Press Release: Commission VP Verheugen welcomes Council decision to repeal ‘knots in the wood’ directive and agreement to simplify pre- packaging directive

On 21 May 2007 the Member States of the European Union adopted the European Commission proposal to repeal the so called “knots in the wood” Directive 68/89/EEC. It regulated the quality and size of wood in the rough in detail at EU level. In the future it will be up to standardisation organisations to define wood criteria for industry. In addition to important progress of other initiatives to simplify EU legislation, this is the first tangible withdrawal of a European law since the Commission announced its Better Regulation programme in spring 2005.

At the same time the Member States came to a political agreement on the deregulation of packaging sizes, except for wines and spirits, which will be adopted formally in the foreseeable future. Both acts of Better Regulation were already adopted by the European Parliament. The Commission's efforts on simplification will intensify in the future, for example with regard to areas such as construction, business statistics and the environment. Moreover, the Commission has tabled an EU Action Programme cutting unnecessary administrative burdens on businesses by a quarter by 2012 at the beginning of 2007 (see IP/07/77).