Following Jean-Claude Juncker’s announced efforts to boost openness and transparency in the EU decision-making process when he took office in November 2014, Frans Timmermans, the European Commissioner in charge of Better Regulation, and his team adopted the Better Regulation Agenda this May.
This Agenda includes :
- communication on Better Regulation
- the decision to set up a Regulatory Scrutiny Board
- the decision to set up a REFIT Platform
- the decision to produce Better Regulation Guidelines.
The European Commission is now working on the implementation of the plan whilst simultaneously negotiating the proposal for an Inter-institutional Agreement on Better Regulation with the three EU institutions, which is aimed at revamping the “working method” for the European Union.
The legislation is said to include a Regulatory Scrutiny Board to monitor impact assessments. The panel will be chaired by Marianne Klingbeil, a former Commission deputy secretary general. Other members will be appointed to the board, with NGOs following closely the hiring process looking to ensure its independence and balanced composition.
New tools for EU legislative checks such as an online consultation platform are also contemplated for inclusion in the agreement as well as an annual work programme that looks at whether to withdraw legislative proposals and an agreement to revise the lawmaking process between EU institutions.
Although the plan will only enter into force after the Council of Minister and the Parliament reach an agreement, which is foreseen to happen before the end of the year, some internal changes have already been made.
In May 2015, a network of 58 civil society organisations and NGOs set up the Better Regulation Watchdog, an organisation aimed at representing the public interest on the issue and “challenging the widely-held belief that regulation is a burden for society”. In an open letter to EU officials, the watchdog group raises concerns on how the Better Regulation’s objectives are being addressed.
The apparent imbalance between the democratic powers of the EU institutions has been singled out as a major concern, with the Commission having “undue influence over the law-making process”. Proposed amendments to the rules establishing impact assessments are also raising eyebrows since they are seen as a “threat to the political prerogative to legislate as the Parliament (and Member States) see fit, due to its excessive focus on the (compliance) costs of regulation”.
What’s next? The Commission expects to begin the next round of talks this September.
A great explanatory introduction to the Commission’s proposal was made available by the Better Regulation Watchdog here.
More on Politico here and here.
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