European Commission proposes new initiatives to fulfil the commitment of the White Paper on European Governance to make EU institutions more accountable, June 2002

Soon after presenting their proposals on the future of Europe to the European Convention, the European Commission proposed another set of key initiatives [COM(2002)277 final] on 5 June 2002, this time aimed at improving the openness and efficiency of the EU's institutions. The proposals promise to be the first in a series of initiatives by the European Commission designed to fulfil the commitments of the White Paper on European Governance, September 2001.

Background

The White Paper on European Governance, adopted by the European Commission on 25 July 2001, was drawn up in response to the perception that the European Union is often remote yet at the same time too intrusive. The White Paper sought to re-examine the European Union's working methods in the light of enlargement, the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) due to be convened in 2004, and the political pressure for reform prompted by the enforced resignation of the European Commission in 1999.

An earlier European Sources Online In Focus looks at the White Paper in detail but the four main objectives set out were:

• Better involvement from regional and local bodies, and from civil society organisations
• Better policies, regulation and delivery
• Increased EU contribution to global governance
• Refocused policies and institutions

The launch of the White Paper kick-started a wide-ranging and thorough debate on European governance and the European Commission received some 259 reactions to the White Paper before the public consultation period ended on 31 March 2002. The European Commission is now in the process of compiling a report about these responses.

Work was already being undertaken to examine how the second goal, that of "better regulation" could be achieved. A high-level advisory group, chaired by Dieudonné Mandelkern was established in November 2000, following agreement at a meeting in Strasbourg of EU Ministers of Public Administration to further consider the development of better regulation. The group was charged with producing an initial report within four months and a final report within a year.

The Mandelkern Group, as it became known, was made up of representatives of the fifteen Member States. Officials from the Commission's Secretariat-General also attended. An interim report was finalised at the end of February 2001 and considered by the Heads of State and Government at the Spring European Council in Stockholm. The Group's final report was finished in November 2001 and was tabled at the Internal Market Council on 26 November 2001.

The Final Report highlights the need for better regulation throughout the European Union citing studies which suggest that the burden of EU regulation costs between 2% and 5% of Europe's GDP. The report states,

"High quality regulation prevents the imposition of the unnecessary burdens on businesses, citizens and public administrations that cost them time and money. It helps avoid the damage to firms' competitiveness that comes from increased costs and market distortions (particularly for small firms). High quality regulation assists in the restoration of confidence in government and is better able to accomplish its desired purpose. Implementation of such regulation is also less problematic for public administrations and compliance is easier for citizens. For all these reasons it is strongly in the public interest to improve the quality of regulation at both national and EU levels".

The report proposes an Action Plan with deadlines, the implementation of which would contribute significantly to improving the regulatory environment. It describes a comprehensive overall approach with a set of seven core principles: necessity, proportionality, subsidiarity, transparency, accountability, accessibility and simplicity. It looks at best practice in seven key areas applicable at both national and EU level and suggests how they might be applied, whilst avoiding infringing on the competencies of the respective authorities. The seven key areas are:

• Policy implementation options. EU and national policymakers should always consider the full range of possible options for solving public policy issues and choose the most appropriate for the circumstances. Regulation, while often the most appropriate option , should not be automatically the only choice in all circumstances.
• Impact assessment. Regulatory impact assessment (RIA) is an effective tool for modern, evidence-based policy making and should be an integral part of the policy making process at EU and national levels and not a bureaucratic add-on.
• Consultation is a means of open governance, and as such early and effective consultation of interested parties by EU and national policymakers is an important requirement. Correctly done, consultation can avoid delays in policy development due to late-breaking controversy and need not unduly hinder progress.
• Simplification. There is a constant need to update and simplify existing regulations. Simplification makes regulations more effective, less burdensome, and easier to understand and to comply with. This entails a systematic, preferably rolling and targeted programme of simplification, covering the regulation that impacts on citizens, business and the public bodies that have to implement it. Such programmes need to be established at both EU and national levels.
• Access to regulation. Those affected by European or national regulation have the right to be able to access it and understand it. This means the coherence and clarity of regulations must be enhanced through consolidation (including codification and recasting) and access improved by better practical arrangements (especially using ICT). The former should be achieved through EU and national level programmes of consolidation and the latter through provision within each Member State and at European Union level of a public access service (either free or for a small fee).
• Structures. Better regulation needs the appropriate supporting structures charged with its promotion to be successful. The best arrangement at EU or national level will depend on the relevant circumstances and charging a single unit at or near the centre with this should certainly be considered, but an effective solution must be found for each.
• Implementation of European regulation. High quality regulation forms a chain from the earliest stages of its preparation through to its implementation. More attention should be paid at European level to implementation concerns to ensure that the full consequences are understood and considered. Member States should accord implementation of European regulation higher priority.

