Press Release: Commission cuts unnecessary administrative burdens in EU company law

The European Commission is moving quickly to deliver on its 2008 programme to cut administrative costs. Only one month after the presentation of a list of 11 Fast Track Actions (FTA) on 10 March 2008 (MEMO/08/152), the Commission approved proposals for four of these measures which will make life easier for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by cutting the following burdens on enterprises. Companies will no longer need to publish business data in the national gazettes and they can (re-)use translations certified in one Member State when opening branches in other Member States. In the accounting area, parent companies with no material subsidiaries no longer need to prepare consolidated accounts. Furthermore medium-sized companies can be exempted from providing detailed data in the annual accounts. Altogether it is estimated that thses changes are likely to generate significant benefits of over €600 million especially for SMEs.