Commission unclutters EU legislative agenda

One of the most original features of the EU smart regulation policy, not often present at national level, is the periodic removal of older, outdated or obsolete  proposals from the legislative agenda, to be replaced by revised or more comprehensive initiatives more likely to be adopted by the legislators (Council and Parliament). This has been practiced regularly by the European Commission since the beginning of the better regulation initiative in the early 2000's. A new wave of "withdrawals of pending proposals" was announced by the EC on 7 March 2015 and is presented as a way to cut red tape and remove regulatory burdens, contributing to an environment conducive to investment. With fewer and more recently drafted proposals from the Commission on the table, the legislative procedure is supposed to be better focused and produce clearer rules.   From the press release: "The Commission decided the withdrawal of 73 pending legislative proposals, with the adoption of the Commission's Work Programme for 2015 on 16 December 2014. The list of withdrawn proposals has now been published in the Official Journal of the European Union. This confirmation of the withdrawals follows constructive discussions with the other institutions in which the Commission has heard their views. The Commission will continue to work on the implementation of its Work Programme in close partnership with the other institutions, including through the tabling of more ambitious and comprehensive proposals on the Circular Economy, after the withdrawal today of the Waste Package."