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features of the EU smart regulation policy, not often present at national level, is the periodic removal of older, outdated or obsolete  proposals from the legislative agenda, to be replaced by revised or more comprehensive initiatives more likely to be adopted by the legislators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 The list of withdrawn proposals has now been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.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."

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.

Smart regulation in support of competitiveness and SME's

The incoming rotating presidency of the EU Council (Lithuania, from July) hosted on 5-7 June the semi-annual meeting of the directors and experts of better regulation (DEBR). This is a regular opportunity for experts from member states to informally exchange on recent developments and good practice, and discuss the EU smart regulation agenda and way forward. The organisers have just released the follow-up to this important meeting, by uploading the agenda and a good number of presentations on the website of the LT ministry of economy.

According to the organisers (unfortunately your blogger could not attend), delegates:

• heard how the methodologies for competitiveness proofing, full compliance costs and cumulative assessments are progressing;
• discussed the vital importance of communication to and with stakeholders, particularly business; and
• talked for the first time in this group about inspection, advice and enforcement – such a vital part of the regulatory life cycle.

There is a signficant amount of new material in the presentations, which will be very useful to experts, whether they were or not at the meeting. Most noteworthy, an update on the CAR methodology already presented at the Dublin meeting in December, a study of RIA in Germany, and of course the new subject in that forum: inspections (see also news from OECD, below).

The website also presents "Better Regulation in Lithuania" showing how it developped, on the basis of the administrative burden programme, into a major component of the business environmnent policy.

See also our "history of DEBR (2006-2010."

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.

Accounting obligations simplified for European SMEs

The Irish Presidency has announced a success in the discussions on the simplification of accounting rules across Europe, to further improve the functioning of the single market. New measures will cut red tape for SMEs and increase transparency with inclusion of “country-by-country” reporting. The agreement secured on 9 April in Brussels on the Accounting Directive will further reduce red tape for European SMEs, according to Irish minister R. Bruton, current chair of the Competitiveness Council (see page 10 of 18-19 Feb session). "The Directive is one of the final outstanding parts of the Single Market Act I. One of the Directive’s key proposals is the simplification of accounting rules for SMEs. Among the measures contained in the draft Directive are the reduction of reporting requirements for SMEs and the introduction of an exemption from preparing consolidated financial statements for small groups." See also European Voice.

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.

Irish EU presidency programme

Today 9 January the Irish government published its programme for its six month in the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union which started on 1 January, declaring its intention of focusing on stability, jobs and growth.

Priorities were chosen on the basis of the current agenda of EU legislation and initiatives. They include, among other things:

• lasting stability, beginning with the renewal of economic governance in Europe
• putting a spotlight on youth unemployment
• legislation to promote the digital economy and measures aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises
• a focus on the potential of natural resources, on land as well as at sea
• the promotion of trade agreements and the pursuit of the enlargement agenda.

At this stage, there are no announcements about the future of smart regulation as a tool to contribute to these goals, but do watch this space for developments.

European Council confirms competitiveness policy

The Conclusions of the Competitiveness Council 10-11 December do not contain any significantly new commitments from the Member States, but confirm, on a number of specific of issues, orientations proposed by the Barroso II Commission. Your blogger has read those documents for you and selected a few useful passages concerning simplification and the reduction of the regulatory burden:

• Simplification and flexibilisation of procurement procedures : The package provides for a simplification and flexibilisation of the procedural regime set by the current rules, which date back to 2004. To this end, it contains measures to make procurement easier and administratively less burdensome and to create flexibility for public authorities enabling better procurement outcomes. Promotion of electronic procurement as a more user-friendly feature of procurement procedures is throughout the package a cornerstone of the simplification process.
• Review of accounting requirements for companies: "The Council took note of the progress made on the review and simplification of the accounting rules applicable to EU companies. The key objectives of the review include the reduction of administrative burden and the application of simplified accounting rules for SMEs" (...);
• Single Market Act II: "The Council adopted conclusions on the second set of new priority proposals presented by the Commission on 3 October 2012 under the "Single Market Act II." These proposals will supplement the first set of measures of the Single Market Act I package for deepening and reinforcing the single market in order to create economic growth and jobs. Among other elements, the conclusions highlight the necessity for the single market to rest upon a strong economic and social basis and the importance for the SMA II actions to address the concerns of citizens and businesses.
• "A stronger European industry for growth and economic recovery:" The Council invites the Commission to take forward further initiatives together with Member States, businesses and other stakeholders to reduce regulatory burden and boost the high innovation and productivity growth potential of EU industry, including SMEs; emphasises that competitiveness proofing has a prominent role to play to ensure the capacity to innovate, the consistency of rules and to prevent unnecessary red tape and compliance costs; The cost of crossing the borders in the Single Market, by having to comply with different national legislation, should also be taken into account; (...) Industrial Policy has to take care that no unnecessary burdens are created by new EU regulation in various policy areas (which are listed as SMEs, cohesion, trade, research. and innovation, environmental, climate, energy, transport, ICT, consumer, competition and state aid policies).

