Chemical Reaction: Europe’s Reach Program

Former FreedomWorks Co-Chairman C. Boyden Gray has a new op-ed in the Wall Street Journal about Europe’s latest regulatory scheme. Excerpt:

Chemical Reaction

By C. BOYDEN GRAY
September 6, 2006

BRUSSELS — It is well accepted that a key to unlocking Europe’s innovation, creativity and growth potential is improving its regulatory climate. This entails both cutting back outmoded existing regulations and ensuring that the benefits of future regulations outweigh their costs to society. But it appears that the European Union is having difficulty turning the excellent intentions of its “better regulation” policy into reality.

There is perhaps no better example of this problem than the EU’s gigantic chemicals regulation known as Reach, whose final adoption is expected by the end of 2006. Many improvements have been made, but Reach still has flaws that will hurt small European businesses and foreign companies in particular.