Annexes to COM(2010)543 - Smart Regulation in the EU - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2010)543 - Smart Regulation in the EU. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2010)543  |
| date | October 8, 2010 |
The Court of Auditors' report has shown that users in both institutions considered impact assessments to be helpful when discussing Commission proposals even if they were rarely used formally in meetings. This is an encouraging basis to build on. While it is for Parliament and Council to decide on their internal processes, it seems clear that to deliver smart regulation consistently, every Parliamentary committee and Council formation should consider impact assessments as part of their discussions. This fuller engagement in the smart regulation process could also encourage more rapid treatment of simplification and administrative burden reduction proposals, and codifications and recasts.
The European Parliament has taken a number of steps in this direction: the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee has indicated that it will systematically examine Commission impact assessments, and the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality has commissioned an impact assessment on amendments that it is proposing to a draft directive dealing with maternity leave[28]. The Commission welcomes these developments.
Finally, there is continued interest from the European Economic and Social Committee[29] and the Committee of the Regions[30] in smart regulation. The Commission considers that the expertise and networks that these bodies can mobilise can be an important source of information for preparing impact assessments.
3.2. Member States
Action at EU level alone will not be enough to achieve smart regulation objectives. Smart regulation must also be implemented at national level because in certain key fields such as company law, taxation and social security, most legislation is national in origin and because, as mentioned above, Member States are primarily responsible for ensuring that EU legislation is properly implemented. Under the Lisbon Treaty, national parliaments check the application of the subsidiarity principle in Commission proposals and can in this regard contribute to ensuring a higher quality of EU legislation.
Some Member States have made significant progress on issues such as administrative burden reduction, but few have put in place a system of better regulation as wide-ranging as that of the Commission. The Commission is aware that there is 'no one size fits all' approach to smart regulation, and encourages Member States to define priorities on the basis of available human and institutional capacities. Three points should nevertheless be emphasised.
First, the Court of Auditors has suggested that national impact assessments could usefully complement those done by the Commission, could help discussions in Council on changes to Commission proposals, and help Member States with transposition and enforcement issues. They could also help to resolve the data challenges highlighted above. The Commission will continue to work with Member States in its High Level Group of Better Regulation Experts to explore this issue and to exchange views and best practices on smart regulation in general.
Second, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union allows Member States under certain conditions to present proposals on their initiative in the field of judicial cooperation in criminal matters and police co-operation[31]. The Commission is of the view that these proposals should be accompanied by impact assessments.
Finally, the Commission encourages Member States to involve stakeholders when discussing measures to implement or transpose EU legislation. This would both ensure that stakeholders concerns are taken into account and increase their awareness of the rights and obligations stemming from EU law.
4. STRENGTHENING THE VOICE OF CITIZENS AND STAKEHOLDERS
Consulting citizens and other stakeholders both when developing policies and when evaluating whether they have done what they set out to do is an essential element of smart regulation. The Commission consults in a variety of ways on the basis of minimum standards which have been in place since 2002[32]. The responses to the public consultation for this Communication revealed that stakeholders appreciate the Commission's efforts in this area but consider that further improvements are needed. Many asked for a longer consultation period and for consultations to be more accessible, given that citizens and other stakeholders do not have the same capacity to contribute and not all have on-line access.
The Commission stresses that these concerns must be seen against the background of the full range of opportunities that citizens and other stakeholders have to contribute to the policy making process. The 8 week public consultation is often only one part of a longer process in which Commission services communicate with stakeholders in other ways. The increased availability of roadmaps (see §2.2) and ex-post evaluation work plans will also allow citizens and other stakeholders' to plan inputs to the policy process and to express their views at a much earlier stage than before. Nevertheless, in the light of these concerns, the Commission will:
(i) Increase the public consultation period to 12 weeks. This will apply from 2012 so that it can be incorporated appropriately into the planning of future initiatives.
(ii) Carry out a review of its consultation policy in 2011[33]. It will explore:
- How to improve the quality of consultation documents and the availability of forward planning of public consultations.
- How to make better use of tools such as the "Your Europe" Internet information portal,[34] the European Business Test Panel[35], SME panels[36], the Register of Interest Representatives[37], the interactive policymaking tool (IPM)[38] and other Web 2.0 applications[39].
