COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT - SIMPLER LEGISLATION FOR THE INTERNAL MARRET (SLIM): A PILOT PROJECT
Date: 1996-05-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU law, administrative formalities, application of the law, national law, single market

COMMISSION  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

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Brussels,  08 05.1996 
C()IVK%)  204  final 

COMMUNICATION  FROM  THE  COMMISSION 
TO THE  COUNCIL  AND THE  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT 

SIMPLER  LEGISLATION  FOR THE INTERNAL  MARKET (SLIM): A PILOT  PROJECT 

1.  There  is  a  growing  political  consensus  within  the  Union  in  favour  of  the 
simplification  of  legislation:  over-complicated  regulation  carries  a  high  economic 
cost,  endangering  the  competitiveness  of  industry  and  its  employment-creating 
potential.  Divergent  national  regulations  and  inadequate  Community  measures  could 
damage  the  functioning  o\'  the  Internal  Market.  All  regulation  -  whether  at 
justified  and  proportionate  to  its 
Community  or  national  level  -  must  be  fully 
objectives.  This  applies  both  to  new  legislative  initiatives  and  to  existing  legislation, 
which  should  be  monitored  to  ensure  that  it  continues  to  be  appropriate  in  changing 
economic,  social  and  technological  circumstances.  The  Commission  has,  in  recent 
years,  undertaken  several  initiatives  with  regard  to  the  simplification  of  legislation. 
For  instance,  it  submitted  to  the  European  Council  of  Brussels  in  December  1993  a 
substantial  adjustment  programme  of  existing  legislation  and  has  implemented  the 
vast  majority  of  actions  put  forward  in  this  programme.  The  Commission  has  also 
reported  to  the  European  Council  at  its  end-of-year  meetings,  most  recently  to  the 
Madrid  European  Council 
in  the  report  "Better  Law-Making".  Examples  of 
simplification 

initiatives  are given  in Annex  1. 

2.  While  much  progress  has already  been  made, no effort  can  be spared  to  streamline 
the  Community  legislative  framework  for  economic  activity  in  the  Union,  whilst  at 
the  same  time  safeguarding  the  essential  elements  of  the  acquis  communautaire  and 
ensuring  a high  level  of  health  and  safety  and  protection  of  the  environment  and  of 
consumers.  The  Commission's  earlier  initiatives  provide  an  excellent  basis  on  which 
to  build  a  new,  targeted  approach  to  reviewing  and  simplifying 
legislation,  in 
partnership  with  the  Member  States  and  with  those  affected  by  the  legislation.  The 
Commission  has  responded  to  the  consensus  among  Internal  Market  Ministers  at 
their  informal  meeting  in  Rome  on  24  February  1996 in  favour  of  launching  a  "pilot 
scheme"  to  assess  how  best  to  reduce  the  burden  on  business  of  single  market  rules 
in  particular  sectors.  The  exercise  will  provide  a  test-bed  for  more  wide-ranging 
action.  As the  Molitor  Group  (which  itself  included  several  business  representatives) 
emphasised,  the  business  community  must  be  at  the  forefront  of  the  drive  for 
simplification  and  should  be consulted  by the  Commission. 

3.  To  meet  this  call  for  action,  the  Commission  proposes  to  follow  these  "guiding 
principles",  which  are  fully  in  line with  the views expressed  at the  Rome  meeting : 

1 : simplification  should  be targeted  on a few  sectors  in order to demonstrate  rapid  and 
concrete  progress; 
2: business and  other  interested  parties should  be contribute  directly  to the exercise; 
3:  a  progress  report  should  be  ready  for  consideration  by  the  Council  at  the  end  of 

1996. 

A  PRACTICAL  WAY  FORWARD 

Objectives  of the pilot  project 

4.  This  Communication  describes  the  pilot  project  phase  of  this  initiative.  It  aims  at 
making,  by  November  1996. concrete  suggestions  about  ways  in  which  legislation  in 
four  areas could  be simplified.  This would  include  not only  Community  legislation  as 
such  but  also  any  unharmonised  national  legislation  affecting  the  sector  concerned. 

