Better Regulation still needs to convince Health stakeholders

Health community representatives seem far from convinced by the EC's Better Regulation policy, if those who spoke at the EPHA conference last week are to be believed.

Ms Christina Colclough, from UNI Europa (trade union for private employees) told how "disappointed" her organisation was with BR for not tackling the main challenges to Europe, including that of raising social standards.

Ms Magda Stoczkiewicz, director of Friends of the Earth, regretted that an excessive focus on administrative burdens, instead of the benefits of legislation, which made the EC's agenda look like a Business Europe position.

Ms Florence Berteletti, director of Smokefree Partnership, reminded the audience that industry lobbies were behind the adoption of RIA, a thesis researched by Dr Katherine Smith, in a report launched in the European Parliament in 2010 (see blog post).

On the other hand DG Santé representative and your blogger were given the time to defend a more positive reading of the recent Commission BR package, and Ms Tamsin Rose (Friends of Europe think-tank), pointed out that BR should reduce the irrationality of policy-making. 

Moderator Nina Renshaw, secretary general of EPHA, was able to wrap-up with some forward-looking conclusions:

- BR and RIA were an opportunity that the Health stakeholders should embrace and make heard the voice of their communities in the policy-making process at EU level. 

- the cost of doing nothing option should always be assessed (such as the cost of doing nothing to provide health care to migrants)

- BR should be used to increase the accountability of politicians when pursuing policies not supported by evidence.

See also post on calling the conference (below).

Better Regulation to support better health

Better Regulation has always found in Health issues a rich terrain to test the effectiveness of the solutions it offers the economy and society. See the 23 posts of this blog under the Health category.

Our community will have a new opportunity to identify current trends and update our principles and tools, at the Annual conference of the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), "Europe's leading NGO advocating for better health," to be held in Brussels on 2-3 September 2015.

The theme of the conference "Towards a European Union for Health - From Health in All Policies to EU Governance for Health and Well-Being?" will give rise to a number of panels and discussions, including one entitled: "Better Regulation for Better Health? Mainstreaming public health into the EU's agenda." The conumdrum is defined as: "Better Regulation is now an even greater priority for the European Commission through the REFIT process. Where does this leave broader issues of labour rights, health and safety, environmental protection or public goods that are perceived as sources of administrative burdens? "

Your blogger has been invited to speak, presumably to explain the benefits of BR to a panel and audience probably impatient with simplification and burden reduction efforts (judging by the wording of the issue). 

Also follow Alberto Alemanno, the great risk and regulation expert, who will fly our colours in the session on "Europe and Chronic Diseases : challenges accepted, lessons learned, ways forward"

Stay tuned for the outcome by visiting http://goo.gl/Ec51QS @EPHA_EU

What's new in EC Better Regulation?

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Top BR expert Tom Ferris (Ireland) has just published a perceptive analysis of the recent evolution of smart regulation at the EU level on the occasion of the new package announced on 19 May (reported in our 20 May post). Thank you Tom !

New EU Better Regulation package

(from yesterday's press release labelled: "Better Regulation Agenda: enhancing transparency and scrutiny for better EU law-making") 

"Today, 19 May, The European Commission adopts its Better Regulation Agenda. This comprehensive package of reforms covering the entire policy cycle will boost openness and transparency in the EU decision-making process, improve the quality of new laws through better impact assessments of draft legislation and amendments, and promote constant and consistent review of existing EU laws, so that EU policies achieve their objectives in the most effective and efficient way."

Compulsory reading for BR experts, but nothing much in the way of novelties. The confirmation of the existing scheme is however welcome, and the new expressing of political commitment encouraging.

Perhaps the best element is the annoucement of a new inter-institutional agreement to improve the use of RIA by cooperation with the other institutions.

There are also updates on the regulatory burdens and REFIT programmes launched under the previous commission, which are worth taking note of.

Finally, there is an announcement that the Commission's Impact Assessment Board, operating since 2006, will be transformed into 'an independent Regulatory Scrutiny Board'. This confirms what was announced by VP Timmermans in December 2014, and corresponds to some MS suggestions (see joint paper). "Its members will have a more independent status and half of them will be recruited from outside the Commission. The board will have an expanded role in checking the quality of impact assessments of new proposals as well as fitness checks and evaluations of existing legislation."

Smart Regulation back on track (EU)

Must-read for all smart regulators: the Competitiveness Council Conclusions on Smart Regulation, 2-3 December 2014.