In response to the report, the European Commission adopted on 6 December 2001 a Communication [COM(2002)726] on simplifying and improving the regulatory environment identifying the goal of reducing the volume of Community legislation by at least 25% before the end of its term of office. The European Commission also decided to withdraw a hundred or so pending legislative proposals which it did not regard as being of topical interest.

Coming ahead of the Laeken European Council, the Communication was designed to send a strong political message to the Community institutions and the Member States about the way Community laws and regulatory instruments are prepared and applied.

Indeed the issue was raised at the Laeken European Council in December 2001 and the EU leaders welcomed the Mandelkern report and suggested that a practical plan of action should be developed in the first half of 2002. At the Barcelona European Council in March 2002, the European Council reiterated the need for action, calling on the European Commission to submit ahead of the European Council in Seville in June 2002 an Action Plan on improving the regulatory environment.

Initiatives to improve consultation and accountability

It is in this context that Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, presented the first set of initiatives [COM(2002)277 final] on 5 June 2002. The proposals make considerable use of both the responses to the White Paper on European Governance and the Mandelkern final report. The initiatives aim to improve the way in which legislation and policies are prepared and implemented throughout the EU by:

• Establishing an inter-institutional agreement on better regulation between the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, the two legislative bodies.
  The European Commission suggests the agreement should limit the content of Directives to what really needs to be done at European level, promote impact assessment of proposed amendments and lead to quicker adoption of legislation. There should also be provision for the various institutions to reduce the existing quantity of EU law by at least 25% by 2005 with the European Commission reporting on progress in its annual report on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.
• Introducing from 2003 a system whereby each major policy initiative will include: an overview of consultation with stakeholders; the results of the consultation; analysis of the measure's expected impact; and justification of the degree of legal constraint at EU level in accordance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.
• Relying more on co-regulatory approaches, whereby people and organisations take on commitments and responsibilities for achieving objectives fixed by EU legislators.
• Introducing a review clause in certain legislation which may need to be adjusted to rapidly changing science and technology, thereby ensuring they remain up to date.
• Introducing minimum standards of consultation for the European Commission's own work which will apply at the stage of policy-shaping to a large number of proposals before decisions are taken. Under these standards the European Commission will: make available in a concise manner all information needed to facilitate responses; publish widely in order to meet all target audiences, using single access points on the Internet; allow sufficient time for responses; acknowledge receipt of contributions and display results of open public consultations on the Internet; and allow all relevant parties to express their opinions.
• Improving the Internet service "EurLex" and the database "CONNECS" to improve general access by citizens to information on the various stages of the legislative process.
• Introducing gradually from 2003 a systematic social, economic and environmental impact assessment for major initiatives when policies are being devised and making the results public.

The proposals will now go before the European Council in Seville in June 2002 when Romano

Prodi hopes that the institutions will,

"agree on the practical implementation of the proposals adopted by the Commission so they can be put into practice by the end of the year."
European Commission: Speech: SPEECH/02/255

Speaking about the proposals to a conference of Presidents of the European Parliament,

Romano Prodi also emphasised the importance of the initiatives, saying

"The starting point is clear: all EU institutions must step up their commitment to greater transparency, proportionality and accountability. To do this, we must simplify regulations, reduce the cost to the economic operators and increase legal certainty for the citizens".

