Community legislation: simplifying and improving the regulatory environment

This Commission communication concerns Objective four of the Framework for Action for Updating and simplifying the Union acquis launched by the Communication from the Commission of 11 February 2003 in which it recognises the fact that the current Union acquis contains many texts that are obsolete and of no practical relevance or broader interest, but nevertheless apparently remain in force because an express repeal has not been carried out.

From the early stages of Union law, in the 1950s, the legislative activity of the Union has continually increased the number of legal acts, many of which were adopted without an expiry date of their validity being fixed.

In the context of the better lawmaking strategy, the Commission considers that such acts should no longer be allowed, by their classification as "acts in force", to complicate and obscure the overall picture of the active acquis. Their removal would allow access to an “essential” acquis of those acts that are active and generally applicable.

This Communication deals with acts concerning the following sectors of the common agricultural policy: accountancy data network, beef and veal, cereals, eggs and poultry, milk, oils and fats, outermost regions, pigmeat, potato starch, rice, rural development and agricultural structures, seeds, sheepmeat and goatmeat, sugar and wine.

The acts listed in Annex II have exhausted their effects. The aim of the present Communication is therefore to formally recognise that these acts are obsolete. They were identified according to objective criteria guaranteeing that they have exhausted their effects and that, for example, all their attached obligations have been fulfilled. In particular this implies mainly, but not exclusively, acts falling into the following categories:

·        acts relating to the granting of financial contribution from the Union;

·        acts granting a statute or a specific exemption limited in the time and expired (derogations);

·        acts of a temporary nature (for instance, regulations relating to marketing years, fixing of aid amounts, specific financial assistance, intervention, dates, annual rules related to the management of tariff quotas, establishment of the forecast supply balance for outermost regions, etc.);

·        acts relating to the implementation of a basic act that has been repealed;

·        temporary or transitional measures linked to the accession of new Member States or acts which have become obsolete because of accession.

Consequently and following the guidelines on the reduction of the active Union acquis, in the framework of the simplification action related to Commission acts, it is proposed to remove the acts listed in Annex II from the active acquis.

The Publications Office is invited to withdraw these acts from the Directory of Union legislation in force.