Progress made by the Commission in the development of each of the tools of better regulation is reviewed. Special attention should be given to paragraphs concerning REFIT (see June Communication), ex-post evaluation, the SME dimension.

A summary of what is new can be found in a press release from one of the major stakeholders at EU level.

"EUROCHAMBRES particularly welcomes the following elements, which it has repeatedly advocated for many years:

• Clear support for a rigorous application of the Think Small First principle across smart regulation tools, including the use of the SME test in impact assessments (IA);
• Strong commitment to examine and debate all Commission IAs for legislative proposals and to send back an IA to the Commission if there are serious concerns about its quality;
• Request to the Commission to enhance the IA process by bringing in external, independent expertise, in a systematic and transparent way and to ensure early involvement of stakeholders and member states" (see press release 4 Dec.)

Reactions to "new" smart regulation

The new orientations of the European Union's Smart Regulation agenda (see 13 October post) have naturally caused much comment and analysis. Among those that may be useful, let us single out Tom Ferris's expert contribution, which comes with a summary of the EC scheme to improve regulation and some interesting links to recent news at EU level.
See Public Affairs (Ireland) bulletin, 11 November 2014 "Will the new EC do 'better regulation' any better?" .

Stoiber Group: final report

On 14 October, the Commission published an update on outgoing President's action for EU law: 

"Under the title "Smart Regulation in the EU – Building on a Strong Foundation" politicians, stakeholders and experts have been examining the achievements and persisting challenges in the field of smart regulation, administrative burden reduction and better implementation of EU legislation. On this occasion, Dr Edmund Stoiber, the Chairman of the independent High Level Group on Administrative Burdens advising the Commission since 2007, will hand over the group's final report to President José Manuel Barroso.

New VP for Better Regulation (EC)

It seems that the new Commission will follow the lead of its predecessor at least for Better Regulation. As was the case for the 1st Barroso Commission, the first VP will again be in charge of our dossier, which may have dropped the "Smart" and returned to the old days of "Better" Regulation. The Commission presided by Mr Jean-Claude Junker has just published the allocation of portolios:
"As first Vice-President, in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, Mr Timmermans will work closely with the other Vice-Presidents, and all Commissioners will liaise closely with him when it concerns the implementation of the better regulation agenda. In addition, for initiatives requiring a decision by the Commission in their area of responsibility, he will guide the work of the Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality and the Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs."
A Commission press release present among the "important novelties" the fact that "for the first time there is a Commissisioner dedicated to a Better Regulation agenda, and that Mr Timmermans "will notably ensure that every Commission proposal respects the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, which are at the heart of the work of the Commission. The first Vice-President will also act as a watchdog, upholding the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the rule of law in all of the Commission's activities."

For a professional analysis, see CEPS Commentary by our friends L. Schrefler, A. Renda and J. Pelkmans.

Smart regulation arrives in Moscow (conference)

(Announcement from Moscow) On March 14, 2014 the National Research University 'Higher School of Economics' (NRU HSE) will host an international workshop 'Development of smart regulation mechanisms: towards a new regulatory policy in Russia'.
The workshop consists of two plenary sessions ('scientific-oriented' and 'practical-oriented'). In turn, the latter is organized by levels of regulation — supranational, national and subnational.
The first session speakers are: Senior adviser on regulatory reform in Ministry of Finance of France, editor of the international blog Smartregulation.net Charles-Henri MONTIN — on potential of OECD countries' best practices in regulatory reform; Head of the RIA Center at the Higher School of Economics Daniel TSYGANKOV — on promising tools for improving regulatory decisions quality; Director General of Information-Consulting Centre "Business Tezaurus" Oleg SHESTOPEROV — on approaches to the rulemaking 'limitation' in the field of business regulation.
The second session speakers are: Director of the Department for Development of Entrepreneurship of the Eurasian Economic Commission Rustam AKBERDIN — on practical regulatory impact analysis in the Eurasian Economic Commission; Director of Program Planning and Regulatory Impact Assessment Department of the Ministry of Economy and Planning of the Ulyanovsk region Maksim SVETUNKOV — on experience of conducting RIA in the region; representative of the RIA Department of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia — practical experience of conductingRIA in the executive bodies, representative of the Economic Department of the State Duma of Russia — the use of financial-economic justification tools in legislative work.
The conference will be broadcast live on the internet, at addresses available on the HSE site on 14 March from 10:00 to 18:00.