3 

The  degree  of  progress  achieved  in  relation  to  these  areas  of  legislation  within  the 
time  available  will  be  used  as  a  basis  for  evaluating  the  success  or  failure  of  the 
working  method  outlined  in this Communication.  The  Commission's  intention  is that 
the approach  should  be extended  more widely  when  it has been  successfully  tested. 

Sectors  to be examined  in the pilot  project 

5.  The  Commission  has  selected  four  sectors  for  a  pilot  project  on  simplification. 
Certain  areas  proposed  at  the  informal  meeting  of  Internal  Market  Ministers  in  Rome 
on  24  February  have  not  been  included  because  they  are  subject  to  imminent 
Commission  proposals: 

foodstuffs:  As indicated  in the comments of the Commission  on  the report  of 
the  Molitor  Group'',  the Commission  is working  on a general  reappraisal  of  the 
whole area of  food  law with  a view  to the  presentation  of a Green  Paper  which 
will  cover,  inter alia,  the coherence  of Community  legislation  and  the  scope  for 
simplification  and  rationalisation  of the  legislation.  The Commission  has  already 
adopted,  on  17 April  1996, proposals  for  seven  vertical  Directives  to  simplify 
legislation  on certain  foodstuffs  and  consultation  of interested  groups on  the 
simplification  of veterinary  legislation  is under  way; 

Machines: The Commission  also  indicated  its work  programme  for  this  sector 
in its comments  on  the  Molitor  report:  it will  first  propose  a codification  of  the 
Machinery  Directive  in preparation  for  its revision.  In parallel,  it  is working  on 
appropriate  amendments  to be proposed  at  the end  of  1997; 

Public  Procurement:  The Commission  is preparing  a Green  Paper on  the  present 
and  future  operation  of public  procurement  rules. 

The  Commission  considers  that  inclusion  of  these  exercises,  which  are  already  well 
advanced,  in  the  SLIM  pilot  project  would  duplicate  work  already  undertaken  and 
would  not  further  speed  up  simplification  in  these  areas.  It  has  therefore  considered 
how  to  add  to  the  existing  initiatives  by  focusing  on  other  areas  known  to  be  of 
concern  to business or other  interested  parties. 

The  four  sectors  selected  by the Commission  are: 

Intrastat, the  system  for collecting  statistics on  intra-Community  trade; 

Technical  regulations on construction  products; 

Legislation  relating  to the  mutual  recognition  of diplomas. 

Legislation  relating  to ornamental  plants. 

The pilot  project  will  thus cover  one area  relevant  to business  as a whole, one  relating 
to  agricultural  and  one  to  industrial  legislation,  and  an  area  of  legislation  which  is  of 
direct  interest  to  individual  citizens. 

'Comments of the Commission  on the Report of the Independent  Experts Group on Legislative and 
Administrative  Simplification  (SEC(95) 2121 final, 29.11.1995) 

Annex  2 outlines  the aspects  of  legislation  in each  area  which  should  be  the object  oi' 
particular  attention. 

Methodology 

(i)  Outline 

6.  The  work  will  be  carried  out  by  four  small  teams, each  devoted  to the  examination  of 
one  of  the  chosen  areas.  These  "SLIM"  teams  (Simpler  Legislation  for  the  Internal 
Market),  will  bring  together  the  Commission  and  the  representatives  of  a  few 
Member  States  and  of  the  users  of  the  legislation,  such  as  business  (producers  and 
traders, including  SMLs) and  , where appropriate, consumers. 

