New book on How to Work with EU

Message from Erick Akse, a regulatory reform expert close to our network who is co-author of the 2nd edition of this best-seller:

"Dear fellow-networkers, 

I am very proud that I can announce that my second book on EU Decision-Making is now available. You will find it in many bookshops in Brussels with a clear EU-orientation. Of course, it is also available in online bookstores. 

The title of the book is: 'How the EU Institutions Work and... How to Work with the EU Institutions'. 

It is a highly practical guidebook for everyone that works with or is interested in the functioning of the European Union. The book has a proven track record since it is the second edition of a much-valued first publication

The book describes how the EU Institutions function; explains the most often used legislative process, the OLP, for adopting EU legislation; shows how Delegated and Implementing Acts are developed and approved; and combines the institutional and procedural information with practical information on how to work with the EU Institutions and EU Decision-Making"

Commission unclutters EU legislative agenda

One of the most original features of the EU smart regulation policy, not often present at national level, is the periodic removal of older, outdated or obsolete  proposals from the legislative agenda, to be replaced by revised or more comprehensive initiatives more likely to be adopted by the legislators (Council and Parliament). This has been practiced regularly by the European Commission since the beginning of the better regulation initiative in the early 2000's. A new wave of "withdrawals of pending proposals" was announced by the EC on 7 March 2015 and is presented as a way to cut red tape and remove regulatory burdens, contributing to an environment conducive to investment. With fewer and more recently drafted proposals from the Commission on the table, the legislative procedure is supposed to be better focused and produce clearer rules.   From the press release: "The Commission decided the withdrawal of 73 pending legislative proposals, with the adoption of the Commission's Work Programme for 2015 on 16 December 2014. The list of withdrawn proposals has now been published in the Official Journal of the European Union. This confirmation of the withdrawals follows constructive discussions with the other institutions in which the Commission has heard their views. The Commission will continue to work on the implementation of its Work Programme in close partnership with the other institutions, including through the tabling of more ambitious and comprehensive proposals on the Circular Economy, after the withdrawal today of the Waste Package."

UK report on EU red tape "not well-researched"

An interesting reaction to the recent business panel report (see previous post) of the of the was published today (4 Nov.) by A. Ackroyd, a labour and employment law expert on Lexology:

(excerpt) "...you might expect the report to include well-evidenced conclusions of how silly Brussels-driven bent-banana regulations are putting businesses to disproportionate expense, whilst failing to meet their intended objectives. Unfortunately, if you were expecting this, you will be disappointed (though if you have read any of the other rationales prepared by the Government over the last three years for cutting employment red tape, probably not surprised). 

The Foreword to the report proudly announces that its conclusions are based on “input from hundreds of firms, individuals and business associations across Europe”. However, by the Executive Summary (a mere three pages later) the extent of the report’s sources is drastically reduced to “some 90 UK businesses and business organisations, and over 20 business organisations across Europe” (my guess is 21). 

Not only is the extent of its research questionable, but the report’s eight recommendations to reduce employment regulations also appear to be no more than wish-lists from anonymous sources. Typical of this is the recommendation that small, low risk businesses should not be required to keep written health and safety risk assessments. This recommendation is based on a quotation attributed to “a small business organisation” (your local corner shop, perhaps) suggesting that “Removing the requirement to write down risk assessments could save businesses across Europe 2.7 billion euros”. (end of quote). Well worth reading the full article.

French proposals to simplify EU law

At the 24 October meeting of the European Council, the French president F. Hollande put forward a project to simplify EU law based on three pillars : "delete all obsolete directives ", " limit supporting documentation required " and " adapt the law to the end-users ."
This reform drive views itself as the natural complement to the national effort (labelled "simplification shock" and reported in previous posts) which has already generated 200 measures, with more to come in coming weeks aimed at citizens and business, and new measures to facilitate judicial redress.
The economic impact of the programme, which should not be mistaken for deregulation, is still being assessed. The extension from 10 to 15 years of the validity of the ID card will for example generate a 25% reduction of administrative costs. A new integrated planning procedure to accelerate the construction of 20,000 has a potential revenue for the construction sector of € 3 billion ," says the Elysee.
For more, see Acteurs Publics article.