Greek EU presidency vows to pursue smart regulation

Greece has taken over on 1 January the rotating presidency of the EU for six months. Its programme of action for this term covers all aspects of EU policies, and includes a short paragraph, page 37, concerning the immediate future of Smart Regulation, in the section devoted to competitiveness.

"The creation of the right regulatory framework and the reduction of administrative burden is particularly important in times of economic challenges. The overall regulatory burden, in particular for SMEs, should be reduced at both European and national levels. In this context the Presidency will seek to ensure that the implementation of Smart Regulation initiatives creates a favorable environment for the enterprises, in particular SMEs, by enhancing competitiveness and reducing compliance costs. Based on the experience gained when implementing the initial burden reduction program of 25% arising from European legislation, a new round of burden reduction will be pursued for all stakeholders both at European and national levels. " We welcome any indication from experts as to this "new round of burden reductions".

Untapped potential of Smart Regulation for SMEs

According to a press release, from the Lithuanian (rotating) presidency of the EU organized on 29 October a panel discussion on Smart Regulation for SMEs, attended by Brussels based European business organizations, representatives of companies, EU institutions and diplomats. The event focused on impact of regulation to medium sized enterprises in Europe and possible ways to reduce regulatory burden. 

In his opening remarks Deputy Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the EU ambassador Arunas Vinciunas noted that as a rotating Presidency Lithuania has placed special attention on smart regulation and SMEs in its Presidency Programme. "Smart regulation for SMEs is an important priority for the European Union as efficient and fit for purpose legislation in that area is a prerequisite for economic growth and for strengthening the competitiveness of Europe. Regulation has a direct impact on businesses, on performance of the companies. Our task during Lithuania's presidency - to make at least a small step forward to make life easier for the creative and hard-working business people," said ambassador Vinciunas.

According to him Smart Regulation should not sound as just a political slogan. Smart Regulation contains a number of important instruments to be fully employed and still has undisclosed potential to make EU and national legislation less burdensome for enterprises and effective at the same time.

EU Regulatory Fitness: results and next steps

On 2 October 2013, the Europan Commission published a Communication (COM(2013) 685 final) on "Regulatory Fitness and Performance (REFIT): Results and Next Steps" which will be of great interest to smart regulators.
Extract from the press release:
"Whereas regulation at EU level is essential in many areas, it is often accused of stifling businesses, especially the smallest ones, or of interfering too much in citizens' daily lives. 74% of Europeans believe that the EU generates too much red tape. In response to that concern, the Commission has made a concerted effort over the past few years to streamline legislation and reduce regulatory burdens. In his 2013 State of the Union address on 11 September, President Barroso stressed the importance of smart regulation and declared that the European Union needs to be "big on big things and smaller on small things".
Today, the Commission takes another important step in ensuring that EU legislation is fit for purpose. In a Communication the Commission sets out in a concrete way, policy area by policy area, where it will take further action to simplify or withdraw EU laws, ease the burden on businesses and facilitate implementation. It is the result of a screening of the entire stock of EU legislation. The Commission also announced today the intention to publish a scoreboard to track progress at European and national in this regard. This exercise is at the heart of the Commission's Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (REFIT). "
The Commission website offers a summary of results of the 2007-2012 Action Programme for reducing administrative burdens in the EU, claiming that "the programme has reached its target its target of cutting 25% the administrative burdens stemming from EU legislation (estimated at €124 billion). The measures adopted at EU level until December 2012 are worth € 30.8 billion in annual savings for businesses.
The Commission exceeded the target by tabling proposals with a burden reduction potential close to €41 billion (33%). Some of this potential was lost in the legislative process as the Commission proposals were amended.
If all the Commission's proposals still pending before Council and Parliament in December 2012 are adopted, the total estimated burden could be reduced by 30.5 % representing total annual savings for businesses of €37.6 billion."

EC Smart Regulation to produce results by end 2013

On 29-30 May, the Competitiveness Council adopted draft conclusions on smart regulation, as a follow-up to the communication on “EU regulatory fitness” and the communication “Smart regulation: responding to the needs of SMEs”. The conclusions urge the implementation, by all actors involved, of measures contained in the communications leading to tangible reductions in the overall burden of regulation for businesses, especially small ones, as well as simplification for end-users.
They contain inter alia a new, balanced definition of Smart Regulation which "is about achieving benefits at minimum cost, and means ensuring that: the potential costs and benefits of non-regulation and non-action are considered; alternatives to regulation are considered; regulation is evidence-based, in particular by means of robust Impact Assessment, and fit for purpose; the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality are respected; administrative procedures are efficient; unnecessary costs are removed without undermining the policy goals of regulation; overlaps, inconsistencies and gaps are identified and removed; and both effectiveness and efficiency are reviewed on a regular basis.
This edition of the Conclusions is useful in that the Irish presidency has obtained a clear schedule of works till the end of this year: the text calls on the EC to publish "before the summer 2013 the results of its mapping exercise; and in the autumn all planned REFIT initiatives starting from the 2014 work programme, prioritising those arising from the ‘Top Ten’ consultation; and by end 2013 the results of the pilot fitness checks launched before 2012."
The six pages contain many other valuable developments.

