Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich will participate on Wednesday morning in a Health Committee discussion on the law “What is good for Europe is good for Israel,” launched by the Ministries of Finance, Economy and Health.
"The four laws included in the reform “What is good for Europe is good for Israel” constitute the most significant set of tools that the government is using in the war on the cost of living. The laws will shorten the import process and cut excessive regulation and bureaucracy by the state. This is the best tool for fighting the cost of living," Smotrich said during the discussion.
According to Smotrich, "The reform heralds a war of attrition against the cost of living and cuts through the impossible regulatory burden imposed on imports to Israel. The reform means that we are opening imports of any product sold in Europe to a fast track with minimum regulation and bureaucracy, which will lead to the opening of the market, the expansion of imports, increase of competition and drop in prices and relief for the citizens of Israel. This is a very significant issue that is felt in every Israeli home."
"I believe in this reform, and we will not allow any party to jeopardize and stop it, because of personal interests or financial gains at the expense of the citizens of Israel. Here too, together we will win. I would like to thank the professionals in the Ministries of Finance, Economy and Health for formulating the reform. To Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to Minister of Economy, Nir Barkat, Minister of Health, Uriel Bosso, Chairman of the Health Committee, MK Yonatan Mashriki, and Chairman of the Economic Committee, David Bitan, for their cooperation. This is a shared struggle on behalf of all Israeli citizens and has been defined as the government’s central goal," he concluded.
The new reform intends to eliminate long procedures of unnecessary regulation and bureaucracy and cancel the dependence on testing and standardization institutes. It will compare European standards with Israeli standards, so that a product arriving from Europe will not need to go through an additional testing institute.
Economists estimate that this is a historic change in the import system in Israel, which will open the market to real competition and will lower the prices of many products.