Partnership to Cut Red Tape

Friday, April 22nd, 2016

exporting is great weekGreater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC) is teaming up with one of the region’s MEPs to tackle burdensome red tape.

Daniel Dalton, Conservative MEP for the West Midlands, and the GBCC are asking businesses what rules and regulations hinder them particularly when it comes to exporting.  This week is the UK’s Exporting is GREAT week.

Mr Dalton is promising to have every example of red tape raised by local businesses reviewed in Brussels.

He said, “Cutting red-tape, especially for small businesses, is absolutely vital for our competitiveness in the global economy.  We have done much in the past year to remove unnecessary rules but we need to be more ambitious and I am delighted that the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce are as enthusiastic as I am.”

Paul Faulkner, chief executive of the GBCC, said, “We often hear concerns from members about burdensome regulation and red tape holding back their business, particularly when it comes to exporting and EU directives (or the ‘gold plating’ of EU regulation by UK institutions).

“Through delivering the Enterprise Europe Network Midlands we’ve worked hard to identify and escalate barriers to SMEs trading with the EU.

“We need more people in Brussels standing up for the needs of local businesses and are pleased with Daniel’s support for this agenda.  This is a problem where we simply can’t afford to not keep up the pressure.”

Mr Dalton added, “Like the Chamber I often hear that tiresome regulations holds companies back and this is a practical initiative to see where we can help.”

In the past year Daniel has been part of the team that that has repealed 120 pieces of EU legislation and simplified 800 more.

The GBCC will be collecting information from businesses on the EU directives and regulations they find burdensome throughout Exporting is GREAT week.  The MEP will then raise the key regulations highlighted in Brussels, providing a full update and response later in the year.