The  task  of  each  SLIM  team  is  to  contribute  to  the  preparation  of  the  report  to  the 
Council,  in  time  for  the  November  meeting  of  the  Internal  Market  Council,  which 
will: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

summarise  the  need  for  simplification,  including  the  identification  of  any  national 
legislation  which  poses problems  for  users; 

outline  proposals  considered  by  the  SLIM  teams  and  their  likely  effects  in  terms 
of  meeting  the  objectives  of the  legislation  while  at  the  same  time  reducing  costs 
for  business  and  improving  the effectiveness  of  implementation; 

if appropriate,  propose  further  detailed  action; 

report  on  progress  being  made  on  codification  and 
simplification;  and 

related  methods  of 

• 

evaluate  the effectiveness  of the approach  adopted  in the  pilot  project. 

(ii) Appointment  of members of SLIM  teams 

7.  Each  team  will  be  chaired  by  a  personally  nominated  Commission  representative, 
with  a  strictly  limited  membership  in  equal  proportion  of  representatives  from 
Member  State administrations  and  users of the  legislation.  Commission  officials  from 
interested  departments  will  also attend  as observers. 

Member  State  representation:  In  the  interests  of  facilitating  an  efficient  working 
atmosphere  and  rapid  progress,  the  Commission  will  keep  the  teams  small.  This  will 
be  impossible  to  achieve  if  all  Member  States  are  to  be  represented  on  each  team. 
The Commission  therefore  envisages  limiting  Member  State  representation  to about  4 
persons  in  each  team.  It  will  therefore  invite  Member  States  to  indicate  the  teams  in 
which  they  are  interested 
in  participating  in  order  of  preference.  They  will  then  be 
invited  to  participate  in  one  team.  The  Commission  will  invite  Member  States  to 
make  their  views  known  to  the  teams  in  which  they  are  not  represented.  There  will 
also  be  regular  reports  to all  Member  States  through  the  sectoral  committees  (see  iii 
below) and  the  Internal  Market  Advisory  Committee. 

5 

representation:  The  number  of  user 

the 
User 
Commission  will  be  the  same  as  that  oi' Member  States.  The  Commission  intends  to 
approach  European  and,  in  some  eases,  national  organisations 
representing  user 
interests  in  order  to  identify  user  representatives.  The  appointment  of  business 
representatives  will  take  account  of  the  particular  importance  of  simplification  for 
SMEs. 

representatives  appointed  by 

(iii) Keeping  Sectoral  Committees  informed 

8.  The relevant  committee(s)  responsible  for  Community  legislation  in  each  sector  will 
be  informed  of  the  progress  of  the  work  of  the  relevant  SLIM  team.  The  committees 
concerned are as  follows: 

Intrastat: 

Committee  on  the Statistics  relating  to the  Trading of  Goods 
between  Member  States; 
Statistical  Programme  Committee; 
Customs  Code Committee  - Tariff and  Statistical  Nomenclature 
Section. 

Construction  products: 

Standing Committee  for  construction 
Committee  83/189 on technical  rules 

Diplomas: 

Committee  of Senior Officials  responsible  for  public  health; 
Ad-hoc  Committees  of senior officials  responsible  for  veterinary 
surgeons and  architects; 
Pharmaceutical  Committee; 
the seven  Advisory  Committees  on  Education  and  Training 
attached  to the seven  sectoral  Directives; 
the Coordinators' Group established  by the general  system 
Directives. 

Ornamental  plants: 

Standing  Committee  for  Propagating  Material  and 
Ornamental  Plants 

CONCLUSION 

9.  The  Commission  invites  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament  to  support  the 
initiative  outlined  in  the  present  Communication  and  to  examine  constructively  the 
conclusions  of  the  report  on  the  outcome  of  the  pilot  project  which  the  Commission 
will present  in November  1996. 

6 
Annex 1 

EXAMPLES  OF  SIMPLIFICATION  WORK  ALREADY  COMPLETED  OR  JN 
PROGRESS 

OVERALL  APPROACH 

For  some time  now,  the  Commission  has been  working  to  simplify  Community  legislation. 
In  1993  it  presented  a  plan  for  streamlining  existing  legislation  to  the  Brussels  European 
Council  and  to  the  European  Parliament;  almost  all  the  specific  proposals  based  on  that 
plan  have  now  been  adopted.  The  areas  covered  include:  foodstuffs,  the  environment, 
taxation,  mutual  recognition  of  qualifications,  competition  and  consumer  protection. 
Simplification  work  will also be undertaken  in fields  not  covered  by the original  plan. 