L'Elysée résume les résultats du choc de simplification

Un communiqué de la présidence de la République (24 octobre) nous informe que le chef de l'Etat a présidé, aujourd'hui, la deuxième réunion de ministres sur le choc de simplification engagé le 14 mai dernier. Le président de la République s'est félicité que quatre projets de loi aient déjà été élaborés pour simplifier le droit par voie d'ordonnances. La première loi a été adoptée en juillet pour simplifier les règles applicables à la construction. La seconde, destinée à simplifier les relations entre les citoyens et l'administration, devrait l'être le 30 octobre. Le troisième projet relatif à la simplification de la vie des entreprises, en cours de discussion au Parlement, sera voté d'ici la fin de l'année et les ordonnances qui s'y rapportent seront adoptées, au plus tard, au printemps 2014. Le quatrième qui concerne les relations des citoyens avec la justice sera examiné en Conseil des ministres dans les semaines à venir.

Le chef de l'Etat a noté les résultats concrets que les 200 mesures de simplification arrêtées par le gouvernement auront tout au long du quinquennat sur la vie quotidienne des Français, des chefs d'entreprise, des élus et des fonctionnaires. Plusieurs principes qui modifient en profondeur le paysage administratif sont en voie d'application :

- Le principe du « 1 pour 1 » : dans le cadre du gel des normes en vigueur depuis septembre, le gouvernement publiera, tous les six mois, le coût des normes nouvelles qui devra être strictement compensé par le coût des normes supprimées ;

- Le principe du « silence vaut accord » : l'inventaire de toutes les démarches soumises à autorisation de l'administration sera achevé à la fin de l'année pour engager l'application du principe selon lequel le silence de l'administration vaut accord ;

- Le principe de la « confiance a priori » : les entreprises ne seront plus tenues, pour diverses démarches, d'adresser les pièces justificatives mais seulement de les tenir à disposition en cas de contrôle ;

- Le principe du « Dites-le nous une seule fois » : l'Etat investira dès 2014 dans des systèmes d'information communs aux différentes administrations afin que les entreprises aient à fournir, une fois seulement, une information.

Les simplifications décidées se traduiront concrètement par un gain de temps et d'argent pour les entreprises comme pour les citoyens et l'administration. [...] Le président de la République a validé la proposition du Premier ministre de renforcer l'organisation au service de la simplification : Guillaume POITRINAL, chef d'entreprise, et Thierry MANDON, député, surveilleront la mise en œuvre des simplifications au profit des entreprises, en vérifieront les résultats et en rendront compte au public. [...] Le chef de l'Etat proposera, lors du Conseil européen des 24 et 25 octobre 2013, une action vigoureuse en matière de droit européen. Il convient, en effet, de simplifier ce droit, sans abaisser les exigences en matière de protection, afin d'éliminer les complexités injustifiées qui pèsent sur notre droit national. [...]

Improvements in application of EU law

Every year since 1984 the Commission has presented an annual report on monitoring the application of Community law during the preceding year. After a bad 2012 report, this year's edition published today (22 October) shows some improvement.
The correct application of EU law is a cornerstone of the EU Treaties and at the heart of the Commission's regulatory fitness programme (REFIT). The 30th Annual Report on monitoring the application of EU law shows how Member States are performing in applying EU law. There were fewer infringements open at the end of 2012 than previous years. The number of cases in problem solving mechanisms such as EU Pilot increased. This reflects the determination of the European Commission to work with the Member States to solve problems and improve compliance.
At the end of 2012, the number of open infringement procedures decreased again, by 25 % compared to the previous year. This is related in part to the more frequent use of EU Pilot (a database database that helps establish theconformity of national rules with EU law) and other problem solving mechanisms (such as SOLVIT) which aim to solve problems and promote compliance (see press release).

How the courts can support RIA

Alberto Alemanno informs us on his blog of his contribution to the Annual Meeting of the European Association of Law & Economics (closing 28 Sept.) in a panel devoted to Law & Economics and Regulatory Impact Assessment. The other speakers are Andrea Renda (CEPS and Luiss), Daniel Trnka (OECD) and Jaroslaw Beldowski (Warsaw School of Economics). Alberto will present his forthcoming chapter in Radaelli's Handbook on Regulatory Impact Assessment titled: Impact Assessment and Courts. Its main thesis is that "In line with the principle of separation of powers, policy makers and courts have very different jobs. Yet, their respective inputs to the fabrics of government are not totally exclusive but complementary to one another: the output of the former's work, i.e. regulation, is subject to the scrutiny of the latter, through judicial review. Hence, the question arises whether and how the increasing use of impact assessment by policymakers in the preparation of policy proposals may affect courts when called upon to judge the legality of those initiatives and what this may entail for the overall legal system".

