EN Official Journal of the European Union C 81/6

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on Better Lawmaking 2004 and Better Regulation for Growth and Jobs in the European Union

(2006/C 81/02)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

Having regard to the European Commission report of 21 March 2005 on Better Lawmaking 2004 COM(2005) 98 final and its annex SEC(2005) 364;

Having regard to the Communication from the European Commission of 16 March 2005 on Better Regulation for Growth and Jobs in the European Union COM(2005) 97 final and its annex SEC(2005) 175;

Having regard to the decision of the European Commission on 21 March 2005 to consult it on this subject, under the first paragraph of Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

Having regard to the decision of its President of 20 January 2005 to instruct the Commission for Constitutional Affairs and European Governance to draw up an opinion on this subject;

Having regard to the Protocol governing arrangements for cooperation between the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions signed by their respective presidents on 20 September 2001 (DI CdR 81/2001 rev. 1);

Having regard to the White Paper on European governance of 25 July 2001 COM(2001) 428 final;

Having regard to its global opinion of 2 July 2003 on the Follow-up to the White Paper on European Governance (CdR 19/2003 fin (1));

Having regard to its opinion of 20 November 2003 on Better lawmaking 2002 and Updating and simplifying the Community acquis (CdR 62/2003 fin (2));

Having regard to the draft opinion of its Commission for Constitutional Affairs and European Governance on The application and monitoring of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality (CdR 220/2004);

Having regard to its draft opinion (CdR 121/2005 rev. 1) adopted on 14 June 2005 by its Commission for Constitutional Affairs and European Governance (rapporteur: Mr Delebarre, former Minister of State — Mayor of Dunkirk (FR/PES);

1) Whereas it is important to take more account of the principles of subsidiarity, proportionality and proximity in order to develop simple and clear European legislation that can be readily understood by European citizens;

2) Whereas regional and local authorities, if appropriately involved in the preparation of legislative acts, can play a key role in transposing and implementing them in their own areas;

3) Whereas new methods of European governance, such as extended impact assessments and the partnership approach of target-based tripartite contracts and agreements — to the success of which the Committee can make an active contribution — can bring added value;

adopted the following opinion unanimously at its 61st plenary session, held on 12 and 13 October 2005 (meeting of 12 October):

1. The Committee of the Regions' views

1.1 Applying the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality

The Committee of the Regions

1.1.1 wishes to expand upon the various opinions (3) on European governance and the constitutional process, which enshrines these principles, as well as upon its draft opinion on applying the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality (4);

1.1.2 notes the progress described in the European Commission's 12th annual review on Better lawmaking and emphasises the importance that should be attached to a more in-depth analysis of the methods of consultation and interinstitutional dialogue, prospective studies and impact assessments;

1.1.3 believes that ‘better legislation’ and ‘better implementation’ of the EU's legislative acts — produced as a result of these consultations — are key objectives for both the European Commission and itself, and emphasises the role which its Bureau, at its meeting of 19 March 2004, decided it should play in coordinating this dialogue;

1.1.4 points out that its recommendations have led to the adoption of an approach which ensures the closer involvement of local and regional authorities in implementing Community legislation (5), and appreciates the European Commission's mention of this fact in its report entitled Better lawmaking 2004;

1.1.5 regrets, however, that the European Commission has not given sufficient weight to its previous recommendations on the importance of consulting local and regional government in the early stages of drafting legislation (6), and hopes that the European Commission will in the future carry out reasonable assessments of the impact that certain measures could have on the financial requirements of local and regional authorities;

1.1.6 appreciates the fact that the European Commission is following up the interinstitutional agreement adopted by the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission in December 2003 (7), in line with the action plan of June 2002;

1.1.7 welcomes the European Commission's plans to implement a framework programme for simplifying the acquis 2005-2009, as from October 2005, which takes on board the following recommendations made at The Hague (8), by the high-level meeting on Governance and the EU, which are crucial for regional and local authorities: — application of the subsidiarity principle; — follow-up of the White Paper of the European Commission — particularly on tripartite contracts or agreements and dialogue with local and regional associations; — application of EU law at regional and local level and the search for better regulation.

