European Parliament resolution on assessment of the impact of Community legislation and the consultation procedures 2003/2079(INI))
Date: 2004-04-20
Institutions: Committee on Legal Affairs, European Parliament
Subjects: consultation procedure, drafting of EU law, impact study, interinstitutional relations (EU)

C 104 E/146

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30.4.2004

Tuesday 20 April 2004

TEXT PROPOSED
BY THE UNITED KINGDOM

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

particular rules applicable in the United Kingdom to members
of CEPOL’s organs,
its Director, employees and members of
their families shall be laid down in a headquarters agreement
between CEPOL and the United Kingdom after obtaining the
unanimous approval of the governing board.

rules applicable in the United Kingdom to members of CEPOL’s
organs, its Director, employees and members of their families
shall be laid down in a headquarters agreement between
CEPOL and the United Kingdom after obtaining the unanimous
approval of the governing board.

P5_TA(2004)0290

Appointment of a member of the ECB Executive Board *

European Parliament decision on the draft recommendation of the Council concerning the
appointment of Mr José Manuel González-Páramo as a member of the Executive Board of the
European Central Bank (6315/2004 (cid:1) C5-0176/2004 (cid:1) 2004/0808(CNS))

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the Council’s recommendation of 30 March 2004 (6315/2004),

(cid:1) having regard to Article 112(2) (b) of the EC Treaty pursuant to which the Council consulted Parlia-

ment (C5-0176/2004),

(cid:1) having regard to Rule 36 of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:1) having regard to the report of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (A5-0273/2004),

Delivers a favourable opinion on the appointment of Mr José Manuel González-Páramo as a member

1.
of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank;

Instructs its President to forward this decision to the President of the Council, for forwarding to the

2.
governments of the Member States.

P5_TA(2004)0291

Impact of Community regulations

European Parliament resolution on assessment of the impact of Community legislation and the
consultation procedures 2003/2079(INI))

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission communication of 5 June 2002 on impact assessment

(COM(2002) 276),

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission communication of 5 June 2002 on the Action plan ‘Simplifying and

improving the regulatory environment’ (COM(2002) 278),

(cid:1) having regard to the interinstitutional agreement of 16 December 2003 on better law-making con-

cluded between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission (1),

(cid:1) having regard to Rule 163 of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:1) having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market (A5-0221/

2004),

(1) OJ C 321, 31.12.2003, p. 1.

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A. whereas it is much more costly and complicated to simplify and improve legislation subsequent to an
event, rather than to map out the consequences of legislation clearly from the outset and, thus, taking
them into account when drawing up legislation,

B. whereas effective democratic accountability is only possible if Parliament has sufficient information on

the consequences of legislation on social, economic and environmental aspects,

C. whereas legislative texts and their explanatory memoranda do frequently provide information on the
intended policy objectives, but include no insight into the costs involved in implementing and apply-
ing the legislation; whereas such insight can result in a saving of billions of euros in the costs incurred
by businesses and individuals, in complying with their statutory duty to supply information to govern-
ments,
implementing agencies and others, namely, complying with the so-called ‘administrative
burden’; whereas reducing the administrative burden means making a significant contribution to
employment in Europe and the Lisbon objectives,

D. whereas the aforementioned interinstitutional agreement accords an important role to impact assess-
ment in improving the quality of legislation; whereas, on this point, the agreement needs fleshing out
in greater detail,

E. whereas impact assessment should not be limited to quantitative elements such as the cost of the
measures, but should also take account of qualitative factors, such as the need for the measures, social
requirements, and the safety, health and personal development of individuals,

1.
Notes that the method used at present, namely impact notes, has supplied no information that has
been helpful in assessing the consequences and costs of proposed Community legislation; accordingly,
welcomes the Commission’s initiative to adopt a systematic impact assessment approach of new legislation;

2.
Defines impact assessment as a straightforward mapping out of the consequences on social, econ-
omic and environmental aspects, as well as a mapping out of the policy alternatives that are available to
the legislator in that scenario;

3.
Points out that impact assessment is a means by which to improve legislation; considers that an
impact assessment is in no way a substitute for the democratic decision-making process; notes, further,
that experience in countries where impact assessment is carried out demonstrates that it results in
improved legislation and simplifies parliamentary scrutiny;

4.
Proposes to allow impact assessment to be carried out on initiatives that the Commission presents in
its annual policy strategy or its work programme and on Parliament and Council amendments which will
have a substantial impact on social, economic and environmental aspects;

5.