"Nudging in Europe" (Workshop 12-13 December)

Top expert Alberto Alemanno is organising (with A.L. Sibony) a workshop on how EU regulators can use recent insights of behavioural sciences to design smarter regulation. The event will take place in Liège on 12-13 December, and Alberto is calling for contributions (deadline 1 October).
The announcement contains the promise of fruitful exchanges, and is well worth reading, even if you cannot attend. Here is an extract:
"A growing body of evidence suggests that insights from the behavioural sciences - from psychology and behavioural economics to neurosciences - can help design public policies that work better, cost less, and help people to achieve their goals. By showing that individuals deviate in predictable ways from neoclassical assumptions of rationality, behavioural sciences may help policy makers and administrative agencies to design policies that accommodate how people really behave, not how they are assumed to behave.
Under both UK Prime Minister Cameron and US President Obama, policy makers have recently been encouraged to draw on behavioural and social sciences insights in the design or implementation of new regulations." (for the rest, go to Alberto's blog).

Training course on "new comitology"

(Announcement) "How the EU Impact Assessment is changing advocacy: focus on 'New Comitology' (16-17 May)": as impact assessments are increasingly being performed by the Commission on delegated and implementing acts, new opportunities for substantive lobbying emerge. This one-day training will offer a unique opportunity to understand how your organisation may ask the Commission to run an Impact Assessment and also how to use it in the decision-making process. Our case studies will be based on the most recent and controversial risk regulatory decisions such as Bisphenol A and Neonicotinoids.
With a guest speaker from the European Parliament's newly created Impact Assessment unit, and former EU Commission officials and Court of Justice of the EU you will get a unique insight to the latest developments and get practical tips on how to work with IA in regulatory affairs.
To see the detailed programme, click here: http://www.eu-academy.eu/training/impact-assessment-comitology-stakeholders-and-advocacy/

W. Woermans on regulatory compliance

"What can public authorities do in order to promote regulatory compliance? (from the summary) "This paper argues that understanding the compliance motives is key to any enforcement strategy. Simply stepping up the enforcement effort or stiffening penalties is – most of the time – quite ineffective. Especially attempts at engineering criminal law rules to achieve a heightened deterrence effects will generally be ineffective, social science research suggests. And – much in the same vein – raising administrative enforcement efforts does not automatically raise compliance rates proportionally. There is not a one-on-one relation between enforcement effort and compliance outcome, although this idea seems to be underpinning a lot of present-day enforcement strategies. Enforcement efforts are but one of the many norm-support cues to comply. Recent research rather suggests that a sort of bandwagon-effect exists as regards regulatory compliance. Compliant behaviour, or enforcement activities that reminds us of (or merely point out) the existence of a norm, prompt (more) compliant behaviour. Designers of enforcement strategies need to keep this in mind."

European policy courses relabelled "regulatory affairs"

Smart regulators are invited to take a look at an interesting article in European Voice, and other comments in the blogosphere (such as our LinkedIn group) about the new focus on Regulatory Affairs in European studies courses. EV notes that universities are giving them greater attention though it may be more a shift in labelling than a change of substance, according to Alberto Alemano, who is launching a "clinic" on EU policy and regulatory affairs for his law students at HEC Paris. “We used to talk about European policies and European law, and then we realised that most of the outcome of policymaking is about regulation. It is pretty clear that the privileged tool of European decision making is regulation.”
The HEC course covers theories of regulation, the regulation of markets and other economic activities, and EU regulatory governance. It concludes with current topics in regulation, such as financial supervision or prospects of the banking union.
At the University of Bonn, an existing EU studies master's focusing on regulation of the network industries will be broadened next autumn to include governance and regulation. It is clear that there is a shift and that regulatory studies are no longer the preserve of lawyers and people with a legal background, but require an interdisciplinary approach.
Also announced on LinkedIn, a one-day course on "How the EU Impact Assessment is changing advocacy: focus on 'New Comitology' (16-17 May) " From the announcement by A. Alemano: "As impact assessments are increasingly being performed by the Commission on delegated and implementing acts, new opportunities for substantive lobbying emerge. This one-day training will offer a unique opportunity to understand how your organisation may ask the Commission to run an Impact Assessment and also how to use it in the decision-making process. Our case studies will be based on the most recent and controvesial risk regulatory decisions such as Bisphenol A and Neonicotinoids. With a guest speaker from the European Parliament's newly created Impact Assessment unit, and former EU Commission officials and Court of Justice of the EU you will get a unique insight to the latest developments and get practical tips on how to work with IA in regulatory affairs."

