On 25 October the European Commission presented a three-year programme to simplify thousands of pages of EU legislation adopted since 1957. Its intention is to reduce the administrative burden and cut over-regulation, which put most businesses at a disadvantage.

The Commission proposes to repeal, codify, recast or modify 222 basic legislations - all in all more than 1400 legal acts - in the next three years.

"Better regulation is a corner stone of our Partnership for Growth and Jobs", said Commission President José Manuel Barroso. "It will boost the competitiveness of our companies."

The simplification process kicks off with the most heavily regulated sectors, such as cars, waste and construction.

Other sectors such as food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and services will follow soon.

The Commission also intends to cut red-tape, especially for small businesses, by simplifying cumbersome statistics form-filling or modernising the customs code to facilitate electronic exchange of information.

"But better regulation is not de-regulation," warned Günter Verheugen, Commission Vice-President responsible for enterprise and industry. "The policy objectives do not change, but the way to get there will be much easier, cheaper and more effective for citizens and business."