Proposes the following procedure to that end:

(a) any legislative proposal by the Commission should be accompanied by a global estimate of the costs
of such legislation on social, economic and environmental aspects. The estimate will be drawn up by
the officials responsible, in consultation with an audit reporting directly to the President of the Com-
mission;

(b)

the global cost estimate will be monitored by the audit;

(c)

(d)

the Commission, Council and Parliament will
lay down, in the context of implementation of the
aforementioned interinstitutional agreement, a cost threshold above which an extended impact assess-
ment should be carried out;

if it is established that a legislative proposal exceeds the threshold, the Commission officials respon-
sible will assess the impact of the proposed legislation on social, economic and environmental aspects,
together with the policy alternatives available to the legislator in that scenario. The process must be
monitored by the audit; the result of the investigation will be reported with the legislative proposal;

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(e)

(f)

the results of cost assessments and impact assessments will be added to the proposal and published in
a central place accessible to all;

the Commission will only send Parliament proposals accompanied by a cost assessment and an impact
assessment;

(g) amendments by Parliament that will have an impact on social, economic and environmental aspects
will be submitted for cost assessment to an audit set up with whatever reasonable means Parliament
has at its disposal. If it transpires that the amendment exceeds the cost threshold referred to in para-
graph (c), the audit will carry out an impact assessment on the amendment. The results of the cost
assessment and the impact assessment will be made available to the parliamentary committee respon-
sible and also published in the place referred to in paragraph (e);

(h)

the Council will follow a comparable procedure, as described in subparagraph (g) and will set up an
audit in the Council Secretariat;

Points out that the proposed procedure complies with practical experience in countries where impact

6.
assessment has been carried out for some considerable time;

7.
Points out further that a Community impact assessment only makes sense if the Commission, Coun-
cil and Parliament operate in accordance with the same system and with the same standards; urges the
Commission and Council accordingly to extend the interinstitutional consultation procedure with the aim
of reaching agreement before the end of the year on the procedure proposed in paragraph 5;

8. With the aim of limiting the costs of the impact assessment system, calls on the Commission and
Council to develop, jointly with Parliament, common criteria for quantifying the expenditure that legis-
lative proposals generate, both in the EU as a whole and within the Member States;

9.
Takes note of the aforementioned Commission communication on the Action plan ‘Simplifying and
improving the regulatory environment’; notes with satisfaction that the Commission is making progress
with the simplification of Community legislation; voices the hope that the problems that the Commission
has identified can be put right in future; points out that simplification after the event could have been
avoided by the consistent application of a proper impact assessment beforehand;

10.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.

P5_TA(2004)0292

Equal opportunities for the disabled

European Parliament legislative resolution on the Communication from the Commission to the
Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Com-
mittee of the Regions (cid:1) Equal opportunities for people with disabilities: A European Action Plan
(COM(2003) 650 (cid:1) C5-0039/2004 (cid:1) 2004/2004(INI))

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission communication (COM(2003) 650),

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission communications on equality of opportunity for people with dis-
for people with disabilities’

(COM(1996) 406) and ‘Towards

a barrier-free Europe

abilities
(COM(2000) 284),

(cid:1) having regard to Article 13 of the Treaty of Amsterdam and Declaration No 22 annexed to the final

act of that treaty,

(cid:1) having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and in particular Arti-

cles 21 and 26 thereof,