The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) invited a specific farming regulation task force, led and guided by industry, to review all national and EU regulations that affect the farming and food industries and to advise on how best to achieve a risk-based system of regulation, whilst maintaining high environmental, welfare and safety standards.

Given the crisis-management purpose and the nature of the risk-sharing instrument introduced by this Regulation, as well as the unprecedented crisis affecting international markets and the economic downturn which have seriously damaged the financial stability of several Member States and which require a rapid response in order to counter the effects on the real economy, the labour market and citizens, it is appropriate that this Regulation enters into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

7. Competent bodies shall participate in, or ensure that their assessment personnel are informed of, the relevant standardisation activities and the activities of the working group of competent bodies referred to in Article 13 of this Regulation and apply as general guidance the administrative decisions and documents produced as a result of the work of that group.

20. Supports the adoption at the EU-US Economic Ministerial Meeting of the joint EU-US Work Programme for the implementation of the Economic Declaration, which contains concrete activities in eleven areas to move forward transatlantic economic integration; calls, however, on both partners to engage in genuine implementation and deepening of this joint Work Programme with a greater and more ambitious sense of direction, long- term strategic objectives and a detailed timetable for the implementation of joint actions and projects that takes into account the specific role of independent regulatory agencies; notes in this respect that stakeholders from the already established transatlantic dialogues, including consumer ...[+++]groups, unions and environmental groups, should be more actively involved in the process of monitoring and reviewing the Economic Initiative and Work Programme;

The objectives of the Government to increase social justice include: 1) to ensure that the groups whose standard of living deteriorated substantially during the economic crisis are not socially excluded - mainly young people, single parents and some immigrant and refugee groups; 2) to strengthen protection for groups at risk of social exclusion on account of disabilities, ethnic origin, short or incomplete education, lack of integration into the labour market, or residence in disadvantaged areas/regions; and 3) ...[+++]to improve support for the most vulnerable groups.

For instance, we participated in the federal facilities ozone-depleting substance regulation working group, held last week, which prepared the draft federal halocarbon regulations.