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Better Regulation A key priority for the European Commission. "Public participation – together towards good legislation" Brdo pri Kranju, 13 th May 2015. Jeroen Casaer European Commission Secretariat-General Unit 'Work Programme and Stakeholder Consultation '. Political Guidelines 2014.
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Better RegulationA key priority for the European Commission "Public participation – together towards good legislation"Brdo pri Kranju, 13th May 2015 Jeroen Casaer European Commission Secretariat-General Unit 'Work Programme and Stakeholder Consultation'
Political Guidelines 2014 • rebuild bridges in Europe after the crisis • restore citizens’ confidence in Europe • focus policies on the key challenges ahead for our economies and societies • strengthen democratic legitimacy Key challenges for the new Commission: After the European Parliament elections of 2014, the time has come for a new approach Political Guidelines "Agenda for Jobs, Growth, Fairness and Democratic Change": • Focus on 10 policy areas where the EU can make a real difference – deliver concrete results • Leave other policy areas to Member States where they can act more effectively • An EU that is more ambitious on big things and smaller and more modest on small things
Better Regulation: A key priority • Key tool to achieve policy goals in smarter and less burdensome ways • Change the way the Commission works: • A new structure of the College • Focus on limited set of key actions • A new 'Better Regulation Package' (adoption scheduled for 19/5) • A modernised approach for policy development and evaluation • More transparency with increased stakeholder engagement • Reinforced scrutiny and quality checking of impact assessments, evaluations and 'fitness checks' • Capacity strengthening of staff with new guidelines on planning, impact assessments, evaluations and stakeholder consultations • Strong emphasis on the 'REFIT' programme to make EU legislation more efficient and effective, while reducing burden on business • A proposal for a new 'Inter-institutional Agreement on Better Law making' (with the European parliament and Council) SG C
PlanningCommission Work Programme 2015 Focus on 3 areas:=>New initiatives – focus on 23 initiatives • Linked to the 10 priorities of the Juncker Commission =>Clearing the desks • List of 80 ongoing initiatives for withdrawal or modification =>Ambitious Regulatory Fitness programme (REFIT) • Cutting red tape • Remove regulatory burden SG C
Policy impact assessments Integrated approach • Links the problem, underlying drivers, the objectives and range of policy options • Assess all benefits and costs. • Economic, social and environmental impacts. • Analysis on EU added value and subsidiarity and proportionality principles => Scrutinized by the Impact Assessment Board Wide scope • All initiatives with likely significant impacts, from policy proposals to implementing measures Transparency • Publication of Roadmaps, Impact Assessments and opinions of the board • Comprehensive stakeholder consultation Impact Assessment Board becomes Regulatory Scrutiny Board • New composition, including external experts • Greater scrutiny and quality checking • Wider scope: Impact Assessments, Evaluations, Fitness Checks SG C
Evaluation • Assess the actual performance of EU policy against initial expectations: Does the policy work well? • "Evaluate First Principle" • More attention to broader areas of legislation and cross-cutting issues (via Fitness Checks) • An evidence-based judgement of the extent to which an intervention has: • been effective and efficient • been relevant given the needs and its objectives • been coherent internally and with other policies • achieved EU added value SG C
Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme ("REFIT”) • Central element in making EU policy more effective while reducing burden • Identify burdens, inconsistencies, gaps and ineffective measures across acquis (‘Mapping’) • Take action: withdraw, repeal, simplify, improve • Assess: evaluations and Fitness Checks • Consult: Involve Stakeholders • Track Progress: Scoreboard SG C
DialoguewithCitizensandStakeholders Citizens' Dialogues • With Commissioners, style of town-hall debates across the EUhttp://ec.europa.eu/citizens-dialogues/ The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) • Invites the Commission to propose legislation • Requires 1 million signatories from 7 Member Stateshttp://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative/public/welcome • Stakeholder Consultation • At the heart of smart legislation throughout policy cycle
StakeholderConsultation • Wide scope: Treaty obligation to carry out broad consultations with parties concerned before making a policy proposal. • Transparency and outreach: Listen openly to citizens and stakeholders, explain what you do in each step of the policy cycle. Provide feedback on received input. • Rules: General principles and minimum standards for consulting external parties. • New in Better Regulation Package=> strengthened consultation/feedback throughout policy cycle=> define consultation strategy at the start of an initiatives=> Public consultations obliged also for evaluations and fitness checks=> one single access point for all consultations ‘your voice in Europe’http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/consultations/index_en.htm SG C
Quality assessment of the effectiveness of the consultation process
How do we respond? • Acknowledgement and publication of responses to open consultations • Publication of summary results • Discussion of results (incl. discarding of notable views) in impact assessment reports • Explanatory memorandum accompanying Commission initiatives • Commission Communication (following green paper)
Strengthencapacity of staff Better regulation needs to settle in the minds of all staff: • New guidelines: => integraded guide covering all aspects of the policy cycle: applicable universally to all policy areas • New toolbox: offering concrete tools and methods for each phase of of the policy cycle • Training programme: general/specialised training open to all staff => Guide the work of services to drive change and deliver higher quality SG C
A shared Mission … • EU Level - A new Inter-Institutional Agreement for Better Lawmaking • Member States – A national better regulation agenda • Stakeholders – Active Involvement SG C
Further information • Smart Regulation http://ec.europa.eu/smart-regulation/index_en.htm • Roadmapshttp://ec.europa.eu/smart-regulation/impact/planned_ia/planned_ia_en.htm • Consultation – Principles and Minimum Standards http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2002:0704:FIN:EN:PDF • Your Voice in Europehttp://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/consultations/index_en.htm • Transparency register http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyregister/info/homePage.do?locale=en#en • Commission at work – Notifications https://sgregrip.cc.cec.eu.int:1062/notifications/homePage.do?locale=en#en • Impact Assessment http://ec.europa.eu/smart-regulation/impact/index_en.htm • Register of expert groups http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm • OECD – Regulatory Reform http://www.oecd.org/regreform/regulatory-policy/=> produced useful better regulation guidelines and analysis documents