§ Mr. SteenTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many statutory instruments his Department sponsored in the last Session of Parliament; and how many of these(a) constituted a new rule or regulation, (b) were introduced to implement European Community directives and (c) amplify the minimum standards set out in an original European Community directive. [2465]
§ Mr. Oppenheim[holding answer 28 November 1995]: The Department of Trade and Industry sponsored 116 statutory instruments in the last Session of Parliament. It would be possible only at disproportionate cost to provide the further information requested, especially to identify from this total any cases in which the Government have acted on powers in the relevant EC legislation enabling member states to implement provisions going beyond the minimum standards set out in the directives. The Government's policy is, however, to ensure that implementing legislation imposes least cost and provides greatest certainty consistent with meeting our legal obligations.