The  issue  of  legislative  and  administrative  simplification  was  also  examined  by  a group  of 
independent  experts  (the  Molitor  group)  set  up  by  the  Commission,  which  presented  an 
assessment  of  the  group's  initial  proposals  at  the  Cannes  European  Council  in  June  1995 
and  its comments  on  all the group's  proposals in November  1995. 

In  addition,  the  Commission  has  set  up  a  Committee  on  Improving  and  Simplifying  the 
Business  Environment  which,  with  Member  States  and  business  organisations,  examines 
how  to  simplify  administrative  procedures  based  on  Community  or  national  legislation 
which  create  barriers  and  excessive  compliance  costs,  particularly  for  SMEs.  Following  a 
Forum  in  Paris  in  June  1995  and  the  establishment  of  working  groups,  Commission 
Recommendations  to  Member  States on administrative  simplification  are likely. 

SPECIFIC  CASES 

Simplification  measures  already  presented: 

simplification  of seven  vertical  Directives on  foodstuffs; 

communication  sent  to  the Council  and  to  Parliament  regarding  Community  policy 
on  water;  among  other  things,  it  envisages  the  presentation,  during  1996,  of  a 
proposal  for  a framework  Directive  to  replace  all  the  existing  Directives  on  water 
supplies; 

mutual  recognition  of  qualifications:  a  Directive  covering  commerce  and  craft 
occupations, 

Community  legislation  on the rational  use of energy  and  on  petroleum  products 

Simplification  measures currently  being  prepared 

Green  Paper  on  foodstuffs  law; 

proposals  for  Directives  on  medicinal  products  for  (i)  veterinary  use  and  (ii) 
human  use; 

simplification  exercise with regard to veterinary hygiene; 

7 

proposal  for  simplifying  the  Community  rules  on  plant  health,  together  with 
supplementary  plant-health measures in view of the single market  (procedures and 
resources for imports from third countries). 

Aspects of the legislation  requiring  particular  attention  with a view to  simplification 

Annex  2 

INTRASTAT 

The  INTRASTAT  system  is  governed  by  a  basic  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  3330/91 
and  by  various  Commission  Regulations  (in  particular  Regulation  (EEC)  No  3046/92 
laying down  implementing  provisions). 

Operational  since  1993,  INTRASTAT  is  still  not  producing  results  of  sufficiently  high 
quality  as regards  either  overall  trade  or  detailed  data  on  specific  goods,  and  the  system  is 
taking too  long  to compile  statistics. 

Despite  the  numerous  simplification  measures  taken,  businesses  (and  particularly  SMEs) 
providing  data  still regard  the system  as imposing an excessive  burden. 

A  survey  conducted  in  February  1996  among  the  suppliers  and  users  of  INTRASTAT 
data,  together  with  the  seminar  on  the  system  held  in  Luxembourg  on  13 and  14 March, 
confirmed  that  this  was  still  the  case  and  enabled  various  possible  means  of  improvement 
and  simplification  to be  identified. 

There  was  broad  agreement  on  the  need  to  continue  the  EDICOM  measures  undertaken 
to  modernize  and  automate  data  collection  and  processing  - particularly  by  making  greater 
use  of  EDI,  an  indispensable  means  of  making  input  easier  and  ensuring  that  the  resulting 
statistics  are more  reliable and  more  up-to-date. 

The  other  measure  advocated  by  a  majority  of  firms  and  most  suited  to  bringing  about  a 
significant  improvement  is simplifying  the nomenclature  for  the classification  of goods. 