The President of the European Commission also recognised that the "plan cannot be fully implemented unless there is agreement between the institutions".

To trace the full progress of the proposal through the policy-making process you can use these services:

• OEIL (Legislative Observatory) (provides a full history of the proposal with summaries of each major stage in the process)
• Pre-Lex (provides a full and concise calendar of the proposal, bibliographical references and some hyperlinks to full text sources)

The success of the initiatives will now depend on the response from EU leaders at Seville when the reform of the Council of the Ministers is also on the agenda. In the meantime the European Commission has promised to improve the way it exercises its right of initiative so it is more effective and transparent as well as developing a second set of measures to increase accountability in the exercise of executive tasks which should be adopted by Autumn 2001.

Further information within European Sources Online:

European Sources Online: In Focus
	White Paper on European Governance, September 2001
European Sources Online: European Voice
	26.07.01:	Commission confesses it is too "complex and obscure"
	06.09.01:	Ombudsman lashes Prodi master plan
	06.06.02:	Steps in the right direction

Further information can be seen in these external links:
(long-term access cannot be guaranteed)

EU Institutions

European Commission
	Governance in the EU: A White Paper
		Homepage
		Contributions to the debate
		Reports of the twelve working groups
European Commission: DG Press and Communication
	Press Releases
		22.10.01: Interactive policy making: European Commission launches "Your voice in Europe" [IP/01/1459]
		06.12.01: European Commission wishes to reduce the volume of Community legislation by at least 25% by January 2005 [IP/01/1762]
		05.06.02: Better consultation and accountability: modernisation plan for clearer and better European legislation [IP/02/85]
	Speeches
		04.09.01: The European Union and its citizens: a matter of democracy (Romano Prodi) [SPEECH/01/365]
		28.11.01: White Paper on European Governance, September 2001 (Romano Prodi) [SPEECH/01/591]
		26.04.02: Better regulation after Barcelona (Erkki Liikanen) [SPEECH/02/185]
		05.06.02: Better Regulation(Romano Prodi) [SPEECH/02/255]
European Commission: DG Enterprise
	Evaluation of the Impact of Community Legislation
European Commission: Interactive Policy Making
	Homepage
European Commission: Your Voice in Europe
	Homepage
Economic and Social Committee
	Homepage
	Opinion of the economic and Social Committee on European Governance - A White Paper [March 2002]
Committee of the Regions
	Homepage
	Press Release
	14.03.02: Committee of the Regions' demands for good governance
	Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the White Paper on European governance and the Communication on a new framework for cooperation on activities concerning the information and communication policy of the European Union [March 2002]
European Commission: EUR-OP: EUR-LEX
	European Governance: A White Paper [COM(2001)428 final]
	Communication: Simplifying and improving the regulatory environment [COM(2001)726]
	Communication: Consultation document - Towards a reinforced culture of consultation and dialogue - Proposal for general principles and minimum standards for consultation of interested parties by the Commission [COM(2002)277 final]
Miscellaneous Organisations
The European Policy Centre
	Homepage
		Dialogues
		17.05.01: European Governance: participation, democracy and efficiency
		22.09.01: The Commission Governance White Paper: Where to go from here?
		10.04.02: Better Regulation in the European Union: the role of regulatory impact analysis
Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe (UNICE)
	Homepage
	Position Paper on Commission White Paper on European Governance [February 2002]
The European Round Table of Industrialists
	Homepage
	04.12.01: A stronger Europe: the View from ERT - ERT Message to the Laeken Summit

Further and subsequent information on the subject of this In Focus can be found by an 'Advanced Search' in European Sources Online by inserting 'policy-making' or 'decision-making' in the keyword field.

Helen Bower
Compiled: 7 June 2002

Soon after presenting their proposals on the future of Europe to the European Convention, the European Commission proposed another set of key initiatives [COM(2002)277 final] on 5 June 2002, this time aimed at improving the openness and efficiency of the EU's institutions. The proposals promise to be the first in a series of initiatives by the European Commission designed to fulfil the commitments of the White Paper on European Governance.