Smart Regulation Commission follow-up to the "TOP TEN" Commission Communication COM(2013)446 final of

The Commission's policy on legislation and SMEs (1) November 2011: Impact assessment must start form the assumption that SMEs do not need to be covered, unless there is a demonstrated need of their being covered Where it does not prevent the legislation to reach its objectives, exemptions or lighter regimes shall be favoured A scoreboard will follow-up in legislative procedure and implementation October - December 2012: TOP responses, 2/3 coming from SMEs 43 legislative measures most quoted

The Commission's policy on legislation and SMEs (2) December 2012: REFIT Communication Review of the entire acquis DGs to propose repeals, simplifications or evaluations March 2013: TOP 10 results published with first scoreboard 43 legislative measures most quoted EU Council supports the approach (27/28 June 2013)

TOP 10 Follow up 14 priority items from TOP 10 Results of TOP 10 will feed into REFIT programme and annex to CWP 2014 Scoreboard will report to every Spring EU Council Joint effort : Commission – Parliament – Council – Member States

14 priority items with SMEs friendly provisions (1) Already approved: Fees reduction for SMEs in REACH Proposed to co-legislator: Data protection: exemption to appoint data officer Posting of workers: transparency General product safety: SME guidance and support Public procurement: lighter requirements regarding documentation Professional qualifications: introduction of European professional card for easier recognition Tachograph: exemption for vehicles driving in a radius of less than 100 km

14 priority items with SMEs friendly provisions (2) Evaluations under way or programmed Occupational health and safety: risk based approach being considered Temporary agency work: report expected by December 2013 Working time: undergoing impact assessment VAT declaration: standard VAT, web portal are being considered VAT refund: conference in 2012 showed that problems are resolved Waste: full review of waste legislation to be completed in 2014 Shipment of waste: development of end-of-waste criteria, remove some waste streams from scope (paper, metals, glass), encouragement to use electronic systems to share information amongst Member States

Next steps Keep the momentum in REFIT REFIT programme to be published in autumn 2013, as an annex to Commission Work Programme Monitor progress through scoreboard