By Martin Banks

The European Commission admits the EU needs “clear” law making.

This is why it says it has presented its plan to modernise EU lawmaking.

The aim is to “ensure that laws are clearer, simpler, more efficiently enforced, based on solid evidence and better aligned with the needs of citizens and businesses.”

On Tuesday,Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said: “Europe needs clear and coherent legislation that fully responds to the needs of our citizens and businesses.

“Today, we deliver our plan to make EU lawmaking more efficient, more effective, and more transparent. We will apply simplicity by design and continue to ensure every rule is supported by strong evidence. But that’s not all: we will also tackle gold-plating, speed up enforcement and clean up our current stock of legislation. This is a critical contribution to bolster our competitiveness.”

• The Commission will act in five areas:
• Simplicity by design: EU said laws must be easy to understand, apply and enforce.
• Strengthening the better regulation framework
• Regulatory deep cleaning: while the Union continues to pursue ambitious policies, it must also, it says, put its large stock of existing legislation in order.
• Tackling regulatory gold-plating: the Commission will help Member States identify and tackle unnecessary complexity and barriers to the Single Market.
• Faster, robust enforcement: the Commission will strengthen enforcement of the Single Market rulebook.

An EC spokesman said, “At a time of profound global shifts, an efficient and effective regulatory framework is essential for European competitiveness.

“Simpler, better-designed, and easier-to-implement rules will therefore help to unlock economic potential and promote a more dynamic and integrated Single Market.”

The European Parliament and the Council are essential partners in helping to make the objectives outlined in the Communication a reality, said the spokesman.