Better Regulation

red tape

The regulatory environment in which businesses operate influences their competitiveness, and their ability to grow and create jobs. By reducing red tape and overbearing bureaucracy, the Commission helps business people and entrepreneurs improve competitiveness, bearing in mind sustainable development. The Commission is committed to developing a better regulatory environment for businesses, one that is simple, understandable, effective and enforceable.

The desire to produce better regulation is an important element in the EU’s Partnership for Growth and Jobs strategy, which updates the Lisbon agenda’s drive to make Europe the world’s most competitive economy. The strategy identifies the need for the Commission and the Member States to simplify the current regulatory environment. The move should give Europe’s enterprises a better opportunity to prosper and help consumers get full benefit from the internal market.

Better regulation in brief

The Commission aims to improve the quality of new legislation, and update many existing rules to make them clearer. To that end it is therefore:

Withdrawing a number of pending legislative proposals. In fact, as of March 2006, the Commission had withdrawn 67 legislative proposals after screening 183 potential new laws that were pending ratification by the Council and European Parliament. It is currently conducting a new screening exercise examining 79 other legislative proposals.
Implementing a strategy to simplify existing legislation. To this end, the Commission has designed, and is currently implementing, a simplification rolling programme, which initially consisted of 100 initiatives covering more than 220 legal texts to be clarified, modernised, streamlined or repealed over the period 2005-2008. The rolling programme has recently been updated with the addition of 43 new initiatives to be implemented by 2009. Furthermore, the Commission is intensifying its efforts to complete the codification of about 500 basic pieces of legislation to reduce the size and ease the legibility of Community legislation. More information is available in the Commission Staff Working Document: ‘First progress report on the strategy for the simplification of the regulatory environment’
Tackling the issue of administrative burdens. An earlier study examined the burden EU legislation places on businesses. A final report is available (pdf). The Commission has launched further initiatives to reduce the administrative burden on business. An Action Programme to reduce administrative costs will be announced in January 2007. The use of the Standard Cost Model (SCM) methodology has been taken up by several countries and a network aiming to measure administrative burdens with this methodology is very active. More information is available in a Commission Staff Working Document: Minimising administrative costs imposed by legislation, Detailed outline of a possible EU Net Administrative Cost Model
Placing greater emphasis on the use of impact assessments and public consultations when drafting new rules and regulations. The aim is to assess how new legal measures could help or hinder the function of Europe’s enterprises.

The Commission will work closely with the Member States to ensure that the better regulation culture is applied across the EU and its Member States.

European Commission action

To further develop and support better regulation policy, the Commission is working closely with the Member States and business organisations to produce and evaluate indicators that can be used to assess regulatory quality. See project website

An external evaluation of the Commission's Impact Assessment System was launched in October 2006. Its results are expected to be available in Spring 2007.

Better Regulation

Better Regulation

Better regulation in brief

European Commission action

Further reading