Better regulation in the
Commission
11 December 2015
Jonathon Stoodley
Head of Unit
C.1 Evaluation, Regulatory Fitness and Performance
Secretariat General of the European Commission
Better regulation tools in policy cycle
- Single guideline that
covers the entire policy
cycle and links the phases
better together
- Web-based "Tool box"
with operational guidance
for practitioners
• A set of logical steps to help Commission services
structure preparation of a proposal
• Provide a balanced evidence base to support, not replace,
political decision-making
• Integrated approach: all benefits and costs;
economic, social and environmental impacts
• Independent centralised quality control: Regulatory
Scrutiny Board
• Transparency: consultations, publication of IAs and IA
Board opinions
• An IA needs to be carried out whenever the
expected economic, environmental or social impacts
of EU action are likely to be significant:
o Legislative proposals
o Delegated acts/implementing acts (where COM has discretion)
o Communications, White Papers, Recommendations, etc.
o International agreements
• Assessment is done on a case-by-case basis and reported
on in the Roadmap or Inception IA
4
What does the Commission IA do?
1. 1. Identify the problem
2. 2. Assess need for EU-level intervention
3. 3. Define the objectives
•
Including the consistency with other existing
policy objectives
4. 4. Develop policy options
5. 5. Analyse the impacts of the options
•
Assess if there a single Member State, region or
sector which is disproportionately affected (socalled “outlier” impact)
6. 6. Compare the options
7. 7. Outline policy monitoring and evaluation
How can Member States contribute?
Commission Work Programme/Roadmaps/ Inception IAs
Possibility for early reaction on Commission's plans
 Dedicated Feedback mechanism
Stakeholder consultations
• Opportunity to provide input to impact assessment work; also in
context of other Commission analytical work (e.g.
REFIT/retrospective evaluations, cumulative cost studies)
Continuously
• Continuous exchanges on policy impacts; sharing
studies/analysis/methodology etc. with Commission
During legislative process
• Reactions on Commission's proposal once adopted
•  Dedicated Feedback mechanism
Inter-institutional agreement:
Tools
BR
• Impact Assessment:
• COM will assess its proposals; quality check by RSB
• EP and Council to consider COM's IAs and assess impacts of
their substantial amendments
• COM may assist; Institutions may also call on an
independent panel to make assessment
Inter-institutional agreement:
Tools
BR
• Ex-post evaluation:
• Evaluate first principle
• Systematic inclusion of monitoring and evaluation
provisions in legislation
• Make use of review clauses and, where relevant, sunset
clauses
• Implementation
• Member States to explain and assess gold-plating
Useful information sources
• Juncker Commission priorities
http://ec.europa.eu/priorities/democratic-change/better-regulation/index_en.htm
• European Commission Better Regulation Guidelines
http://ec.europa.eu/smart-regulation/guidelines/index_en.htm
• Your voice in Europe – access point to consultations and to
notifications
http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/index_ro.htm
• IA website
http://ec.europa.eu/smart-regulation/impact/index_en.htm
• Evaluation Road
Questions?
Background
IA for delegated and implementing acts
• The need for an IA must be assessed for delegated
and implementing acts.
• In principle, such an assessment is likely to
conclude that no IA is needed when:
• expected economic, environmental or social impacts
• There is little or no choice available for the Commission; or
• Impacts cannot be clearly identified ex ante; or
• Impacts are small.
• Otherwise IA should be carried out taking into
account the principle of proportionate analysis.
Proportionate analysis
• IA for delegated and implementing acts should focus on:
• Main outstanding decisions and related options, namely, where the
basic act leaves scope for Commission choice, where the
Commission may consider deviating from advice given by
specialised agencies, and/or where impacts are likely to be
significant (and have not been covered in the basic act IA);
• Identification of specific objectives relating to the outstanding
decisions, linked to the objectives/requirements of the basic
legislation;
• Thorough assessment of impacts in relation to the options, taking
full account of relevance of technical detail and using quantification
to the extent possible in particular of compliance costs and
administrative burden;
• Identification of operational objectives for the preferred option and
the corresponding monitoring indicators.
Proportionate analysis (cont.)
• IA for delegated and implementing acts should avoid:
• Repetition of analysis covered by the IA of the basic act
(e.g. in relation to the overall problem, subsidiarity
principle, objectives, etc.)
• Redoing relevant analysis undertaken by specialised
agencies, to the extent that the lead DG judges this analysis
to be credible and carried out in line with Commission IA
principles; such analysis should on the contrary feed into an
IA as appropriate.