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.

"Like-minded" MS call for strong Smart Regulation Action Plan

Last week, in a landmark letter to President Barroso, the ministers in charge of economic affairs of 13 Member States called on the European Commission to inter alia "go beyond looking at administrative burdens (also including compliance costs; consider sectoral targets... and produce a roadmap to reduce the overall regulatory burden over the next 2 years." The letter also calls to publish an annual statement of the total net costs to business of new legislative proposals and maintain an annual balance of close to zero net costs. The rest of the 10 Point Plan addresses other dimensions of smart regulation (RIA, the Impact Assessment Board, the Think Small First principle, fitness checks, and common commencement dates.)
For positions agreed by all 27 MS, the best source is the regular Council conclusions (see for instance June 2012 Conclusions under Danish presidency) which are of course more consensual.
It is not rare that a group of MS publish a joint position on the development of smart regulation, see for instance the report "Smart Regulation: a cleaner, fairer and more competitive EU" issued by the UK, The Netherlands and Denmark in March 2010, but up to now, this group had not got so close to a majority of MS.
This new joint letter intervenes at a moment when the European Commission is finalising its Communication on "EU Regulatory Fitness", to be published on 12 December, two years after the issuance of its Communication on "Smart Regulation in the EU." In the past months, the Commission has been taking stock of the progress made and drawing lessons from its experience. A stakeholder consultation was open from June to September to collect views and proposals to inform the next communication. The Commission website publishes the consultation document and all 118 contributions received, among which those of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Eurochambres) and Businesss Europe. Both organisations strongly support the smart regulation process encompassing the entire policy cycle and in slightly different ways, their contributions both offer much technical expertise.

National delegates to discuss Smart Regulation in Dublin

Though reserved to invited officials from the 27 member states of the European Union, the bi-annual meeting of the "Directors and Experts of Better Regulation" is always an important event to monitor progress made on the policy and discuss new developments to be expected or encouraged. For the next meeting staged in Dublin on 22-23 November, the incoming Irish presidency is offering a stimulating agenda under the banner: "Delivering Growth and Jobs: Effective Smart Regulation in Practice." Topics will centre on implementation issues, with updates on other themes such as "benefits of legislation," SME policy, compliance costs, behavioral economics and several more. In most cases, the presidency publishes summaries or presentations made by delegates, which will be recorded by this blog. Finally, the meetings will be inspired by the grand settings of Dublin castle and Farmleigh House.

Smart Regulation for growth and jobs (EU)

The last European Council meeting under Danish presidency (28-29 June) has yielded another set of Conclusions interesting for smart regulation experts. Member States adopted the "Compact for Growth and Jobs", encompassing action to be taken by the Member States and the European Union with the aim of relaunching growth, productivity, investment and employment and endorsed the country-specific recommendations to guide Member States' policies and budgets. Among the measures to be taken at MS level, there is mention of "modernising public administration, in particular by tackling delays in the judicial system, reducing administrative burdens and developing e-government services.' Among the European Policies for growth and employment, there is new wording for "Deepening the Internal Market" and smart regulation: "Further efforts are needed to reduce the overall regulatory burden at EU and national level. The Commission will present a communication on further steps in "smart regulation", including measures to support micro-enterprises, by the end of 2012."

New simplification measures (EU)

According to a Council press release dated 26 June, new simplified rules for access to EU funds have been agreed by the co-legislators. "As an example of simplification, beneficiaries of EU funds will no longer be obliged to open a separate bank account to receive an upfront payment at the start of a project and to return to the Commission any interest yielded by this money while it stays on this account. The regime of grants will be shifted from a real-cost based management (inputs) towards a performance-based scheme (outputs). This move is expected to simplify significantly the procedural and documentary requirements for the benefit of beneficiaries. The main objectives of the revision of the financial regulation are to cut red tape, increase the leverage effect of limited EU funds and assure more accountability for the EU taxpayer."
Also noteworthy, the Commission published today a legislative package to improve consumer protection in financial services, raising standards and removing loopholes. The preparatory work for this package benefited from input of behavioural economics data.

