Better Regulation Serves Employment

Abstract

This volume collects essays delivered at a conference held by the Austrian Presidency of the European Union in 1998. Regulatory reforms for private business aim at enhancing the competitiveness of enterprises in the Community. The regulatory system is tailored to the economic structure of industrial production. It does not sufficiently take into consideration the needs of a service-oriented society increasingly dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises. It is therefore suggested to improve the institutional framework of the EU internal market by removing barriers which hamper the entry into markets and reducing the costs of ongoing operations by amplifying the system of one-stop shops.

Keywords: European Union, internal market, competitiveness, employment, regulation, enterprises, one-stop shops

JEL Classification: D40, H49, J29