Allister backs FSB campaign against European red tape
03 January 2007
Jim Allister, DUP Member of the European Parliament has thrown his full support behind the five point campaign of the Federation for Small Businesses recently launched by the organisation. The campaign is aimed at ensuring the German Presidency of the EU is characterised by a reduction in regulation and bureaucracy which is having an adverse impact on businesses here.
Speaking today Jim Allister said:
“The Federation of Small Businesses is the largest organisation representing business in Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom: when they speak they are speaking for thousands of people who provide millions of jobs in our country. Their five point list of aims for the German presidency of Europe are therefore of the utmost relevance and importance. The FSB’s five points if taken up during the German presidency would indeed serve to eliminate some unnecessary red-tape and ensure that businesses throughout the Union begin to operate on an equal and level playing field. The five points are:
1. To set a target to cut the burden of red tape for businesses at EU and national level by 25%.
2. All legal proposals should be annulled if not passed by the end of a European Parliamentary Term.
3. Deadlines should be set in the European Parliament and Council for the simplification of existing regulations.
4. An independent review panel should be created to ensure the quality of all regulatory impact assessments.
5. Member states should be compelled to provide ‘correlation tables’ to make the implementation of EU rules transparent across all 27 nations.
As a representative in Europe I give my wholehearted support to these proposals and hope they will be taken on board by Angela Merkel, a politician who has in the past expressed her desire to cut back on red-tape in her own homeland of Germany, now that she has assumed the presidency”, said the DUP MEP.
