25-11-2004, 02:35 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Administrator
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Long Ashton, Bristol
Posts: 10,315
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Patricia Hewitt takes the Michael
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspap...373476,00.html
Quote:
AFTER nearly half a century of pumping out more than a hundred thousand rules and regulations, the European Union will today ignite its first “bonfire of the diktats”.
In an attempt to staunch the tide of red tape, Patricia Hewitt, the Trade and Industry Secretary, and her EU counterparts will agree to simplify and abolish items of legislation, rather than multiplying and complicating them.
With the EU having produced 101,811 regulations since Britain joined in 1973, the scale of U-turn is small: just 15 directives will be affected — from an original list of 300 — and most are relatively arcane. But after years of talking about more flexible economies and doing nothing, the fact that any deregulation at all is taking place is seen by British diplomats as an historic turning point.
“We need concrete action rather than warm words, so we are pleased to see this first batch of regulations up for revision,” a British government spokeswoman said. “But this is just a start — we need to drive progress in this area.”
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An historic turning point? Perhaps we should have a national holiday in celebration? :roll: I am surprised that they had the nerve to even announce this.
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