Brussels, Sept. 21, 2007 — Capgemini, Deloitte member firms and Ramboll Management have announced participation in a consortium established to jointly carry out an 18-month program assisting the EU and its member states to measure and to identify opportunities to reduce costs faced by businesses in complying with European legislation. A press statement was issued today by the European Commission in Brussels to launch the consortium officially.

Capgemini, various Deloitte member firms and Ramboll Management will be assisting the European Commission with the three key elements of the program to:

1. Measure the administrative costs for business stemming from the selected European legislation (covering 13 priority areas).
2. Identify opportunities for reduction of administrative burden.
3. Assist the Commission with communications activities around the project.

The overall management of the program will be undertaken in close cooperation with the Commission. A joint consortium hub will be established for the duration of the project. Consortium experts will work alongside Commission (and member state) policy experts. Throughout the project, frequent and transparent communications with various stakeholders will play a vital role.

The vast challenge of the program is underlined by its coverage of all 27 EU member states. The consortium will be active in all countries and will develop solutions to specific issues identified at Member State level as well as on the European scale.

Reducing the administrative burden will allow the EU to be more globally competitive
The European Commission is driving an ambitious strategy to measure administrative costs and to reduce the administrative burden of existing regulation by 25 percent in the European Union by 2012. This strategy is a key pillar of the EU’s Better Regulation program, designed to eliminate unnecessary barriers and burdens on European business and society and is fully in line with the "Growth and Jobs" strategy of the European Union.

Local initiatives brought to the EU level
Several member states have already started initiatives to reduce the burden on business and citizens with some impressive results. For example, the Belgian State Secretary for Administrative Simplification has executed the so-called Kafka-plan on Administrative Burden Reduction. In Denmark, the update for Parliamentary year 2005/2006 shows that the administrative burdens for Danish businesses have been reduced by almost 10 percent compared to 2001. The reduction is a result of the systematic simplification work carried out by the Danish ministries. Now the European Commission wants to accelerate and align best practices across all member states by identifying specific opportunities and ensuring that member states are mobilized for subsequent action. In order to involve the general public in the initiative, the Commission will also be launching a Web site where companies and people can post their ideas for reducing the administrative burden.

About the consortium and its members
Collectively, the consortium offers the scale, geographic and sector coverage, expertise, and market credibility to execute a robust measurement exercise, uncover tangible and achievable opportunities for reduction and build the necessary momentum within the member states for action.

Each company in the consortium brings a unique track record to the table. Capgemini has been involved in over 50 projects in the area of reducing administrative burden. Edwin Kok, vice-president of Capgemini Consulting says: "We are very pleased that the administrative burden initiatives that started several years ago in a few Member states have now grown in importance to merit such an important program at European level."

Deloitte member firms have a long and proven relationship with the European Commission on policy matters, an excellent network in the European business community and rich practices in government modernization and performance improvement Europe-wide. Partner Richard Doherty of Deloitte Belgium comments: "We are excited to assist the European Commission with this important project. In order to remain globally competitive it is important for the European Union to constantly seek to deliver efficiencies within and between public sector and industry."

Ramboll Management brings deep applied methodology expertise, proven tools to measure the administrative burden and experience of more than 30 projects, principally in the Nordic region, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. Jens Loff, managing director of Ramboll Management explains: "With this project the European Union is taking true leadership in the public reform area, using its own regulatory and policy work as a strong showcase of how Better Regulation can be applied effectively. Having worked with the EU for more than 20 years this is by far the most ambitious project we have had the chance to partner in."

The project will run for 18 months and is foreseen to be finished by end-2008, in time for the European Council to launch implementation of the proposals in early 2009. As is standard with European Commission contracts, there are mechanisms in place to avoid any conflicts of interest from arising.

About Deloitte
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a Swiss Verein (association), its member firms, and their respective subsidiaries and affiliates. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is an organization of member firms around the world devoted to excellence in providing professional services and advice, focused on client service through a global strategy executed locally in nearly 140 countries. With access to the deep intellectual capital of approximately 150,000 people worldwide, Deloitte delivers services in four professional areas—audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services—and serves more than 80 percent of the world’s largest companies, as well as large national enterprises, public institutions, locally important clients, and successful, fast-growing global companies. Services are not provided by the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Verein, and, for regulatory and other reasons, certain member firms do not provide services in all four professional areas.

As a Swiss Verein (association), neither Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu nor any of its member firms has any liability for each other’s acts or omissions. Each of the member firms is a separate and independent legal entity operating under the names "Deloitte," "Deloitte & Touche," "Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu," or other related names.

About Capgemini
Capgemini, one of the world's foremost providers of Consulting, Technology and Outsourcing services, enables its clients to transform and perform through technologies. Capgemini provides its clients with insights and capabilities that boost their freedom to achieve superior results through a unique way of working, which it calls the Collaborative Business Experience. Capgemini reported 2006 global revenues of EUR 7.7 billion and employs more than 75,000 people worldwide. More information is available at www.capgemini.com.

About Ramboll Management
Ramboll Management is part of the Ramboll Group. The Ramboll Group with more than 6500 employees at 70 offices in Northern Europe and 50 offices in the rest of the world is one of Europe’s major consulting companies. The Ramboll Group, owned by the independent Ramboll Foundation, provide engineering, consultancy, product development and operation services within the areas of Buildings, Infrastructure, Industrial processes, Energy, Water and environment, telecommunication, Management and IT. More information is available at www.ramboll-management.com.