1.2 Structured dialogue, consultation processes and contract-based partnerships

The Committee of the Regions

1.2.1 welcomes the fact that the European Commission has long (9) advocated developing strong ‘interaction with regional and local government and civil society’, at an early stage of policy framing, by introducing ongoing and systematic dialogue (10), with the added impetus of extensive consultation with regional authorities on areas for which they are responsible for transposition or implementation, including both itself and the relevant associations;

1.2.2 is pleased to note that the Spring European Council (11) has recently stated that ‘Alongside the governments, all the other players concerned — parliaments, regional and local bodies, social partners and civil society — should be stakeholders in the (Lisbon) Strategy and take an active part in attaining its objectives’;

1.2.3 welcomes the signing of the first target-based tripartite agreement on urban transport mobility between the European Union, Italy and the region of Lombardy;

1.2.4 believes that by implementing the partnership principle, the weaknesses of the current system could be overcome and so provide real added value, promoting rapid realisation of well-defined joint objectives, without affecting the partners' institutional remits;

1.2.5 hopes, firstly, that this type of contract will become an effective instrument for involving regional and local authorities in a national strategic reference framework which leaves the regions sufficient room for manoeuvre to define their specific objectives and, secondly, that it is the signatories of a contract or agreement with the European Commission that will hold these powers, be they legislative or executive;

1.2.6 firmly trusts that more flexible arrangements for vertical decentralisation, and cooperation between different tiers of territorial authority, will be appropriately supplemented by new mechanisms for horizontal interregional cooperation and a partnership based on contractual ties of varying degrees with other local authorities or with the representatives of civil society, and possibly recourse to the expertise of existing interregional organisations.

1.3 Extended impact assessment and expertise

The Committee of the Regions

1.3.1 welcomes the introduction in 2004 of a new method of impact analysis for the European Commission's major initiatives and the use of an instrument which enables the study of the economic, environmental and regulatory effects of a proposal and provides for consultation with interested parties and relevant experts;

1.3.2 nevertheless, considers it vital to take the regional impact of the European Commission's key initiatives into progressively greater account in order to better coordinate Community action;

1.3.3 in connection the measures proposed by the European Commission, is particularly sensitive to: — the impact that certain measures may have on the finances of regional and local authorities — better impact assessments with due regard to the costs for companies — a review of pending proposals, possible changes made to them or their withdrawal — stepping up the simplification procedure to increase competitiveness — pilot projects which focus on reducing the administrative workload — considering alternatives to legislation (co-regulation and self-regulation) — the use of external experts — wider consultation of citizens, businesses and NGOs via the internet.

2. Recommendations of the Committee of the Regions

2.1 Recommendations on the entire Better Lawmaking package

The Committee of the Regions

2.1.1 welcomes the priority strategic objective that the European Commission has set itself for its five-year term concerning the ‘Better lawmaking’ action and the inter-institutional cooperation initiated on the issue; regrets, however, that the local and regional dimension has not been adequately recognised in this initiative and strongly urges the presidencies of the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission to involve it more closely;

2.1.2 recalls that under the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, included in the Constitutional Treaty, account can be taken of the European Union's regional and local dimension through extensive consultations prior to the adoption of all legislative acts and that, for every European framework law, a ‘subsidiarity statement’ must be drawn up in which the European Commission is to assess the regulatory and financial consequences of the framework law for regional and local authorities; and urges the Commission to take account of this forthwith with regard to existing European legislation, regardless of developments in the ratification process;

2.1.3 wishes to exploit the space opened up by the Protocol on the application of the subsidiarity and proportionality principles in order to play a vital role between local and regional authorities and the European institutions for consultations, in line with the Protocol of cooperation with the European Commission (12);

2.1.4 intends to strengthen its action during the pre-legislative phase which will become crucial with respect to the need for greater efficiency and transparency and stronger democratic legitimacy of the EU, and therefore repeats its wish to be able to be involved in ‘consultation 'upstream' of decision-making’ and in the implementation of ‘co-regulation’ instruments which ought to be ‘an effective way of achieving EU objectives’;

2.1.5 recalls that the Constitutional Treaty confers joint responsibility upon it to apply and monitor the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, by granting it new rights and duties as regards the development and implementation of Community legislation, thus enhancing its institutional impact within the EU;