- How to make best use of consultation channels in the Member States which stakeholders are familiar with to disseminate Commission consultations and encourage replies.
- How to better use the consultation process to collect data and evidence for impact assessments and evaluations.
- How to ensure better compliance with the minimum standards.
5. CONCLUSIONS
This Communication has outlined the measures the Commission plans to ensure the quality of regulation throughout the policy cycle, from the design of policy to its evaluation and revision. By stepping up a gear, smart regulation can help to achieve the ambitious objectives for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth set out by the Europe 2020 Strategy. Smart regulation is, however, a shared responsibility and its success will depend on all institutions and stakeholders involved in the formulation and implementation of EU policies playing their part. The Commission will report on progress in implementing the smart regulation agenda in the second half of 2012.
[1] COM(2010) 2020 "Europe 2020 - A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth".
[2] European Court of Auditors Special report N° 3/2010 "Impact Assessments in the EU institutions: do they support decision making?".
[3] European Parliament Resolution of 9 September 2010 on better lawmaking (P7_TA(2010)0311).
[4] http://ec.europa.eu/governance/better_regulation/smart_regulation/consultation_en.htm
[5] See footnote 2.
[6] SEC(2009) 1728 "Impact Assessment Board Report for 2009".
[7] Article 11 of the Treaty on European Union.
[8] The Commission has produced a separate report on subsidiarity: "17th Report on Better Lawmaking".
[9] COM(2009) 17 "Third progress report on the strategy for simplifying the regulatory environment".
[10] COM(2007) 23 "Action Programme for Reducing Administrative Burdens in the European Union".
[11] COM(2009) 544 "Action Programme for Reducing Administrative Burdens in the EU: Sectoral Reduction Plans and 2009 Actions".
[12] This term covers all evaluation activities carried out following the approval of a measure.
[13] http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/healthcheck/index_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/eval/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/reform/index_en.htm
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/evaluation/expost_reaction_en.htm
[14] http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/better-regulation/administrative-burdens/online-consultation/index_en.htm
[15] Gold-plating refers to the practice of national bodies going beyond what is required in EU legislation when transposing or implementing it at Member State level.
[16] http://ec.europa.eu/governance/better_regulation/impact_en.htm
[17] Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/governance/impact/ia_carried_out/cia_2010_en.htm
[18] C(2010) 1100 "The Working Methods of the Commission 2010-2014".
[19] See footnote 17.
[20] Roadmaps also outline for planned Commission initiatives the problems to be addressed, subsidiarity issues, potential solutions and likely impacts.
http://ec.europa.eu/governance/impact/planned_ia/roadmaps_2010_en.htm
[21] http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=760&langId=en&preview=cHJldmlld0VtcGxQb3J0YWwh
[22] COM(2007) 502 "A Europe of Results – Applying Community Law".
[23] See the Impact Assessment Guidelines, pp. 42 – 43: http://ec.europa.eu/governance/impact/commission_guidelines/commission_guidelines_en.htm
[24] http://ec.europa.eu/community_law/infringements/infringements_annual_report_en.htm
[25] http://ec.europa.eu/community_law/directives/directives_communication_en.htm
[26] http://ec.europa.eu/community_law/infringements/application_monitoring_en.htm
[27] http://ec.europa.eu/solvit/
[28] COM(2008) 637 - Directive amending Council Directive 92/85/EEC on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health at work of pregnant workers and workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding
[29] Opinion of the Section for Single Market, Production and Consumption of the EESC, 8 July 2010, INT 489.
[30] Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Better Regulation Package 2007/2008, 3-4 December 2009, CdR 199/2009.
[31] See Article 76 of the Treaty.
[32] COM(2002) 704 "Towards a reinforced culture of consultation and dialogue - General principles and minimum standards for consultation of interested parties by the Commission".
[33] As foreseen in COM(2007) 127 "Follow up to the Green paper 'European Transparency Initiative'".
[34] http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope
[35] http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/ebtp/index_en.htm
[36] http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/small-business-act/listening-to-smes/index_en.htm
[37] https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/transparency/regrin/welcome.do?locale=en
[38] http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/ipm/index_en.htm
[39] http://www.epractice.eu/