Applied smart regulation: EC country recommendations

29 May: The European Commission has adopted recommendations to EU Member States designed to move Europe beyond the crisis and strengthen the foundations for growth. The package includes a Communication outlining the main findings of the Commission's country by country analysis, and how this can boost growth and job creation in the EU as a whole, and a series of 24 sets of country-specific recommendations (CSR), one set for every Member State - excluding Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Cyprus.

SCM and compliance costs fine-tuned in Malta

Quite a few of our colleagues were lucky to attend, in sunny Valetta, a meeting of the Standard Cost Model (SCM) network. 22 countries and the European Commission gathered by invitation of the government of Malta to discuss current projects and future steps to perfect, on the basis of experience developped by front-runners, an improved regulatory costs methodology.
Opened by the Parliamentary Secretary Dr Michael Farrugia, the meeting heard presentations by the hosts who were able to show how much they had advanced towards a comprehensive Better Regulation agenda (see MTsite of the unit in charge) in line with European Commission guidelines, where regulatory burden reduction figures prominently. Dr. Paul DeBattista (BR unit) presented a new "Bureaucratic Cost Measurement" index which includes fees charged, if any, for permits and the cost of delays. Then several countries (GE, UK,NL, SE) and the Commission gave an update on their national experience, thus sharing best practice.
In the second part of the SCM Working Group meeting, the delegates actively participated in a workshop tackling the way forward for Compliance Costs. The discussion revolved round the issue of when a fully fledged Impact Assessment is required in estimating the impact of Compliance Costs. Here again, the organisers had selected the most relevant recent developments in European countries.

Save-the-date of next meeting: 20th September 2013 in Finland (by invitation).

Smarter rules for safer food (Commission)

The European Commission adopted on 6 May a package of measures to strengthen the enforcement of health and safety standards for the whole agri-food chain. Smart regulators will be interested in the claim that the proposals have been inspired by the principles of better or smart regulation, more than in the relation with the horsemeat scandal which is undoubtedly in the back of the minds of the Commision:
According to the press release, "the package of measures provide a modernised and simplified, more risked-based approach to the protection of health and more efficient control tools to ensure the effective application of the rules guiding the operation of the food chain. The package responds to the call for better simplification of legislation and smarter regulation thus reducing administrative burden for operators and simplifying the regulatory environment. Special consideration is given to the impact of this legislation on SMEs and micro enterprises which are exempted from the most costly and burdensome elements in the legislation. The current body of EU legislation covering the food chain consists of almost 70 pieces of legislation. Today's package of reform will cut this down to 5 pieces of legislation and will also reduce the red-tape on processes and procedures for farmers, breeders and food business operators (producers, processors and distributors) to make it easier for them to carry out their profession." Yes, the elements are there: simplification, risk-based approach, reduction of aministrative burde:s, impact assessment, SMEs test, consolidation. For more on the package, see press pack.

Italy commits to smart regulation

Photo from left to right: C.H. Montin (France), F. Barazzoni (Italy), Minister Patroni Griffi, J. Nijland (Netherlands), M. M. Leitao Marques (Portugal), V. Cerulli Irelli, and P. Nurmi (Finland).

Following publication of "Towards Smart Regulation in Europe" (Maggioli Editore) the university of Rome Sapienza organised on 5 April a workshop on the future of smart regulation with some 40 academics, senior officials and some of the authors of the new book. The minister of public administration and simplification, H.E. Mr F. Patroni Griffi (3rd from left), who is also a section president of the Council of State, attended most of the "incontro di studio" and summarized results of the Italian simplification policy over the past 20 years. Prof. V. Cerulli Irelli, former MP and eminent administrative lawyer, and Prof. M. D'Alberti (also from La Sapienza) showed how the principles of smart regulation were at the root of Italian simplification policy. The authors present (see photo) drew from their national and international experience key points for implementation of smart regulation policies and possible cooperation with academe. For more about the overview of better and smart regulation in Europe, see 19 February post.

