The European Commission has announced a number of measures aimed at strengthening and improving the European regulatory framework by making it easier and cheaper for enterprises to do business in the EU and allowing citizens to reap the full benefits of the European Single Market. This initiative introduces a new programme which will cut unnecessary regulatory costs at EU and national level, will follow up on the administrative burden programme and will sharpen the tools which allow EU legislation to remain fit.

The communication on the EU Regulatory Framework, which is a consequence of the smart regulation communication of October 2010, takes stock of the considerable progress achieved so far in implementing the Commission’s Smart Regulation agenda. The European regulatory framework furthermore provides an outline on how the EU legislation can achieve its objectives by means of demonstrating clear added value, delivering full benefits at minimal costs and respecting the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. The European Commission aims to achieve its objectives by building a simple, clear and predictable regulatory framework which addresses the following measures:

1. A new Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (REFIT) which identifies initiatives which will bring about a reduction in regulatory costs.

2. A follow-up to the Action Programme for Reducing Administrative Burden to ensure that the programme guarantees benefits to businesses and SMEs in Member States.

3. Sharpening the tools for regulatory management by means of refining impact assessments, evaluations and public consultations.

In addition to the above, the Commission has been working in parallel on adapting EU legislation to the needs of SMEs and microenterprises. The Commission aims to present its first progress report on these initiatives during the start of 2013.

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