Gold-plating
Gold-plating is a term relating to European Union law, used particularly in the UK.
Gold-plating refers to the practice of national bodies exceeding the terms of European Community directives when implementing them into national law [1] . In the United Kingdom business lobbyists argue that the government and its agencies often tag additional measures on to the back of European Directives which place UK business at a competitive disadvantage in relation to other EU states where directives are implemented more literally.[2]
In Italy, gold-plating has often been used as a device to pass through controversial measures and to ensure a lower degree of parliamentary scrutiny, particularly in periods of weak government.
EU governments committed themselves to a deregulation agenda at the Lisbon Summit in 2000, and as a consequence the European Commission has supported more maximum harmonisation measures in recent years, which effectively prohibit gold-plating.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Better Regulation- Simplification". European Commission. http://ec.europa.eu/governance/better_regulation/simplification_en.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
- ^ "Tories pledge to cut EU red tape". BBC News. 2004-08-18. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3575556.stm. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
