RQ definitions

There are several glossaries on the web, presenting RQ definitions,
among which the most extensive are:
- European Commission: Better Regulation glossary of the Secretariat General website
- OECD: trilingual glossary of Terms for Regulatory Reform.
Here are a few of the most useful definitions:

Regulation: designates any legal norm or instrument by which a public authority sets requirements on enterprises and citizens; this includes all laws (primary and secondary), formal and informal orders, subordinate rules, administrative formalities and rules issued by non-governmental or self-regulatory bodies to whom governments have delegated regulatory powers.
Regulatory quality or quality of regulation: the search for the best possible use of regulation in support of public policy. It should address all stages of preparation, drafting, implementing and evaluation of regulation. It seeks clarity, effectiveness and acceptability.
Better Regulation: policy pursued by the European Union to improve the quality of regulation, and based (according to the Commission website)on three key action lines:

• Promoting the design and application of better regulation tools at the EU level, notably simplification, reduction of administrative burdens and impact assessment.
• Working more closely with Member States to ensure that better regulation principles are applied consistently throughout the EU by all regulators.
• Reinforcing the constructive dialogue between stakeholders and all regulators at the EU and national levels.

Regulatory Management capacities are the means employed by public authorities to regulate by means of the formulation of policy and its implementation through regulation.
Regulatory Management policy means a specific policy on Regulatory Management, which would normally include the search for enhanced quality of regulation, but may be influenced by other political considerations (economic, social, etc).
Regulators: in this context designates any personnel in government departments and other agencies responsible for making and enforcing regulation.
Regulatory Impact Analysis/Assessment (RIA): a tool to assist decision by regulators, involving the evaluation and quantification of the economic, social and environmental impacts likely to flow from adoption of a proposed regulation or a non-regulatory policy option under consideration. May be based on benefit/cost analysis, cost effectiveness analysis, etc.
A broader definition of RIA would distinguish between the ex ante RIA which relates to likely impacts of a regulatory proposal and the ex post RIA which relates to the actual impacts of an existing regulatory measure.
Regulatory management means the management of regulatory processes in order to achieve approved policy goals in a cost-efficient way.
Regulatory Reform: the concept employed by OECD to designate public policies aiming at improving regulatory quality, i.e. the enhancement of the performance, cost-effectiveness, or legal quality of regulation and formalities.
Smart Regulation: in the context of the EU, a new approach to regulatory quality, based on a more balanced approach to the costs and benefits of regulation.
4/1/2010

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