the "new approach" in these sectors will lead to the 
repeal of 50 detailed technical directives thanks to recourse to 
directives defining essential safety requirements and referring to 
European standards for technical details. 
- 24 -
C. As a result of the extension of mutual recognition 
- Professional qualifications 
Phased repeal of directives on the recognition of professional 
experience following entry into force of Directive 92/51/EEC of 
18 June 1992. 
D. To take account of scientific knowledge 
- Environment: 
Four or five directives on water quality could be repealed. 
E. As a result of the case law of the Court of Justice 
Freedom of establishment 
In the light of the case law of the Court of Justice on the direct 
applicability of Articles 52 and 59 of the Treaty, provisions on 
the abolition of restrictions will be repealed. In some cases this 
will allow for the repeal of directives on establishment and 
freedom to supply services. Various provisions on proof of good 
conduct and financial capacity will be replaced by a standard 
clause, and a number of definitions contained in obsolete 
directives will be taken over in the directives containing the 
provisions referred to above. 
Memo on the June 1993 "Franco-British" document 
The Franco-British document covers both existing legislation and 
proposals for Community instruments. The Commission report to the 
European Council to which this memo is attached, on the other hand, 
relates only to the adaptation of existing legislation to the 
principle of subsidiarity. The Commission wishes, however, to 
comment on all the cases listed in the Franco-British document. 
A. Existing legislation 
1. Instruments already identified by the Commission as suitable for 
revision 
Some of the Franco-British suggestions concern instruments already 
regarded as requiring revision. These are the groups of 
instruments referred to in the Conclusions of the Edinburgh 
European Council: 
- Foodstuffs (7, 8 and 9)1 - certain specific directives should 
be simplified and preference given to basic directives laying 
down general rules on labelling, additives, etc.; 
Professional qualifications (10) - the Commission is planning to 
simplify a number of relatively old directives concerning 
specific professions; 
Drinking water and bathing water (11 and 12) - the Commission is 
planning to repeal these directives and incorporate them into 
framework instruments giving the Member States more room for 
manoeuvre in defining certain parameters; 
Quality of water for shellfish and freshwater fish (5 and 6) -
to be incorporated in the framework instruments referred to in 
the previous item. 
The figures are those appearing in the Franco-British list. ( 
- 2 -
2. Instruments which the Commission :4s also planning to revise 
These are old instruments which do not appear to be operating 
.properly: 
— Notifloation of projects of interest tto the MC in the petroleum, 
natural gas and electricity sectors (1) — this instrument has 
been overtaken by mar4cet developments; to be simplified;; 
— Acquired rights (3) - ithis directive will be amended after 
consultations with the Member States on its opération; 
3. Instruments deemed not rfco require ^revision 
— Minimum stocks in thermal power stations (2) — there is still a 
need for this instrument in connection -with the evaluation of 
• stxateg ic requirement s; 
— Marketing of vegetable seeds (4 ) — tthis is one of a much larger 
set of instruments and could not ibe amended easily in isolation; 
— Air quality (13) - these Directives should mot be revised until 
joint evaluation and monitoring procedures have been adopted. 
rB. Proposals 
1. Instruments already on the Edinburgh list and now being 
withdrawn or amended 
— "Miriam — European network of agricultural Information centres 
(14) - ^withdrawal;; 
— [Liability pf ^suppliers of services *(15 ) - probable withdrawal 
and replacement :by a ^recommendation and, if neoesssary, 
1 ndividual instruments-;; 
— Taxes on -.transactions in ^shares and ^securities (19) -
withdrawal; 
— Taxes on raising of ^capital (20) - withdrawal. 
- 3 -
2. Proposals which should not be withdrawn 
Community system of monitoring and control of fisheries 
regulations (18) - the instrument has now been adopted by the 
Council; 
Corporate taxation (21 and 22) - these proposals are designed to 
help achieve the objective of terminating cross-frontier double 
taxation. 
Zoos (16) - withdrawal and replacement by a recommendation may 
be envisaged later after Parliament has been consulted again; 
Community participation in the International Whaling Commission 
(17) - although the ban on whaling and on the marketing of whale 
products is imposed by other international agreements and 
Community instruments (Washington Convention - endangered 
species), withdrawal is not advisable as it would give the wrong 
political signal. 
C. Proposals not yet adopted by the Commission 
The Commission takes the view that in the case of simple projects 
or studies, the question of subsidiarity does not arise in the same 
terms. 
The items on the Franco-British list are: 
Used machinery (23) - the Commission has already stated that it 
will not be taking any further initiatives; 
Pharmaceutical pricing transparency (24) - the Commission no 
longer has the intention of making a proposal in the form 
initially planned. 
Conclusion 
The Commission agrees that sixteen of the twenty-two instruments or 
proposals on the Franco-British list should in fact be withdrawn or 
amended. 
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(93) 545 final 
CUMENTS 
EN 06 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-93-589-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-60738-6 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
1.-3985 Luxembourg