B. REVISION OF SCOPE AND SIMPLIFICATION
The case of regional policy raises the issue of simplification. Any questioning concerning the scope and intervention procedures of the European Union should be accompanied by a review on the simplification of rules and procedures which it has developed. European regulation is often seen as unclear, too complex, nit-picking or simply unwarranted. It is an illustration of a Europe which is distant from its citizens and their expectations. The European project which should represent a chance and an opportunity, in particular in the economic domain, can sometimes appear to be a source of constraints and an obstacle to many activities.
For some years, simplification has been a priority for the European Commission, as evidenced by the implementation of the REFIT programme, striving for regulatory fitness, in October 2013. This tool aims to evaluate EU legislation and to adopt, if required, any necessary corrective action. In this way, the Commission intends to respond to the laudable aim of easing the regulatory burden and combating unnecessary bureaucracy. It also contributes to the implementation of a clear, stable and predictable regulatory framework favouring growth and employment.
There is now a need to peruse these efforts and make the European standard clearer, more readable and more accessible. The European Affairs Committee has already been working on this issue 29 ( * ) . In particular, reflection on impact assessments, must be part of the effort by ensuring greater attention is given to constraints on companies and local authorities.
This is particularly evident in economic matters. In recent years, the European Union has focused mainly on consumer protection and, with the financial crisis, on the regulation of financial markets. The administrative difficulties that European businesses are faced with, in particular small businesses, have also been ignored. These face an overlapping of European standards, sometimes involving their timely application. There is therefore a need to clarify existing legislation and encourage the drafting of a European business code, consolidating the existing rules into a single structured and comprehensive document.
More broadly, the Commission should continue work to reduce legislative inflation and ease the regulatory burden, announced in November 2014 by its President Jean-Claude Juncker. This clean upoperation is expressed in the withdrawal of legislative proposals judged as not relevant or which do not have a short-term aim of adoption, and the repeal of more than 200 standards in the last three years. This helps to achieve a better application of the principle of subsidiarity. The need today is for fewer laws and better lawmaking. Visibility and understanding of European action by European citizens entails such rationalisation.
* 29 Simplifying the law: a European Union requirement, information report N° 387 (2016-2017) by Mr Jean Bizet, Mr Pascal Allizard, Mr Philippe Bonnecarrère, Mr Michel Delebarre, Mr Jean-Paul Emorine, Mr Claude Kern, Mr Didier Marie, Mr Daniel Raoul and Mr Simon Sutour, on behalf of the European Affairs Committee, 9 February 2017.