Codification and Consolidation in the European Union: A Means to Untie Red Tape

The volume of European Union (EU) legislation has come under close scrutiny. Due to widespread popular perceptions of increasing bureaucracy, often believed to be directly related, if not caused by, the increased volume of legislation, the idea of cutting red tape1 by means of reducing the volume of legislation has become a very popular electoral promise and policy concept. The sheer volume of legislation has become a political issue in itself.2 Many Western governments have passed legislation and made procedural changes which claim to reduce red tape or reduce administrative burdens in the last decade. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports, best practice, and formal and informal benchmarks seem to have fuelled this worldwide trend. Regulatory reform is first among the strategies used in order to achieve a reduction of administrative burden.3 A recurrent theme in these regulatory reform programmes is a focus on...