§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Prime Minister how many EU regulations have been passed; how many of these have altered United Kingdom law; and how many have been the subject of the fiche d'impact in each of the last five years. [18649]
§ The Prime Minister[holding answer 11 March 1996]: The table provides a breakdown of the number of European Community regulations introduced since 1991.
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 Council1 335 383 319 274 242 Commission2 1,107 1,125 1,055 963 748 Source:
1 Annual general reports of the activities of the European Communities from 1991–95.
2 Commission's CELEX database of Community legislation. The figures exclude short-term or temporary regulations—eg. those measures relating to day-to-day management of agricultural matters. for 1995, the figures include regulations adopted up to 12 December 1995; full year figures are not yet available.
All European Community regulations are directly applicable in United Kingdom law. Information on how many proposals have been the subject of a fiche d' impact is not held centrally. However, it is the Government's policy to press for all proposals for Community legislation which may have a significant impact on business to be accompanied by a fiche d'impact.