How to apply EU law without goldplating (UK)

Two very useful guidance documents have just been published by UK BIS (Business, Innovation and Skills Department). They may be of interest to smart regulators in other countries, particularly in European countries
Guiding principles for EU legislation : This publication contains guiding principles underlying the government’s approach to implementing EU measures, with a view to bringing an end to goldplating. Ref: BIS/13/774 PDF, 76.1KB, 2 pages
Transposition guidance: how to implement European directives effectively : Aimed at policy makers and lawyers across Government, this guidance gives a step-by-step method to transpose EU Directives into UK law in accordance with the guiding principles for EU legislation. It can also be referred to by, but is not binding on, officials in the sub-national administrations. Ref: BIS/13/775 PDF, 342KB, 32 pages.

Commission to test the efficiency of national courts

On 27 March, the European Commission launched the EU Justice Scoreboard, "a tool to promote effective justice and growth", which according to the press release, offers a comparison of the justice systems of member states in a bid to assess how their activity can affect economic growth.The justice scoreboard will focus on the business and investment climate, such as the efficiency of EU courts to resolve civil and commercial disputes. The Commisison is working on the assumption that the quality of national courts can affect the entire EU, since a lack of implementation of EU law in one court can affect the functioning of the single market as well as undermine the rights of citizens and businesses operating across borders. Smart regulators will not disagree and they will welcome this additional tool to measure implementation and enforcement of regulation. For more, see Euractiv article: "Commission to test the efficiency of national courts" (tip from L. Allio.)

ECJ enforces Environment impact assessment directive

A recent ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) says that Austrian legislation on impact assessments breaks EU rules. In case 244/12 the ECJ ruled on 21 March that European Union members states must conduct an environmental impact assessment for any project likely to have significant effects on the environment. The Court was ruling on Austrian legislation, which requires green impact assessments on proposed modifications to airports only if the modification will increase traffic by at least 20,000 flights per year.
Salzburg Airport had taken the case to an Austrian court after the government had ruled retroactively that a modification made in 2002 should have required an impact assessment. The airport said that under Austrian law no assessment was needed. The ECJ ruled that this law contravenes EU rules.
According to a comment by European Voice, the ruling will have major ramifications for projects across the EU. Member states will no longer be able to place a quantitative size threshold to decide which projects need an assessment. Instead, the threshold must be based on the potential effect on the environment.
The Commission recently published a report summarizing the rulings of the ECJ on the application of Directive 2011/92/EU of 13 December 2011 which prescribes the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, as amended, known as the "EIA" (environmental impact assessment) Directive, requires that an environmental assessment to be carried out by the competent national authority for certain projects which are likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue, inter alia, of their nature, size or location, before development consent is given. For other useful documents, go to DG Environment page on EIA.

UK Gvt streamlines inspections on food outlets

Just published, a very good summary on the official Government site on how to improve enforcement of legislation by introducing risk-based inspections and publishing better guidance to manufacturers on how to comply. In this Better Regulation approach, more efficient enforcement of regulation serves higher standards of protection by way of less bureaucracy.

"The Government's Focus on Enforcement campaign asked small food manufacturers with up to fifty employees to report on their experiences of working with national regulators and local authorities.

Acting on the feedback received, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) will:

• Allow businesses with a good record of compliance fewer inspections
• Deliver enhanced training for enforcement officers, helping them understand the law and the businesses they are regulating – including an innovative e-learning package that will also benefit business
• Work with local authorities to improve consistency in the quality of enforcement, creating a level playing field for businesses and a dependable level of protection for consumers
• Explore alternate appeals mechanisms in cases of disagreement between the business and the enforcing officer
• Ensure guidance for the food industry on food safety management is clear and concise. FSA will continue to review the guidance on control of cross-contamination of E.coli O157, and engage one of the leading food science laboratories and research centres in the UK to test independently the alternative controls to cross-contamination proposed by stakeholders. This will ensure any unnecessary burdens on businesses can be removed while strengthening the effectiveness of public health protection.
• Working with industry stakeholders, the FSA will assess what guidance is currently available, whether this is accessible and used by industry, and what the FSA can do to help small manufacturers."

SR on bilateral Franco-German cooperation agenda

Earlier this week, the celebrations of the 50 years of the Elysée Treaty on franco-german friendship was the opportunity to draw up a list of renewed cooperation in the future. The final declaration (in French and German), includes a short paragraph on Smart Regulation:
"25. Smart regulation and an effective reduction of unnecessary administrative costs contribute to the improvement of growth and competitiveness, in particular of SMEs. France and Germany will exchange on approaches and experiences and intensify the franco-german cooperation, with special emphasis on initiatives at the European level."

