Deregulation in the EC: Molitor cocktail or damp squib?

Part of European industry has been hoping that a high-level report on the impacts of EC legislation on competitiveness would stimulate a new deregulatory drive.¹ But the report appears to have failed to generate the necessary political momentum at the European summit in Cannes, and its credibility has been damaged by dissension among its authors. Their recommendations on environmental legislation also illustrate the difficulties of reconciling deregulation with subsidiarity and the desire of many businesses for a level playing-field.