The  SLIM  team  should  advise  whether,  as  requirements  for  intra-Community  trade  data 
change  in the  run-up  to  monetary  union,  more  fundamental  alterations  should  be  made  to 
INTRASTAT  such  that,  for  example,  a  given  Member  State  would  have  to  record  only 
one trade flow  and  could  calculate  the  remainder  from  the corresponding  data  supplied  by 
the other  Member  States. 
Since the  differing  needs  of those  supplying  and  those  using  the  data  (which  were  clearly 
brought  out  during  the  various  consultations)  make  such  radical  changes  difficult 
to 
implement,  the basis for  doing  so has to be an unambiguous  political  resolve  on  the  part  of 
all Member  States. 

The other  measures envisaged  are less wide-ranging,  being designed  instead  to  consolidate 
and  improve current  procedures.  Such  measures,  which  include reducing  the 

number  of  variables  required,  bringing  INTRASTAT  response  times  into  line  with  those 
for  taxation,  raising  the  thresholds  and  shortening  the  intervals,  are  being  examined  on  a 
case-by-case  basis  and  assessed  in  terms  of  how  much  they  would  improve  quality  and 
reduce the administrative  burden. 

The  assessment  of  the  Member  States'  national  systems  carried  out  at  the  end  oi" 1995 
resulted  in  a  number  of  specific  proposals  for  improving  INTRASTAT  (particularly  as 
regards  the  procedures  for  aligning  data,  processing  and  monitoring,  and  harmonizing 
legal  procedures  and  provisions),  once  these  proposals  have  been  examined,  current 
legislation  could  be amended  accordingly. 

Construction  products 

The  SLIM  team  should  review  the  operation  of  the  construction  products  Directive 
adopted  in  1988. 

This  Directive  is the  instrument  for  assuring  a  single  market  for  all  construction  products. 
It  relies  on  the  adoption  of  European  technical  specifications  -  in  particular  standards  -
which  are  a  compulsory  element  to  be  taken  into  account  for  assessing  the  conformity  of 
products  and  permitting  CE  marking. 

The  Directive  will  only be effective  once  harmonised  standards are adopted  To  date,  none 
have been  adopted. 

This  situation  arises  from  the  fact  that  firstly,  the  Directive  requires  many  decisions  to  be 
taken  and  other  preparatory  work  to  be  done  before  standards  can  be  adopted  and, 
secondly,  that  there  is  no  alternative  basis  for  CE  marking  but  conformity  to  these 
standards. 

In the framework  of the debate  on  the report  on  the  operation  of the  Directive  in  1995,  all 
parties  acknowledged  that  commitments  must  be made to  speeding up the operation  of  the 
Directive.  In  parallel,  parties  agreed  to  continue  to  deliberate  on  the  functioning  of  the 
internal  market  in this  sector. 

The  SLIM  team's  contribution  is  therefore  required  on  the  improvement  needed  in  the 
functioning  of the internal  market  as well  as on  implementation  of the  Directive 

This  reflection  might,  inter  alia,  tackle  the  long  delays  needed  for  CE  marking  of 
construction  products  and  the  increase  in  national  measures  taken  by  Member  States  in 
the  meantime  which  disrupt  the  internal  market. 

Mutual  recognition  of  diplomas 

The  SLIM  team  should  review  the structure  and  operation  of the  seven  sectoral  Directives 
governing  doctors,  nurses  responsible  for  general  care,  veterinary  surgeons,  dental 
practitioners,  midwives,  architects  and  pharmacists,  adopted  between  1975  and  1985. 

