Cutting red tape is just one of the avowed goals of the Barroso Commission. A high-level expert group including the former Bavarian state governor, Edmund Stoiber, and international management consulting guru Roland Berger has been given the mandate to examine how to most effectively reduce bureaucratic hurdles and enhance the functioning of the internal market. The group reports directly to EU Commission Vice-President, Gunter Verheugen. The overall goal is to slash the administrative burden placed on businesses by 25% by 2012 , a move the Commission claims could give a €150 billion boost to the European economy.
The group has already taken up its work, criticizing the hurdles small businesses face in applying for licences and permits, which often have to be approved by 27 different authorities in their respective languages. Though plans were likely already in the works before Stoiber and his fellow analysts set out, their comments seem to have been heard.
Ahead of the EU Spring Summit, which traditionally examines the Union's economic progress along the goals mapped out in the 2000 Lisbon Agenda, the Commission and Parliament have now approved a plan to lift the burden of static regulations for some of its most active growth promotors: it's small and medium sized enterprises. The new program will ease key linguistic and statistical burdens, facilitating licencing across the board.
The Commission and the expert group estimate that EUR 500 million in savings could be the immediate result. EU Heads of State are likely to give the plans their nod of approval at the Council Summit on March 13th and 14th.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
