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A new taskforce will cut the bureaucratic burdens on the food and farming industry, according to the farm minister.
At Defra questions, James Paice told the House that the government intends to trust farmers "to deliver the necessary outcomes, rather than telling them how to do so".
Mark Menzies (Con, Fylde) said farmers in his constituency will be comforted by the plans for the taskforce but asked if Defra was talking to the EU about regulatory burdens.
Paice said a "huge amount" of regulation comes from Brussels.
In recent meetings with the EU Agriculture Commissioner, environment secretary Caroline Spelman's insistence that "the whole EU to adopt a much more simplified approach" was endorsed, he said.
Tony Lloyd (Lab, Manchester Central) demanded the trade unions be included in the taskforce and health and safety must be maintained.
Paice accused the last government of being "obsessed" with "high levels of intervention in how people comply with regulations".
He added there would be no decrease in health and safety standards.
Shadow environment secretary Hilary Benn asked when the decision was taken to begin a targeted cull of badgers "in hotspot areas".
Paice said the cull is part of the coalition agreement.
There were also questions about the environment agency.
Spelman told the House her department is carrying out "a critical examination of the number and cost of its arm's length bodies", including the EA.
Elizabeth Truss (Con, SW Norfolk) said the agency is "bureaucratic and remote" and should be more responsive to local communities.
Spelman said the agency would be judged on three criteria.
"Does it perform a technical function, does it need to be politically impartial and does it act independently and transparently to establish the facts."
Defra ministers were also asked about the EU fisheries policy; rural broadband; flood defences; the Animal Health Agency and Rural Payments Agency; flood defences; biodiversity and British Waterways.
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