With  the  exception  of  the  Directive  governing  architects,  these  Directives  lay  down 
minimum  common  standards  of  education  and  training  for  the  profession  concerned  and 

10 

contain 
lists  of  national  diplomas  which  meet  these  common  standards  and  as  a 
consequence  benefit  from  automatic  mutual  recognition  For  architects,  the  Directive  lays 
down  certain  criteria  which  must  be  met  in  order  for  a  diploma  to  benefit  from  mutual 
recognition;  however,  Member  States  may  continue  to  award  diplomas  in  the  field  of 
architecture  which  do  not  meet  these  criteria  and,  as a result,  fall  outside  the  scope  of  the 
recognition  provided  for  in the  Directive 

The  sectoral  approach,  which  creates  a  certain  European  profile  for  education  and 
training,  obliged  many  Member  States  to  amend  national  legislation  governing  access  to 
the  professions  concerned  and  in some  cases  (for  example,  dentists  in  Italy  and  Austria)  it 
required  the  creation  of  a  profession  which  had  not  previously  existed.  The  sectoral 
Directives  may  also  impede  reform  at  national  level,  when  the  changes  envisaged  would 
render  national  rules incompatible  with the  relevant  Directive.  This  was  one  of the  reasons 
which  led  the  Community  to  adopt  a  new  approach  to  recognition  of  diplomas  -  the 
general  system  -  which  leaves  to  Member  States  the  decisions  as  to  the  appropriate  level 
and  structure  of education  and  training  and  the  need  for  regulation.  However,  the  general 
system,  unlike the  sectoral  Directives,  does  not  offer  the  migrant  a guarantee  of  automatic 
recognition. 

In  addition,  the  need  to  keep  the  agreed  common  rules  on  education  and  training  under 
review  resulted  in  the  creation,  for  each  sectoral  Directive,  of  an  Advisory  Committee. 
These  committees,  which  are  currently  composed  of  45  members,  place  a  considerable 
administrative  burden  on  the  Commission.  They 
issue  recommendations  and  opinions 
addressed 
to  the  Member  States  and  also  advise  the  Commission  as  to  whether 
amendments  to  the  Directives  are necessary;  in practice,  few  of their  recommendations  for 
changes to the  Directives  have  met  with the approval  of the Member  States. 

Ornamental  plants 

The  SLIM  team  should  review  the transparency  and  the operation  of the  ornamental 
plants  Directive  adopted  in  1991  with  a view to  the  single  market. 

This Directive  has harmonised  different  measures,  established  at  national  or  regional 
levels, to  set  out  minimum  quality  standards  and  conditions  at Community  level  with 
supporting  accreditation  procedures  and  documentary  evidence,  and  to  ensure the  free 
marketing  of propagating  material  of ornamental  plants complying  with  such  standards 
and  conditions 

Due  to  its hurried  adoption  at  the end  of  1991,  there  are  various  inconsistencies  in the  text 
which  have given  rise to  problems  of interpretation  for  Member  States  when  transposing 
and  implementing  the  legislation  In an attempt  to  overcome  these  problems,  the 
Commission  issued  an  Interpretative  Note  to  Member  States in  1992 on  those  provisions 
which  had  caused  most  difficulty  However,  this was not  sufficient  to  ensure  rapid  and 
uniform  implementation  by Member  States 

In addition,  one  Member  State wrote to the Commission  asking it to  review the  Directive 
in certain  areas  in particular  the  scope, the exceptions  for  the local  market,  the  exceptions 
for  woody  plants  and  the requirements relating  to  varieties. 

Finally, due to the difficulties  outlined above, the Commission has not been able to 
develop further  implementing measures required by the Directive. 

11 

The SLIM team's contribution  is therefore  required  for an improvement  of the Directive 
to permit speedy adoption by the Commission of the necessary implementing measures, as 
well as rapid and uniform  implementation by Member States. 

Financial  Statement 

1. TITLE  OF  OPERATION 

Simpler  Legislation  for  the  Internal  Market  (SLIM)  Pilot  Project  (to be implemented  by 
the establishment  of four  working groups  to be known  as "SLIM Teams"). 

