Communication Paper on Smart Regulation COM(2010) 543, 8 October 2010 Presentation by Savia Orphanidou 3 rd November 2010

From Better to Smart Regulation Better Regulation has served its purposes – it had a significant impact on Commission's policy-making. Commission is stepping up a gear: moving from Better to Smart Regulation. President Barroso, through his “Political Guidelines for the next Commission” (sept. 2009), takes direct responsibility for smart regulation.

Three Key messages of Smart Regulation 1. It s about the whole policy cycle: from designing a legislation, to implementation, enforcement, evaluation and revision. 2. It remains a shared responsibility of the EU institutes and the member states: SR is an integral part of our collective efforts in all policy areas. 3. It strengthens the voice of stakeholders and end- users: wide-opening of Commissions policy-making to involve all stakeholders (longer consultation period, review of consultation process etc.).

The Whole Policy Cycle Emphasis on evaluating the functioning and effectiveness of existing regulation. Merging simplification and reduction of administrative burden: this overcomes the problem of obligations with high “irritation” burden but low AB. Ex-post evaluation: Evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of EU legislation improves the quality of policy-making and identifies new opportunities to simplify and reduce AB.

The Whole Policy Cycle 2 Fitness checks: evaluation of all legislation in an area to obtain the full picture. assess if the regulatory framework for a policy area is fit for purpose and, if not, what should be changed. Identification of excessive burdens, inconsistencies, obsolete or ineffective measures to help identify the cumulative impact of legislation.

The Whole Policy Cycle 3 For the improvement of the quality of existing legislation, the Commission intends to: Review the evaluation guidelines to ensure that legislations deliver the indented benefits Improve transparency through websites and consultation Carry out 4 fitness checks (environment, employment, transport, industrial policy) Progress in the AB reduction program by 2012 Improve consultation with stakeholders Examine best practices from member states

The Whole Policy Cycle 4 Strengthening the Impact Assessment System: Evaluation by the European Court of Auditors – suggestions for improvement IA Board –provides independent quality control, doing a good job. IAs have become an integral part of policy-making of the Commission Council and Parliament should carry out their own IAs

Implementation of EU legislation EU legislation must be implemented properly if it is to achieve its goals: member states responsible for proper implementation - measures 'preventive action‘ (paying greater attention to implementation and enforcement in IAs when designing new legislation etc.). Legislation should be clear and accessible: Commission encourages member states to consolidate national legislation which transposes EU legislation and to make it electronically available, including via the EUR-Lex portal.

Shared Responsibility The European Parliament and Council: Adopt pending AB and simplification proposals more rapidly Deliver commitments made in the Inter-Institutional Agreement on Better-Law-Making Carry out IAs on substantive amendments to Commission proposals Carry their own IAs irrespective of the Commission and consider them as part of the policy-making process

Shared Responsibility 2 Member States: Smart Regulation must also be carried out by member states especially in areas such as company law, social security etc. (most national law). Promotion of national IAs - could complement those done by the Commission and help in the discussion. Exchange best national practices on smart regulation

Strengthening the voice of Stakeholders Public consultation period from 8 to 12 weeks (implemented in 2012 – so far 90% complies with 8 weeks). Review of the consultation process: Improve the quality of documents and availability Better use of tools: “Your Europe”, internet portals, sme panels etc. Use of member states channels

Conclusions Smart Regulation can help to achieve the ambitious objectives for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth set out by the Europe 2020 Strategy. Smart regulation is a shared responsibility and its success will depend on all institutions, member states and stakeholders involved in the formulation and implementation of EU policies. The Commission will report on progress in implementing the smart regulation agenda in the second half of 2012 (Cyprus Presidency!!).

Smart Regulation: a cleaner, fairer and more competitive EU (Denmark, UK, Netherland) How can end-users get involved in the policy-making process

Examples across Europe Belgium Kafka introduced an online contact point where citizens comment on existing regulations and submit proposals for improvement. These proposals formed the basis of a reform programme for the Federal Government

Examples across Europe Denmark Burden Hunters Project applies user- centric innovation techniques to allow users to identify the red tape that causes them more irritation. Civil servants visiting businesses to see challenges they face. Businesses set the agenda for regulatory action and help develop solutions to cut AB.

Examples across Europe UK Consulting on IAs: Views IAs as a continuous process, from the early stages of identifying a policy challenge through to development of policy options, public consultation and final decision making and implementation.

Examples across Europe France Simplifying Together: Developed a framework that focuses on “life-events” to understand better the burdens faced by businesses. Includes key point in life of a business (starting up, moving, hiring etc) Using this framework and through consultation with the users of regulation they developed a programme to reduce the number of processes, the cost and the time to navigate these events.

Thank you for your attention