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dossier	COM(2023)636 - Amendment of Regulations (EU) No 1024/2012 and (EU) 2018/1724 as regards certain requirements laid down by Directive (EU) ...
source	COM(2023)636
date	12-12-2023

1. CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

This proposal accompanies the Commission’s proposal for a Directive establishing harmonised requirements in the internal market on transparency of interest representation carried out on behalf of third countries ¹ with a view to improving the functioning of the internal market by achieving a common level of transparency across the Union.

The proposed Directive would require Member States to set up and maintain national registers for the purpose of ensuring transparency of interest representation activities carried out by entities, as well as to designate authorities responsible for these registers. In addition, the proposed Directive would require Member States to designate supervisory authorities having the responsibility to supervise the compliance with and enforcing the obligations set out in the proposed Directive, as well as to exchange information with the supervisory authorities in other Member States and the Commission, where authorised to do so under the proposed Directive.

The administrative cooperation and the exchange of information between the competent national authorities, as well as the Commission, provided for by the proposed Directive should be implemented through the Internal Market Information System (‘IMI system’) established by Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council². For that reason, the necessary administrative cooperation procedures should be established in the IMI system. Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 should therefore be amended accordingly.

In addition, in order to minimise the administrative burden on legal entities and natural persons falling within the scope of the proposed Directive, Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council ³ should be amended to provide for easy online access to information on the rights and obligations stemming from the Directive, as well as to ensure that access to and completion of the procedure for registration required by the Directive can be made fully online.

2. LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY

• Legal basis

Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 and Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 are both based on Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which provides for the adoption of measures to ensure the establishment and functioning of the internal market. In accordance with the rule that the legal basis of an amending act must be the same as the legal basis of the act being amended, this proposal has the same legal basis as the two Regulations it proposes amending.

• Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)

The objective of this proposal, namely to make use of existing cooperation tools and digital gateways established at Union level for the purpose of facilitating the implementation of the proposed Directive establishing harmonised requirements in the internal market on transparency of interest representation carried out on behalf of third countries, cannot effectively be achieved by the Member States independently. Action at Union level is thus necessary.

• Proportionality

This proposal makes use of existing IT tools and gateways rather than establishing new ones. As a result, it does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve its objective.

• Choice of the instrument

Article 114 TFEU grants the legislator the power to adopt regulations and directives.

Given that this proposal would amend Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 and Regulation (EU) 2018/1724, and in accordance with the principle that for reasons of legal certainty, an amending act should be of the same type as the original act, a regulation is the appropriate legal instrument.

3. RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS

• Impact assessment

An impact assessment ¹ was carried out in context of the preparation of the Commission’s proposal for a Directive establishing harmonised requirements in the internal market on transparency of interest representation carried out on behalf of third countries.

The preferred policy option identified by the impact assessment includes a) amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 to implement the administrative cooperation and the exchange of information provided for by the initiative using existing IT tools and b) amending Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 to provide for easy online access to information on the rights and obligations stemming from that policy option as well as to ensure that access to and completion of the procedure for registration required by that policy option is fully online.

• Fundamental rights

This proposal has no impact on fundamental rights separate from any impact that may result from the proposed Directive establishing harmonised requirements in the internal market on transparency of interest representation carried out on behalf of third countries.

For an assessment of the fundamental rights impact of that proposal, see COM(2023) 637 final.

4. BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS

The costs required for the extension of the IMI system to enable the administrative cooperation and the exchange of information provided for by the proposed Directive establishing harmonised requirements in the internal market on transparency of interest representation carried out on behalf of third countries are outlined in COM(2023) 637 final.

5. OTHER ELEMENTS

• Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal

The proposed regulation is of technical nature and accompanies the proposed Directive establishing harmonised requirements in the internal market on transparency of interest representation carried out on behalf of third countries.

Article 1 amends Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 as regards the use of the IMI system established by that Regulation for the purpose of the proposed Directive. This would allow for the administrative cooperation and exchanges of information between the competent national authorities, as well as the Commission, provided for by Article 11 i, Article 16(5) and (6), Article 17(2), i and (5) and Article 18 of the proposed Directive to be implemented through the IMI system.

Article 2 amends Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 as regards the use of the Single Digital Gateway for the purpose of the proposed Directive. For this purpose, a point is added to Annex I to that Regulation to ensure that the Single Digital Gateway gives access to information on rights, obligations and rules laid down in the proposed Directive. In addition, fields are added to the table in Annex II to that Regulation to provide that Member States are to ensure that users can access and complete the registration provided for by the proposed Directive fully online.