Simplifying legal procedures

Simplifying legislation means weeding out the superfluous by rigorously applying the tests of whether it is necessary and proportionate. The exercise mainly involves the recasting and formal or informal consolidation of legislation.

In Europe the concept of simplifying legislation has grown in importance since the White Paper on the Completion of the Single Market and was explicitly put forward by the Edinburgh European Council in 1992. Since then a concentrated effort has been made to establish a market guaranteeing the four freedoms, but this has meant a wealth of European legislation. Simplifying this mass of law has now become a priority in order to ensure that Community action is transparent and effective. A pilot programme (Simpler legislation for the Internal market - SLIM) covering four specific areas was launched in May 1996 and could be extended to other areas. A declaration on the quality of the drafting of Community legislation is attached to the Final Act of the Intergovernmental Conference (1997). It recommends that the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission lay down guidelines for improving the form of legislation and calls on the institutions to make a determined effort to speed up the official consolidation of legislative texts.