José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, today faces the toughest test of his campaign to scrap or tone down costly European Union legislation when his team debates whether to press ahead with a range of environmental laws.

Mr Barroso has disrupted the Brussels conveyor belt of legislation since taking office last November, arguing that no new laws should come at the cost of his real priority, which is jobs and growth. Colleagues armed with draft laws have become frustrated as Mr Barroso has shelved decisions or demanded detailed new impact assessments.