EU: Company law: reducing the administrative burden

In early 2007, the European Commission launched an Action Programme designed to reduce the administrative burdens of European law. With regard to company law, the Commission has announced several proposals including:

(a) Removing the requirement that business data is published in national gazettes.
(b) Parent companies with no material subsidiaries will no longer need to prepare consolidated accounts.

Postscript (22 April 2008): The Commission's proposals have been formally published here and here.