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Press Release

German EU Presidency takes wrong direction, say UK businesses

17 January 2007

The Federation of Small Businesses, the UK’s largest business organisation, has expressed fears that the German EU Presidency’s programme - that was announced today by Chancellor Angela Merkel - is not focusing on the right areas for the future prosperity of the EU’s citizens.

The programme leads strongly on reviving the EU Constitution but the FSB believes that this is not a key issue for the citizens of the 27 member states. The FSB has produced five points for the German Presidency to concentrate on, in order to ensure that it leaves a positive economic legacy when it hands over to the Portuguese in July.

The FSB’s Fünf Punkte for the German EU Presidency are:

To set a target to cut the burden of red tape for businesses at EU and national level by 25%.
All legal proposals should be annulled if not passed by the end of a European Parliamentary Term.
Deadlines should be set in the European Parliament and Council for the simplification of existing regulations.
An independent review panel should be created to ensure the quality of all regulatory impact assessments.
Member states should be compelled to provide ‘correlation tables’ to make the implementation of EU rules transparent across all 27 nations.

Tina Sommer, FSB European Affairs Chairman, said:

“We are disappointed that the German Presidency has got its priorities all wrong. The EU Constitution is not an issue that Europe’s 19 million unemployed care too much about. The Presidency should be committed to addressing the concerns of the people of Europe, not those of the politicians.

“If every small business in the EU created one extra job, there would be no unemployment in the 27 member states. The German Presidency should be focusing on freeing up businesses to achieve this important goal. When an EU Commissioner confirms that EU red tape costs businesses 600bn Euros it is time to act to reduce that burden.

“These are the areas on which the German Presidency should be concentrating. Our Fünf Punkte for action should be a starting point for the EU in the next six months. They will make a real difference to the people of the EU.”



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Federation of Small Businesses

Federation of Small Businesses

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