Council Resolution of 8 July 1996 on legislative and administrative simplification in the field of the internal market
Date: 1996-07-08
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU law, administrative formalities, codification of EU law, single market, small and medium-sized enterprises













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31996Y0801(03)

Council Resolution of 8 July 1996 on legislative and administrative simplification in the field of the internal market  


Official Journal C 224 , 01/08/1996 P. 0005 - 0006 





COUNCIL RESOLUTIONof 8 July 1996on  legislative and administrative simplification in the field of the internal market(96/C   224/03)THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to the declaration on the implementation of Community law annexed to the Final Act of  the Treaty on European Union, Having regard to the conclusions of the Cannes European Council on 26 and 27 June 1995, Having regard to the report from the group of independent experts on legislative and administrative  simplification (Molitor Group) of 21 May 1995 and the Commission's comments on that report, Having regard to the Commission report to the European Council entitled 'Better law-making - Report  on the application of subsidiarity and proportionality principles, on simplification and  codification`, Having regard to the Commission communication to the Council and to the European Parliament on  'Simpler legislation for the internal market (SLIM): a pilot project`; Whereas one of the main priorities of the European Union is to promote growth and employment;  whereas, against a background of increased economic competition, that objective presupposes in  particular that measures be taken to enable enterprises to improve their competitiveness and to  create a positive effect on employment; Whereas legislation on the internal market has made possible the creation of a large economic area  without internal frontiers, constituting a powerful factor for the stimulation and liberalization  of the European economy and employment, which it is vital to preserve; Whereas the achievement of the internal market in itself leads to simplification, either because it  replaces a series of national rules by one Community rule or through the principle of mutual  recognition; Whereas legislative and administrative simplification aimed at eliminating the excessive and  unjustified costs which constitute a barrier to the competitiveness of undertakings is nevertheless  an important task for the institutions of the European Union, the Governments of the Member States  and European economic circles; Whereas the objective of simplification must preserve the acquis communautaire and the pursuit of  Community harmonization in the sectors concerned where necessary and in particular the requirements  of health protection, safety, fair trading, environmental protection, worker protection and  consumer protection contained in those rules; Whereas, moreover, legislation on the internal market must, in the interest of economic operators  and citizens, be made more accessible and easier to understand, in particular by improving the  quality of that legislation through consolidation and by more consistent and comprehensible texts;  whereas initiatives are already under way concerning the simplification and consolidation of  existing legislation with the aim of reducing, where necessary, the number of legislative  provisions by applying the principle of proportionality; Whereas any future legislative initiative, both at national and Community level, should take into  account the needs and constraints of enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises  (SMEs); Whereas, moreover, a special need for simplification of existing legislation has been identified in  certain sectors; whereas concrete initiatives should therefore be taken in this regard so as to  lighten the administrative burden for enterprises; Whereas over-complicated national legislation may also impede the proper functioning of the  internal market and whereas a commensurate effort to simplify legislation should be made at  national level in order to avoid the appearance of fresh obstacles to trade which would have the  effect of recompartmentalizing the internal market, AS REGARDS FUTURE LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVES: NOTES the preparation by the Commission of general guidelines to direct the  exercise of its own power of initiative with the aim of improving the quality of the new  legislative proposals having regard to their likely impact on the economic or professional circles  involved; EMPHASIZES the need to ensure the effective transposition of new legislation at national level, and  to take into account, throughout the legislative process, the need to ensure the overall  consistency of legislation in a given sector; INVITES the Commission to prepare analysis criteria, drawing on the experiences and information  communicated by all the Member States and in association with the latter; DRAWS ATTENTION TO the need to avoid excessively detailed requirements in general and to have  recourse to them only when it is strictly necessary for the smooth operation of the internal  market, in accordance with the EC Treaty; AS FAR AS EXISTING LEGISLATION IS CONCERNED: NOTES the progress already made in consolidation and other methods of simplification, commits  itself to continue at a faster pace examination of proposals for consolidation already submitted by  the Commission and INVITES the Commission to submit, as soon as possible, the further proposals  already announced; EMPHASIZES, in common with the Commission, that these measures should, moreover, be backed up by  concrete actions aimed at promoting the objectives of transparency, proportionality and consistency  of legislation; AGREES with the Commission that one of the first of these actions should be the launching of a  pilot project in a limited number of sectors inter alia to explore, through legislative and  administrative simplification, ways of reducing constraints and the formalities which enterprises  have to comply with as a consequence of such legislation; also agrees that this project could serve  as a test for wider action covering other sectors; To this end, TAKES FAVOURABLE NOTE of the Commission's initiative of setting up, in four sectors,  working parties composed of recognized experts, selected in a transparent and balanced way, with  the task of identifying ways to simplify the applicable legislation; NOTES the Commission's choice of the sectors concerned, i.e. the statistical collection system  (Intrastat), the ornamental plants sector, building products and the mutual recognition of  diplomas; ACKNOWLEDGES that this initiative stems from a concern to ensure that initial results are achieved  with regard to simplification in the short term; AS REGARDS THE INITIATIVES TO BE CONDUCTED: INVITES the Member States: (a) to promote a movement towards the simplification and lightening of administrative formalities  concerning future national legislation while paying particular attention to the difficulties  encountered by SMEs by virtue of their very structure; (b) to support, through their participation, the proceedings of the working parties responsible for  the pilot project, including aspects relating to national legislation; (c) to examine possibilities of simplifying national legislation having an impact on the internal  market and of easing the formalities bound up with that legislation, while paying particular  attention to the difficulties encountered by SMEs; (d) to carry out within the Advisory Committee for coordination in the internal market field, set  up by Commission Decision 93/72/EEC  (1), an exchange of information on actions carried out or  envisaged in the field of legislative and administrative simplification at national level as  regards both existing and future legislation, INVITES the Commission: (a) to provide full and regular information on the progress made by the working parties responsible  for the pilot project in the Member States, via the committees dealing with Community legislation  and the Advisory Committee for coordination in the internal market field; (b) to submit to the Council for November 1996 a report containing the conclusions of the pilot  project mentioned in (a): - making practical suggestions as to how legislation can be simplified in the four sectors  concerned, - evaluating the effectiveness of the methodology; and(c) after consultation with the Advisory  Committee for coordination in the internal market field, to indicate as early as possibile in 1997  how this project could subsequently be extended to other sectors. (1) OJ No L 26, 3. 2. 1993, p. 18.