Policies and policymaking in the EU

Better regulation toolkit

Impact Assessment

Better implementation / enforcement

Codification / consolidation / recast of legislation

Forward planning and political validation

Risk-based approaches to public policy

Non-regulatory options

Cumulative cost assessments (CCA)

Foresight studies

Better implementation / enforcement

Non-legislative improvements oriented at the internal functioning of public institutions

Codification / consolidation / recast of legislation

Merging of several acts into a single act, improving access to, ease of understand, and coherence of framework

Forward planning and political validation

Work should focus on the Commission’s priorities as reflected in the president’s political guidelines and the commission’s annual work programme

Includes political consideration of and support to the initiative (validation)

Publication of a “call for evidence” to gather stakeholder feedback

Reduction of administrative burdens

Under efficiency umbrella

Costs companies incur for providing information to the public administration or third parties (e.g. labeling medicinal products, filing of tax reports)

Equated with “red tape”

Measured via Standard Cost Model

Consultation

Structured formal process through which stakeholders (public and private) may represent their own views on the stock or flow of policies

Essential element got policymaking, to collect feedback and evidence

Initiated by the Commission and illustrated in the ‘Consultation Strategy’

Mandatory Open Public Consultation via an online questionnaire open for 12 weeks for major legislative initiatives and evaluations

Ex-post evaluation / fitness checks

Assessment of inputs and effects of a policy or expenditure program

Based on gathering evidence on how a specific intervention has performed after a certain period of application

Eval focuses on a single piece of legislation; fitness checks cover a whole policy area (set of interrelated policies)

Based on five criteria: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, EU added value

Implementation and supporting

Risk-based approaches to public policy

Tailoring s regulation so that it is “big on big things,” i.e. on those subjects with the highest risk of noncompliance or producing the largest negative effects

Non-regulatory options

Adoption of market-based tools; self- and co-regulatory methods

Less intrusive and costly than command and control? De-regulation

Cumulative cost assessments (CCA)

Assessment of “all” costs imposed by “all” EU acts on a single industry

Sectoral perspective, competitiveness-driven approaches to public, no benefits

Foresight studies

Long term analyses of mega-trends, distant evolution, to make sure that the legislation is “future proof”

2021 priorities

Support sustainability in the broader sense (do no harm principle, SDGs)

Promote digital by default reg to support digital transformation

One-in-one-out for administrative costs

“Do no significant harm” principle

Under the Green Deal and Taxonomy Regulation

Climate change mitigation: no increase in GHG emissions

Climate change adaption: no worsening of current GHG effects

Sustainable use / protection of water and marine resources

Circular economy: no hamper to recycling, 

One-in-one-out principle

Consists in offsetting new burdens from Commission’s legislative proposals by reducing existing burdens in the same policy area (applied only to administrative, not adjustment costs)

Commitment by the President to draft policies that “make life easier for businesses” and regulation easy to comply with (no unnecessary burdens)

Ensures policymakers focus on implementation and compliance

Public consultation

Encourage active participation, streamline consultation process, reduction of burdens

Impact Assessment

A procedure resulting in a document

Assesses the effects of proposed policies on the EU and affected stakeholders

Provides a comparison of different policy options based on foreseeable effects

Supports decision making through evidence

Meta-instrument: a framework structure for many better regulation tools

Based on and reinforcing the better regulation framework

Policy decisions…

…are usually based on limited information about impacts and affected stakeholders

Regulatory Scrutiny Board

Quality-checks impact assessments 

“Gatekeeper,” aimed at enhancing the quality of IAs through (harsh) dialogue with the lead DG

7 members with 1 chair

Free Trade Areas

Abolition of tariffs and quotas within a group of countries for goods originating within the area

Customs Union

Free Trade Area + common external trade policy (common external tariffs and quotas)

Common Market

Customs Union + free movement for goods, services and input factors (labor, capital, knowledge)

Monetary Union

Common Market + common currency

Problems in the 80s

Maintenance of (physical, technical, tax related) frontiers

Physical frontiers

Abolishing checks on goods and persons at internal borders

Technical frontiers

Breaking down the barriers of national regulations on products and services

Achievements of EC1992 (to 1995)

First kernel of the Schengen Agreement

First harmonized regulation for sensitive markets

Common regulation and mutual trust for sensitive products

Wider scope of application of Mutual Recognition

Common merger policy (competition policy)

Abolition of national external trade quotas