Goldplating high on the agenda in IRRC Berlin 31 Jan

As previously reported, The Swedish Better Regulation Council (Regelrådet) and The Board of Swedish Industry and Commerce for Better Regulation (NNR) have published a joint report with recommendations for how to improve implementation of EU legislation: 'Clarifying Gold-Plating – Better Implementation of EU Legislation'. The joint report has not only broken new ground by the coming together of two organisations of different starting points, expertise and approaches it has also been very well received by the Government Offices of Sweden. The government has expressed its appreciation in a letter to the organisations along with feedback on the report, stating that the report and its recommendations will serve as an excellent starting point to the undertaking of evolving better regulation, especially when negotiating and implementing EU legislation. Furthermore the recommendations will be utilised in the Swedish Government´s work to improve support on impact assessments to regulators. The Swedish Government is considering the suggestions made. However, in order to achieve change, the question of over- implementation of EU-legislation, so- called gold-plating, needs to be lifted to an EU- Institutional level, as well as being prioritised by all member states in a joint effort. There are essential tools available, which can be used on both national and EU level, for identifying the impact of EU-legislation on business and avoiding unnecessary burden on business. These are, for example, impact assessments and consultation with stakeholders. By using these tools and forming joint strategies for mitigating negative effects of gold-plating on business, a fractured single market can be avoided. In order to achieve results the topic needs to be discussed further. Join Regelrådet and NNR, as well as, representatives from the EU Commission and other experts in a workshop on "Clarifying Gold-Plating: Mitigating Barriers To Trade in the European Single Market", Friday 1st February 2013 at the IRRC conference in Berlin (announcement from Regelradet.)

New EC communication on Smart Regulation

Experts will need to examine a new milestone in the history of smart regulation: The Communication on EU Regulatory Fitness (December 2012) takes stock of the progress achieved since the launch of the Commission's Smart Regulation agenda in 2010. It also outlines how EU legislation can achieve its objectives even more effectively and efficiently. It is accompanied by two Staff Working Document reporting on the final results of the "Review of the Commission Consultation Policy" and of the "Action Programme for Reducing Administrative Burdens in the EU" The package finally includes a Press release "Smart regulation: ensuring that European laws benefit people and businesses"and an EC Memo.
From the press release: "Today's Communication presents the state of play of the Commission's smart regulation efforts and proposes measures to further advance the smart regulation agenda. In 2010, the Commission launched its Smart Regulation agenda to further improve the quality of EU legislation to enhance growth, jobs and competitiveness. Smart Regulation targets the whole policy cycle, from when a policy is designed to when it is put in place and finally evaluated. To put evidence even more at the heart of policy-making, a thorough impact assessment system has been complemented with new measures improving the evaluation of existing policies and the strengthening the voice of those directly affected by its initiatives. The reduction of administrative burden by 25% between 2007 and 2012 has been pursued in parallel and is expected, in the medium-term, to lead to an increase of 1.4% in EU GDP, equivalent to EUR 150 bn."
See also the Better Regulation page on the EC's website.
Also recently sent to the European Parliament, the EC's 29th annual report on monitoring the application of EU law , which gives the latest statistics on transposition and infraction procedures.

EU perfects suppression of exequatur on civil & commercial judgments

According to a press release,the European Council adopted on 6 December the recast (amended and codified version) of a regulation on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (the so-called "Brussels I" regulation) including a number of new improvements. The purpose of this regulation is to make the circulation of judgments in civil and commercial matters easier and faster within the Union, in line with the principle of mutual recognition and the Stockholm Programme guidelines (a multiannual set of measures to develop an area of security, freedom and jutice). The updated instrument gives further substance to the principle of free circulation of judgments in civil and commercial matters by developing certain safeguards, including provisions to unify the rules of conflict of jurisdiction and to ensure better recognition and enforcement of judgments given across the Union.

Simplifying environmental permits (Spain)

Last Thursday the Spanish Government declared that in the coming months the national legislation transposing the Directive on Industrial Emissions (formerly IPPC Directive) will be substantially streamlined in order to almost automatically extend the initial eight years "environmental permits" (provided no substantial modifications have been introduced), and also make it easier to change the permit " in the case of a "new substantial modification" in the industrial facilities. In addition to these legal changes, a better coordination between national, regional and local authorities will be required during implementation.
According to a CEOE 2011 Report on administrative burdens, in collaboration with the Spanish Ministry of Finance and Public Administrations, this measure, once implemented, will save Spanish companies an initial installment of €383m in administrative costs, followed by annual savings of €14,1m (from Ignacio Gafo, CEOE.)