It will then extend the action to foodstuffs, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and services. But stung by criticism that it acted unilaterally when it launched the first phase of streamlining last month, the commission says it will act with the agreement of member states and the European Parliament.
"This initiative will greatly simplify the EU rulebook. This will have a positive effect on the competitiveness of our economy," said enterprise commissioner Guenter Verheugen. "There is a public perception of the EU as the 'Nessie from Brussels', a bureaucratic monster whose tentacles leave no village untouched and with nothing better to do than chop off every difference and blend it into the European sauce," he said.
The drive is in particular aimed at easing the bureaucratic burden on small and mid-sized companies that struggle to pay the teams of lawyers sometimes needed to comply with regulations. "Simpler EU legislation is one of the main elements of our better regulation programme. It will boost the competitiveness of our companies," said commission head Jose Manuel Barroso.
With thoughts about Europe's future stalled by the French and Dutch rejection of the new EU constitution and the bloc's long-term budget up in the air, it has never been a better time for Brussels to put its bureaucratic house in order.