Stricter rules on impact statement

The committee adopted the proposal for a resolution by 27 votes to 22, on the basis of the report by Mr Mather (PPE, UK). As a result of the new guidelines on legislative policy, which were adopted by the Commission in January 1996, it was imperative that Parliament give its opinion on the final form of the system for assessing the impact on enterprises; at the same time, this technical mechanism should be made as comprehensive as possible in order to evaluate the costs and benefits of EU regulations on enterprises. This was why the report in question sought to list the main points to be adopted when drawing up rational impact statements, such as those relating to SMEs, for example, by providing for solutions other than regulations or by specifying the reasons why less costly solutions were rejected. In short, the system which was devised should ensure that European legislative and regulatory texts were drawn up to an appropriate standard, while strengthening Parliament's control of their impact on enterprises. �