Today the European Parliament voted for a new “Interinstitutional agreement” (IIA) on better law-making in the EU.

Today the European Parliament voted for a new “Interinstitutional agreement” (IIA) on better law-making in the EU.

ECR spokesman, Anthea McIntyre, has welcomed the agreement as a step in the right direction, while wishing it had been more ambitious. “Cutting red-tape, especially for small businesses, is absolutely vital for our competitiveness in the global economy”, she said.

The ECR established some key priorities which were included in the agreement. First of all, the inclusion of SME and competitiveness tests, in any future legislation. Secondly, and most importantly, is the introduction of a burden reduction target. This reflects the text of the European Council conclusions from February which was were a key part of Prime Minister Cameron’s negotiations. McIntyre also welcomed the commitment to undertake an Annual Burden Survey to review the EU’s efforts to simplify legislation, to avoid over-regulation and to review the stock of existing EU law.
McIntyre says: “For me this is a positive step along the way. It is part of the reform process but by no means the end. We have to keep up the pressure. We have to reform the way that Europe works”.