2. BUDGET  HEADING  CONCERNED 

A 250: Meetings  and  convocations 

3.  LEGAL  BASIS 

Articles 3c, 7 A, 48-66,  100 A of the  Treaty 

4. DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  OPERATION  : 

4.1  Objectives 

in  which 

legislation 

The  Pilot  Project  aims  at  making,  by  November  1996,  concrete  suggestions  about 
ways 
in  four  areas  could  be  simplified.  These  are 
INTRASTAT,  construction  products,  mutual  recognition  of  diplomas,  and 
ornamental  plants.  The  purpose  of 
the 
competitiveness  of business  and  its employment-creating  potential  by  ensuring  that 
over-complicated  regulation  at  Community  or  national  level  does  not  impede  its 
effective  participation  in the Single  Market  and  to improve  the effectiveness  of  the 
legislation on the mutual  recognition  of diplomas. 

this  simplification 

improve 

to 

is 

4.2  Duration 

The  SLIM  teams  will be appointed  in June  1996 and  will be required  to  contribute 
to a report  which  will be submitted  to  Council  and  Parliament  in November  1990. 

5.  CLASSIFICATION  OF  EXPENDITURE/REVENUE 

5.1  Non-compulsory  expenditure 

5.2  Differentiated  appropriations 

5.3 Nature  of  revenues:  Not  applicable 

6.  NATURE  EXPENDITURE/REVENUE 

6.1  Nature  of  expenditure 

Meeting expenses  for  the 32  members  of the  SUM  teams (8 per  team):  5 one-day 
meetings  per team  in Brussels. 

6.2  Revenues 

The  pilot  project  is financed  100% by the Community  budget 

7.  FINANCIAL  IMPACT  ON  THE  OPERATIONAL  APPROPRIATIONS 
None 

8.  ANTI-FRAUD  MEASURES 

The verification  of the expenses  claimed  for  attendance  at  meetings  will be undertaken  by 
the Commission  service providing the  secretariat  for  the  SLIM team  in question  (Eurostat 
DG III, DG VI or DG XV). 

9.  ELEMENTS  OF COST-EFFECTIVENESS  ANALYSIS 

9.1.  Specific  quantifiable  objectives,  target  population 

-  The  pilot  project  aims  at  making,  by  November  1996,  concrete  suggestions 
about  ways  in  which  legislation  in  four  areas  could  be  simplified.  This  would 
include  not  only  Community  legislation  as  such  but  also  any  unharmonised 
national  legislation  affecting  the  sector  concerned.  The  degree  of  progress 
achieved  in  relation  to  these  areas  of  legislation  within  the  time  available  will 
be used  as  a basis  for  evaluating  the  success  or  failure  of  the  working  method 
outlined  in this  Communication. 

-  Target  population  : The pilot  project  is targeted  on  the  needs  of  businesses  and 
professional  people 
for  clear,  simple  and 
proportionate  regulation  that  allows them to exercise  their  Single Market  rights 
without  unnecessary  restrictions  or  excessive  expense.  Small  and  medium-
sized  enterprises  are particularly  affected  by compliance costs. 

the  Community 

throughout 

9.2. Grounds  for  the  operation 

9.2.1  Need  for the  budgetary  intervention  of the  Community 

The  pilot  project  is designed  to  improve  the  operation  of the  single  market 
bv  simplifying  and  improving  some  of  the  rules  which  govern  it.  The 
economic benefits  to  be expected  from  such  simplification  more  than  justify 
the intervention  proposed. 

This  action  is  to  be  seen  in  the  light  of  the  Commission's  other  activities 
with  regard  to  the  simplification  and  codification  of  legislation  (see  the 
report  to  the European  Council  of December  1995, "Better  Law-Making"). 

9.2.2  Choice  of the  method  of  intervention 

The  choice  of  the  "SLIM  team"  approach,  which  will  bring  together  the 
Commission,  a  small  number  of  Member  States  and  representatives  of 
those  affected  by  the  legislation  in  small  working  groups  is  dictated  by  the 
need  to  bring  together  the  different  perspectives  oï  those  involved  with 
enforcing  the legislation  and those  affected  by  it. The  teams  are  deliberately 
small  in order  to  facilitate  a genuine  exchange  of views  which  may be  more 
difficult  in larger  and  more  formal  groups and  in to  facilitate  rapid  progress. 

