This Commission Communication accompanies the Communication entitled Better regulation for better results - An EU agenda. It contains the proposal for an Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the Commission on Better Regulation.
By this Agreement, the three institutions agree to pursue better regulation by means of the following series of initiatives and procedures:
1) Programming and planning: the three institutions agree to reinforce the Union's annual and multiannual programming. The Commission will:
Based on the Commission Work Programme, the three institutions will agree annually a list of proposals that will receive priority treatment in the legislative process.
2) Impact assessment: the positive contribution of impact assessment in improving the quality of Union legislation is recognised. Impact assessments should:
The Commission will carry out impact assessments of the initiatives that are expected to have significant economic, environmental or social impacts. The Commission's Regulatory Scrutiny Board will carry out a quality check of its impact assessments. The final results of the impact assessments will be made available to the European Parliament, the Council and national parliaments.
The European Parliament and the Council will start their consideration of Commission proposals by examining the Commission's impact assessment.
3) Quality of the legislation: legislation should: (i) be comprehensible and clear; (ii) allow parties to easily understand their rights and obligations; (iii) include appropriate reporting, monitoring and evaluation requirements; (iv) avoid disproportionate costs; and (v) be practical to implement. Each institution may call for an independent panel to carry out an assessment of these factors following any substantial amendment to the Commission proposal.
4) Stakeholder consultation and feedback: the Commission will conduct public internet-based consultations to seek views and information from interested parties. The results of each consultation will be made public.
Stakeholders will be given the opportunity to voice their opinions during an eight-week period following the adoption by the Commission of its proposal and the related impact assessment, in parallel with the consultation process established for national parliaments.
5) Ex-post evaluation of existing legislation: the agreement covers the following points:
6) Legislative instruments: the Commission will explain to the European Parliament and to the Council in the explanatory memoranda which accompany its proposals: (i) its choice of legislative instrument; (ii) how the measures proposed are justified in the light of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality and are compatible with fundamental rights. It will also give an account of both the scope and the results of any stakeholder consultation.
7) Delegated and implementing acts:
8) Coordination of the legislative process: the three institutions agree to:
9) Simplification: the three institutions agree to cooperate continuously to update and simplify legislation and to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens for business, administrations and citizens. They will take the Commissions Regulatory Fitness and Performance (REFIT) Programme, or any other future programme with a similar objective, as a basis for this task.
Implementation and application of Union legislation: Member States are called upon to:
The Commission will report annually to the European Parliament on the application of Union legislation.