The European Union has a reputation in many quarters for creating red tape and bureaucracy that help to stifle business growth. The European Commission’s Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (“REFIT”) aims to review EU legislation and provide for a simpler, clearer, more stable and predictable regulatory framework.

While much of the focus of REFIT is on environmental regulations, the Commission is quietly also addressing other regulations that affect commercial agreements between businesses operating in the EU and with EU-based customers. The Commission has recently announced that the regime governing the appointment and compensation of “commercial agents” will be one of the first to be evaluated.