EU appoints Germany's Stoiber as red tape adviser

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker appointed Germany's Edmund Stoiber as special adviser on better regulation on Thursday, to help the EU executive fight over-regulation and red tape. Stoiber, a former premier of the German state of Bavaria who sought to become German chancellor in 2002, has for the past seven years chaired a group advising the Commission on administrative burdens and on how to make EU law simpler and cheaper. In October, he proposed exempting small- and medium-sized firms from a wide range of business rules with a "bonfire of red tape" aimed at reversing a public perception of Brussels as a "bureaucratic monster". "EU citizens need the EU to focus on where it can make a real difference to their lives, not to interfere in every detail. EU businesses need the space to innovate and grow, not get tied up in red tape," Juncker said in a statement Stoiber will work closely with Juncker's deputy, First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, who is also charged with improving regulation. (Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Larry King)