2.1.6 intends to exercise this new responsibility to the full and take up the role of guardian of subsidiarity, which the Constitutional Treaty entrusts to it, and, if circumstances so require, to use its right of appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union not only to defend its own prerogatives but also in cases of infringement of the principle of subsidiarity. In this latter case, it will do once an opinion has been adopted, fulfilling its consultative function under the Treaty, and without necessarily having carried out a critical assessment of compliance with the principle of subsidiarity;

2.1.7 considers that the impact of Community intervention could be reinforced via the avenues opened up by proportionality insofar as the choice of recommended instruments and the scope and intensity of the legislative proposal are the key criteria;

2.1.8 wishes to contribute towards the quality of legislation by fostering a comprehensive and cooperative approach and improving collaboration among the three European levels of power: the European institutions, Member States and local and regional authorities, and particularly by participating in the organisation of discussion platforms between the latter and civil society;

2.1.9 would also wish to enhance its role as intermediary between the EU institutions and local and regional authorities: — by taking an active part in the organisation and running of exchange networks designed to formalise cooperation between the various levels of local and regional authority, in particular with regard to the territorialisation of EU policies; and — by being closely involved in the European political agenda and in achieving the objectives of better European governance;

2.1.10 confirms its intention to prepare itself to monitor compliance with the principle of subsidiarity, by on the one hand, drawing up a subsidiarity screening system to be appended to its opinions and, on the other hand, by gradually developing a network of local and regional authorities in order to monitor subsidiarity;

2.1.11 restates its request for local and regional authorities to be involved in the early stages of drafting legislation, even if only in the interests of proper application of the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality in connection with the budgetary consequences for local and regional authorities and compliance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.

2.2 Recommendations on the tripartite agreements and contracts

The Committee of the Regions

2.2.1 invites the European Commission to restart the signing of tripartite agreements and contracts as a way of bringing together local and regional authorities, Member States and the Community as partners, and to extend the use of this instrument to other Community policy areas, particularly concerning major European infrastructure projects and the implementation of cohesion policy (13);

2.2.2 recommends that the tripartite agreements and contracts which have made for a long and positive collaboration between the interested parties be rapidly concluded;

2.2.3 believes that the first tripartite agreement signed between the European Union, Italy, and the Lombardy region on urban mobility, together with the experimental pilot projects on environmental issues, which were drafted with the public authorities of Birmingham, Lille and Pescara, will enable results and ‘good practice’ to be identified, which will be helpful in defining the appropriate methodology for future tripartite contracts;

2.2.4 insists on the fact that tripartite contracts constitute a governance instrument which aims to ensure that legislation and programmes with a strong territorial impact can be more flexibly and effectively implemented;

2.2.5 calls upon the European Commission to establish specific financial provisions ensuring that local and regional authorities have the means they need to rapidly implement tripartite agreements and contracts, enabling them to perform their operational role in the field to the full and free of obstacle;

2.2.6 asks the European Commission to reinforce horizontal coordination by its secretariat-general in the management of this experimental phase and its follow-up and to encourage the communication and promotion of this instrument;

2.2.7 recommends that the Council of the European Union provides more explicit support for the continuation of this initiative which is helping to reform European methods of governance;

2.2.8 recommends that, in all the arrangements to reinvigorate the Lisbon strategy, the European Commission should give careful consideration to the contribution that target-based tripartite contracts and agreements could make towards the success of this strategic process by allowing those regions that so wish to play a greater part in ensuring this.

2.3 Recommendations on the impact assessment

The Committee of the Regions

2.3.1 proposes that the introduction of a new impact assessment method for the European Commission's major initiatives should lead to the local and regional dimension being taken into account to the greatest possible extent in the ex ante phase of the legislative process;

2.3.2 asks the European Commission to entrust it with drawing up prospective analyses falling within its remit, and, in particular, all major initiatives with a territorial impact;

2.3.3 considers that a preliminary assessment on its part would be particularly important in terms of the application of non-regulatory instruments (co-regulation and self-regulation) and all information and coordination activities carried out at local and regional level;

2.3.4 believes that impact assessments must play a substantial role in reducing the administrative burdens of EU legislation on local and regional authorities and that, consequently, preliminary assessments must include an impact assessment of legislative acts at local and regional level, in financial terms;

2.3.5 recommends that in reviewing the protocol for cooperation signed with the European Commission (14), the extended impact assessments should be used in order to define detailed evaluation and quality criteria for those who are to carry them out, and in order to establish a real strategy for consulting the grass roots at regional and local level;

