The minister with responsibility for European affairs has told a conference that the EU is in danger of being "choked by red-tape".
Speaking at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Mr Dick Roche said that excessive and inappropriate regulation imposed a major burden on business and on small business in particular.
"The Irish EU Presidency has begun a process in conjunction with the three following presidencies to make a concerted effort to tackle the problem of red-tape and excessive or inappropriate regulation," he said.
"One of the priorities of the Irish Presidency is to examine ways to improve the relationship between the EU and its citizens. A major impediment in terms of EU-business relations is excessive or inappropriate regulation. We have moved the issue of Better Regulation up the EU agenda. The issue is now being examined in both the Economic and Finance (ECOFIN) and the Competitiveness Councils."
Mr Roche said it is in everybody's interest that Europe remains competitive.
"Above all we must ensure that excessive regulation is not allowed to bring the Union to a standstill."