9.2.3  Main  factors  of  uncertainty  which  could  affect  the  specific 
results  of the  operation 

Given that  the  exercise  is a pilot  project,  there  is inevitably  a degree  of 
uncertainty  as to  the possibility  of achieving the expected  results. The  size 
of the groups,  the choice  of members,  the  sectors  chosen  and  the  deadline 
imposed  are all factors  that  may influence  the  outcome. 

/

)• 

9.3  Monitoring  and  evaluation  of the  operation 

9.3.1 

Performance  indicators 

See  9.3.2 

9.3.2  Methods  and  frequency  of the  evaluation  foreseen 

Progress  will  be  reported  periodically  to  a  Group  of  Commissioners,  as 
decide by the Commission  on  27 March  1996. 

Progress  will  also  be  reported  to  the  Internal  Market  Advisory  Committee 
and  to  the sectoral  committees  concerned 

Within  the  Commission,  the  services  responsible  for  the  different  SLIM 
teams  and  other  interested  services  concerned  will  meet  to  review  progress 
and  compare  experiences  in the operation  of the pilot  project. 

A  report  on  the  pilot  project  will  be  submitted  to  the  Internal  Market 
Council  in  November  and  the  European  Council  will  also  be  informed  of 
the results  obtained. 

9.3.3  Assessment  of the  results  obtained 

The  results  obtained  will  be  the  subject  of  a  report  to  the  Council,  as 
mentioned  above.  This  report  will  contain  the  suggestions  of  the  SLIM 
teams for  simplifying  the legislation  in question  and  an evaluation,  based  on 
the  views of  the  teams  themselves  and  the  interested  Commission  services, 
of  the  value  of  the  exercise.  The  report  itself  will  be  discussed  with  the 
Member  States  The  key  element  in  the  evaluation  of the  pilot  project  will 
be the  degree  to  which  it  has been  possible  to  arrive  at  concrete  proposals 
on  simplification  in the  lour  sectors. 

9.4  Coherence  with  financial  programming 

The  pilot  project,  which  results  largely  from  a  discussion  at  the  Informal 
Internal  Market  Council  of  24  February'  1996,  is  not  included  in  the 
financial  planning  of  the  services  by  which  it  will  be  cofinanced  (DG  XV. 
DG III, DG  VI,  Eurostat). 

10. ADMINISTRATIVE  EXPENDITURE  (PART  A OF THE  BUDGET) 

The resources will be found within the overall envelope which the Commission attributed to the 
services responsible for each of the sectors concerned  in its decision on the allocation of resources 
for  1996. i.e., DG III (construction  products). DG VI (ornamental plants), DG XV (diplomas). 
Statistical  Office  (Intrastat). 

10.1  Impact  on the luimbers_ejnp_loyed 

None. 

10.2 Ovcra 11 fin a nc i a] i nipa et JlfAl ) C a d d i t ional  human  resources 

None. 

10.3 Increase in  other administrative  expenditure  arising  from  the  operation 

The total  expenses  for  the 4 SLIM  teams come to  120.000 ecus. 

All  expenses  relate  to  A 250  -  Meetings  and  convocations.  They  will  be  shared  by  the 
four  responsible  services  indicated  above,  each  service  covering  the  expenses  of  the 
SLIM Team for  its area of  responsibility. 

The cost has been estimated  as  follows: 

4  SLIM Teams x 5 one-day  meetings = 20  meetings 

20x4 government  experts  = 20x4x695ecus  (average  cost)  = 55.600  ecus 
20x4 private experts = 20x4x804  ecus (average  cost)  = 64.320  ecus 

TOTAL:  119.920,  say  120.000  ecus 

ISSN  0254-1475 

COM(96) 204 final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

06  10 

Catalogue number  :  CB-CO-96-222-EN-C 

ISBN 92-78-04011-8 

Office  for Official  Publications of the European Communities 

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