Behind the bureaucracy

摘要

Some of you may well have just finished responding to a recent public consultation exercise on the subject of leather authenticity labelling. Such exercises are a regular feature of today's European public policymaking process. As I write, there are currently 25 European-wide consultations open and more than 60 in planning. Subjects range from the general, such as the current consultation on the European tourism of the future, to the very specific, such as a consultation on information provided to consumers about characteristics of furniture products. It is, of course, recognised by all parties that the public consultation process will only ever constitute one small piece of a bigger puzzle, allowing as it does the European Commission the opportunity to ask a set of specific and focused questions on a particular topic.