Major new book on Smart Regulation in Europe

Just published: "Verso la smart regulation in Europa" (Maggioli Editore) ! (Towards SR in Europe). This collective work (450 pp) under the direction of F. Barazzoni and F. Basilica (Italy) collects country chapters in a review of the state of smart regulation initiatives in Europe. All the best experts contributed to this panorama of regulatory quality: in addition to the editors (for Italy), H. Brinkman & F. Frick (Germany, P. Nurmi (Finland), P. Karkatsoulis (Greece), J. Nijland (Netherlands), M. Leitao Marques (Portugal, E. Schizas (U.K.), S. Penec and A. Marusic (Serbia). Your blogger wrote the EU chapter and France (with M. Hainque). All chapters are accompanied by a translation into Italian.
Written by experienced practicioners connected with the academic world, this book contains an unprecedented analysis of Better Regulation and its evolution towards Smart Regulation, the political objective that Europe adopted in 2005 to simplify the regulatory environment and create the conditions for introducing smarter rules and avoid imbalances between costs and benefits, unclear or unworkable rules . It shows that Smart Regulation is now an essential aspect of economic policy of European countries and the Union itself, making it a lever to improve growth, competitiveness, economic development and employment.
According to the back cover notice "the importance of these issues has led the authors to reflect together on the most innovative initiatives to improve the quality of regulation adopted in various countries and European institutions, analyzing its strengths and weaknesses. The comparative approach highlights the main trends and significant differences between the approaches and tools of reform adopted by individual countries and European institutions, offering insights for scholars and practitioners for further study and practical developments, both in the European national, in the belief that improving the regulation still represents a challenge that requires continuous adjustments in light of the economic environment and the system of European governance." You can preview large sections of the new volume in Google Books.

Ireland leads EU red tape effort

Since January 1st, Ireland holds the rotating presidency of the EU. Its commitment to smart regulation was confirmed in its 9 January 2013 statement already reported on this blog. From the chair, Ireland will be responsible for securing new developments in the next European Council conclusions. In a speech delivered in Brussels in January, the minister in charge indicated that the chair would "work towards agreement on new approaches to tackling 'red tape' and assess further methodologies and mechanisms for delivering smart regulation. The Irish Presidency will build on the progress already made in reducing business costs by the administrative burden reduction programmes carried out by the Commission and Member States." Meanwhile, on the home front, according to The Independent, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation estimates that the cost of doing business has fallen by €200m through savings introduced following the streamlining of companies office and health and safety regulations. The rationalisation of State employment agencies will also bring "significant" savings. The main simplification effort will be directed at reducing the cost of licences in the retail sector by 33 per cent by setting up a single portal for agencies.

EC Smart Regulation: what's new?

The Communication of 12 December 2012 (see previous post) has outlined the future smart regulation (SR) initiatives of the European Commission for the next two years, in a carefully worded programme of action placed under the concept of "regulatory fitness". What new content can be found in this document (SR2), or is it a reformulation and confirmation of past proposals? To answer this question, one must compare the new text with its predecessor, the 8 October 2010 communication (SR1).
- some language shifts: the focus of the strategy is no longer "citizens and businesses" as in SR1, but adds "workers" to the addressees or benefiaries of the initiatives. This could be viewed as confirmation that the rebalancing between economic, and social, objectives, is continuing, though the overall aim of the policy is "responding to the economic imperatives";
- a new emphasis on "regulatory fitness", presented in 2010 as an exploratory dimension, now mainstream in the SR agenda;
- in keeping with the evolution in member states and the OECD, a widening of the impacts of regulation to include, beyond administrative burdens, the full "regulatory costs" or burdens, which classically include compliance costs; SR2 systematically avoids the old terminology "administrative" burdens;
- expressly declining to follow some "leading" member states in seeking quantitative reduction targets, whether sectoral or net targets, in favour of "a more tailored approach with an assessment of actual benefits and costs;"
- some further insistence on the responsibility of member states in the creation of regulatory burdens by inefficient transposition or "gold-plating" though the word is not used;
- the announcement of the REFIT programme to succeed, with a wider mandate, the action programme for administrative burden reduction (now redesignated "ABR", on the basis of the fitness check pilot schemes, with strengthened planning starting with the 2014 work programme; REFIT to include an "ABR Plus" programme focusing, with the help of the Stoiber group, on how member states have applied the recent (2007-2012) reduction measures decided at the EU level.