EU meets U.S. regulatory demands halfway with ’Better Regulation Agenda’
The European Commission’s new "Better Regulation Agenda" partially
addresses U.S. demands in trans-Atlantic free trade talks for more
transparency and opportunities for stakeholders to influence the
crafting of EU rules, but falls short of fulfilling the U.S. desire for
the commission to publish all types of draft legislation prior to
formally proposing it.
The agenda, unveiled on May 19 by Commission First Vice-President
Frans Timmermans, includes several steps aimed at providing more
opportunity for the public to provide input both on primary legislation
that the commission submits to the European Parliament and the EU
Council, as well as secondary legislation used to implement technical
elements of EU laws once they are adopted by those two institutions.
But with regard to EU primary legislation, which comes in the form of
regulations or directives, the agenda gives no hint of a willingness to
publish drafts for public comment prior to proposals being adopted by
the College of Commissioners. Instead, it indicates the EU will largely
keep the status quo by first publishing a "road map" and an early impact
assessment of forthcoming legislative proposals, inviting public
comment for 12 weeks, then making its actual proposal to the European
Parliament and EU Council afterward.
According to an EU official, the European Commission has published
such documents in the past and sought public comment, but not on a
consistent basis.
By contrast, other parts of the agenda do show the commission
breaking with past practice in key ways. First, after primary
legislation is proposed, national parliaments will have a chance to
weigh in, and thereafter stakeholders and ordinary citizens will have a
chance to provide feedback within eight weeks.
