A new deregulation spree could be in prospect across Europe, following a report from the European Commission’s High Level Group on Administrative Burdens. The proposals have been criticised by unions and the key industry group, with unions warning they pose a danger to both workers and consumers.
The final report of the burdens group, chaired by arch conservative and former Bavarian chancellor Dr Edmund Stoiber (above), calls for a reduction in regulatory costs, ensuring that any new costs are balanced with reductions elsewhere. It says there must be a “think small first” principle exempting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from EU obligations as far as possible.
According Hugh Robertson, head of safety at the British Trades Union Congress (TUC), the proposals are “pretty dangerous.”
He notes: “The burden of health and safety failures falls firmly on the workers and so any assessment of the costs on benefits should look first of all on the benefit to those who are protected. That is not how Stoiber wants it to work. He wants impact assessments to measure the costs and benefits to business only. This is totally absurd and will make it virtually impossible to get any new regulation on health and safety.”
He adds that wanting to exempt SMEs is “bizarre”, as they “employ 66 per cent of the workforce but are responsible for 82 per cent of injuries and 90 per cent of fatalities.” They European body representing SMEs (UEAPME) has also said it is opposed to the Stoiber proposals, calling the report “nonsense, a purely political declaration.”
Four of Stoiber’s 15-strong administrative burdens group agreed, issuing a “dissenting opinion.”
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Deregulation led to the financial crisis and those who believe it is the ideological answer to every problem are guilty of dangerous magical thinking.”
She added: “It’s no wonder that Stoiber failed to get the support of the whole group when his proposals will put workers and consumers at risk by scrapping employment rights, health and safety duties and environmental protection. Even the main trade association for Europe’s small firms has rejected the proposals as senseless.”
The dead hand of the European deregulators
A new deregulation spree could be in prospect across Europe, following a report from the European Commission’s High Level Group on Administrative Burdens. The proposals – which seek to exempt small and medium sized enterprises from safety and other regulations - have been criticised by unions and the key industry group, with unions warning they pose a danger to both workers and consumers.