2.3.6 invites the European Commission to foster a more proactive role in the pre-legislative phase of Community action in the form of outlook opinions on future Community policies, which would focus on the impact on local and regional authorities, and in the form of reports on the local and regional impact of certain directives;

2.3.7 renews its recommendation to the European Commission to create an independent expert advisory group to monitor impact assessments, assure objectivity and encourage good practice, and to keep it briefed on its work so it can strengthen its the political role during later phases of the decision-making process (15);

2.3.8 asks to be informed of the progress of the working group on managing and monitoring impact assessments that was created within the European Parliament, so that it can take part in the interinstitutional cooperation group which was set up by the European Parliament and, with the help of the European Commission and the Council, develop a set of common criteria to evaluate the quality of impact assessments and quantify the costs arising from legislative proposals.

2.4 Recommendations on improving the rules on growth and employment in the European Union

The Committee of the Regions

2.4.1 notes, with great interest, the Council's concerns about reinvigorating the Lisbon process and the content of the communications (16) submitted by the European Commission with a view to establishing better regulation to pursue this process, as it considers that simplification and improvement of the regulatory framework are crucial at both national and EU level;

2.4.2 endorses the European Commission's recommendation that better regulation should become an integral part of the national action plans on the Lisbon strategy and calls for the establishment of a joint work plan on Better regulation;

2.4.3 proposes that the national action plans include a regional dimension with a view to ensuring that local administrative procedures are more flexible and effective and that the national programmes on the simplification of legislation — such as the ones proposed by the European Commission — pave the way for consultation with local and regional authorities by providing more information on the reform at regional and local level.

2.5 General recommendations

The Committee of the Regions

2.5.1 calls upon the European Commission in particular to ensure, together with itself, more specific follow-up in connection with the present proposal, by means of a swifter and more political response;

2.5.2 lastly, intends to regularly evaluate the actions outlined in the action plan on Better lawmaking, particularly as regards its annual consultation on the report of the European Commission, and hopes that the European Commission will introduce a computerised system to facilitate access to information on the ongoing legislative process and therefore ensure that local and regional authorities receive better information on all the various stages of legislation.

Brussels, 12 October 2005. The President of the Committee of the Regions Peter STRAUB

(1) OJ C 256 of 24.10.2003, p. 24.

(2) OJ C 73 of 23.3.2004, p. 38.

(3) Opinion CdR 50/99 fin (Better lawmaking 1998) - Opinion CdR 18/2000 fin (Better lawmaking 1999) - Opinion CdR 62/2003 fin (Better lawmaking 2002).

(4) Draft opinion of its Commission for Constitutional Affairs and European Governance of 5 February 2005 on The application and monitoring of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality (CdR 220/2004).

(5) See, for example, COM(2003) 811 final, Dialogue with associations of regional and local authorities on the formulation of European Union policy of 19 December 2003.

(6) See opinion CdR 62/2003 fin.

(7) Communication from the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on the interinstitutional agreement on Better lawmaking - OJ 2003/C 321/01 of 31 December 2003.

(8) Conclusions and recommendations of the High-level Group on Governance and the EU, The Hague - 9 and 10 December 2004.

(9) Communication from the European Commission on Dialogue with associations of regional and local authorities on the formulation of European Union policy, COM(2003) 811 final of 23 November 2003.

(10) White Paper on European governance COM(2001) 428 final of 25 July 2001.

(11) Presidency Conclusions, Brussels European Council of 22-23 March, 7619/05.

(12) Protocol on cooperation between the Committee of the Regions and the Commission, signed in Brussels on 20 September 2001.

(13) Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Proposal for a Council Regulation laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund - CdR 232/2004 fin of 13 April 2005.

(14) Protocol governing arrangements for cooperation between the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions, signedby their respective presidents on 20 September 2001 - DI CdR 81/2001 rev. 1.

(15) Opinion CdR 62/2003 fin.

(16) Communication on Better Regulation for Growth and Jobs in the European Union of 16 March 2005 - COM(2005) 97 final andits annex SEC(2005) 175 and Better lawmaking 2004 of 21 March 2005 - COM(2005) 98 final and its annex SEC(2005) 364.