Smart Regulation for experts

Following the success of « smart regulation in 1200 words », your blogger updated his 2010 article on the subject, to provide an overview of the development and current achievements of the strategy in the European Union, with a critical assessment based on personal experience in the European Commission and other organisations working on the topic. « Smart Regulation in the European Union » (some 24 pages - 12,500 words) will soon be published in a book about SR experiences in Europe, along with a chapter for each major country and some smaller ones. Updates concern the report of the Stoiber Group report on best practices, the UK November report on smart regulation, the conclusions of Council under Danish presidency, the results of the Action Plan on Administrative Burdens, all reported on this blog in previous posts (see « smart regulation » category which numbers 37 items).
A summary is provided by a previous post in October 2010. Better regulation had not yet achieved its full impact: the simplification effort had not yet truly reduced the perceived overgrowth and complexity of European law, in spite of the claim that the number of legal texts had been reduced. In spite of the few major successes (the VAT reform to introduce electronic invoicing for instance) the cutting red tape program which ends with the year 2012 needs to deliver significant additional measures in a greater number of areas of legislation, like statistics, accounting, environment, etc. All in all, in no way can it be said that better regulation had already reached the objectives set for it by its initial promoters: EU law still gives an impression of complexity and bureaucracy, the decision making process has not been made that much more transparent;
In this context the innovations introduced by smart regulation can be welcome if they do not undermine or slow down the sustained delivery of ongoing better regulation results. The two main changes in SR are 1/ the broadening of the ambition of the strategy to “make markets work for people” which is wider than “simplify the regulatory environment for business”; 2/ the new emphasis on the content of policy and legislation, which must become “smart”, i.e. deliver effectively on the full range of public policy objectives, rather than reducing the volume of legislation and its burden on companies.
This new approach will have to avoid running into some well-known pitfalls. By giving more attention on the content of regulation and requiring more evidence to justify reform, it opens the way for additional bureaucratic prerequisites, running the risk of focusing more on the process, and not enough on the outcome. The shift is not exempt from technical challenges, as the evaluation methods will need to be adjusted to accommodate SR goals. By insisting on the technical evaluation of evidence in support of decision making, SR may dilute the political initiative and further insulate the regulators from the pressure of the stakeholders. These will be some of the challenges facing smart regulation and also the criteria against which to assess its future achievements.

EU Council calls for improved internal market governance

At its 31 May meeting, the Competitiveness Council adopted conclusions on the "on the governance of the Single Market and the Digital Single Market". The conclusions stress that "strengthening the governance of the Single Market, including improved implementation and enforcement, the completion of a Digital Single Market and the swift adoption of the measures contained in the Single Market Act, could take the internal market to a new phase and create economic growth and jobs, as called for by the European Council on 1-2 March 2012." The conclusions take into account the evaluation made by the Commission of the Single Market governance check-up 2011.

Among the measures called for:

• reaching the transposition deficit target of 1% on Single Market Directives while the aim remains to have no transposition deficit;
• exchange of best practices to ensure the quality of transposition and enforcement;
• speadier infringement procedures;
• easier access to information for citizens and businesses on Single Market rights at EU level and how those rights are implemented at national and local level;
• better quality and consistency of legislation for achieving a more integrated Single Market;

Cyprus prepares to chair smart regulation drive

The incoming presidency of the EU as of 1 July, Cyprus, is getting ready to take over from Denmark in keeping the pace of reform in smart regulation. Delegates from all but two member states attended a Better Regulation event in the ministry of finance at Nicosia on 2 April where the prospects of the future presidency were drawn up. The director of economic studies and european affairs of the ministry gave a comprehensive presentation on the Better Regulation policy in Cyprus, with a complete set of figures concerning the measurement and reduction of administrative burdens. Cyprus will be working in cooperation with the Trio (preceding and following presidencies of the EU) to determine priorities and adjustments to the policy.

"New frontier" for smart regulation

Apologies to readers, having been on leave for a week, I missed reporting in time on the EU Council's views on the "new frontier" of smart regulation, a new reference official document that all experts should consult (and meditate?).
At the Competitiveness Council meeting on 20 February, ministers adopted conclusions on a future smart regulation agenda with a strong end-user focus, following repeated invitations by the European Council in 2011 "to further concentrate efforts to reduce the overall regulatory burden".
Some new language can be noted: alongside economic growth, legal certainty and predictability are added to the objectives of smart regulation. Again regulation is approached from the angle of its economic impact, and improvemens must seek an overall reduction of regulatory burdens (not only administrative burdens). Also the conclusions flesh out how evaluation is to be used in pursuit of smart regulation goals.



The confirmation of the importance of smart regulation for the growth and competitiveness agenda, with a focus on "end users," owes a lot to the convincing case made by the Danish presidency.

Council commits anew to growth and jobs

European leaders agreed yesterday on immediate actions to help promote growth and create jobs in Europe, without compromising the fiscal consolidation required to ensure financial stability. At an informal meeting of the members of the European Council in Brussels, the leaders discussed employment and economic policies. Agreeing that efforts should focus on areas with the most growth potential, and without compromising the fiscal consolidation required to ensure financial stability (see new Treaty), the leaders set out 12 measures, listed under three immediate priorities: 1/ Stimulating employment, especially for young people 2/ boosting the financing of the economy, in particular SMEs, and 3/ completing the Single Market. Smart Regulation initiatives are not expressly identified in this short list, but two currently under discussion items will interest us: 1/ the reduction of unjustified administrative and regulatory burdens on SMEs (under priority 2) and the simplification of accounting requirements and public procurement rules (priority 3).