IN CONTRAST TO CHINA’S RECENT EFFORTS to increase controls on information, the European Union (EU) is taking steps to alleviate the bureaucracy in European business. The EU Enterprise and Industry Commissioner, Guenter Verheugen, is leading a review of at least 200 commerce bills in an attempt to trim unnecessary burdens to industry. Today starts the first round of cuts to proposed laws that might be considered stifling to EU growth and investment.
According to Business Week, “Among the rules and proposals to be considered for trimming are plans to ban trucks on weekends, laws on food labeling and advertising, and the regulation of sales promotions at stores, which EU officials say are too burdensome to business and citizens.�
It is interesting to note the difference in motivations between China and the EU. While China is concerned about the impact that existing policies might have on allegiance to its culture; the EU is concerned about the impact that policies might have on industry investment and growth. Obviously, these opposing motivations relate directly to differences between communist and capatalist government models.
