Britain finds allies as it calls for EU targets on cutting red tape
By Gabriela Baczynska
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain called on the European Union to set targets for cutting red tape and rallied 18 other member states behind its proposal on Friday, a demonstration that its ideas for reforming the bloc have wide backing.
The proposal came in a letter to the European Commission's deputy head, Frans Timmermans, that was drafted by London and signed by countries, including Germany and France. It came as the 28-nation bloc starts talks on Britain's future in the EU.
"We recognise the need to address the quality of EU legislation as well as to reduce its overall regulatory burden, without undermining its policy goals," the letter read.
"We now need to establish targets for reducing the burden of regulation in particularly burdensome areas," it said.
The letter goes on to suggest discussing the idea at a meeting in Brussels on Monday of the ministers responsible for economic competitiveness.
A Commission spokeswoman noted some member states have already introduced such targets nationally "with mixed results": "The feasibility of such targets at EU level needs to be further explored and discussed," she said.
The proposal is part of a broader demand by British Prime Minister David Cameron to "write competitiveness into the DNA" of the EU, one of Britain's demands as it tries to renegotiate its membership. He plans a referendum by the end of 2017 on whether Britain will remain an EU member.
European Union leaders are expected to discuss his demands when they meet for a Dec. 17-18 summit in Brussels. Officials and diplomats say consultations among member states this month, after a letter from Cameron on Nov. 10, suggested a deal was unlikely as early as the December summit.
Officials have highlighted concern among other states at Cameron's demand that Britain be allowed to withhold benefits from workers from other EU states for up to four years, something many see as breaching non-discrimination rules.
They say other areas of the British demands, including how countries that do not use the euro, like Britain, are treated and on expanding national sovereignty, also present problems for some governments.
The competitiveness issues raised by Cameron are the least contentious, but all other areas could cause problems.
(Additional reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Alastair Macdonald, Larry King)
