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		Better Regulation Plenary Speech - Monday, 3rd September 2007 Mr. President As we debate "Better Regulation", we should first recall the scale of the problem. No one imagines that you can run a modern economy without regulation, but equally, excessive regulation can be hugely damaging, and the Commission's own figures prove it. In an interview with The Financial Times last year, Commission Vice-President Günther Verheugen said he had made a new estimate of the annual cost of regulation to the EU economies, and it amounted to an extraordinary €600 Billion. That's around 5.5% of EU GDP. But what about the admitted trade benefits of the Single Market? There again, we can appeal to the Commission's figures. The Commission has estimated the trade benefits at €160 billion a year. In other words, Mr. President, the costs of EU regulation exceed the benefits of the Single Market by more than three times. The EU's regulatory system is making us all poorer, and damaging our competitiveness in the face of globalisation. My fear is that all the talk of better regulation is coded language for more of the same. We don't need Better Regulation. We need Less Regulation. I have a practical proposal. For the next parliamentary term, let us agree to pass no new legislation. Instead, let us unleash the full power of the EU Institutions on the task of deregulation. Let' do the cost-benefit analysis. Let's consult with industry. Then let's dismantle the legislation that is holding us back.