Commission working document - Better Regulation and the Thematic Strategies for the Environment {SEC(2005) 1197}
Date: 2005-09-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: drafting of EU law, economic and social cohesion, economic growth, environmental law, environmental protection, simplification of legislation, sustainable development

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 28.09.2005 
COM(2005) 466 final 

COMMISSION WORKING DOCUMENT 

Better Regulation and the Thematic Strategies for the Environment 

{SEC(2005) 1197} 

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In  the  course  of  the  last  four  years,  the  EU  has  launched  and  pursued  a  broad  agenda  to 
improve the regulatory environment. 

The next generation of environment policy, the thematic strategies, are being prepared in 
line with the principles of this ‘Better Regulation’ agenda. This document describes how 
these  principles  are  being  applied  and  will  serve  as  background  to  the  policy  debate  on 
‘Better  Regulation  and  the  Thematic  Strategies’  scheduled  for  the  October  2005 
Environment Council. 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

The  European  Commission  has  been  actively  engaged  in  improving  its  law  making 
practices  for  a  number  of  years  as  a  follow-up  to  the  White  Paper  on  European 
Governance1  so  as  to  ensure  that  legislative  proposals  are  of  a  high  quality  -  simple, 
relevant  and  effective.  This  has  involved  improving  the  quality  of  legislative  proposals 
through improving the knowledge base2, engaging in extensive consultation in preparation 
of  legislative  proposals3  and  requiring  comprehensive  impact  assessment  of  all  major 
policy and legislative proposals4. The Commission is also simplifying EU law5 and cutting 
red  tape  both  by  ensuring  that  administrative  costs6  are  examined  in  the  impact 
assessments  underpinning  proposals,  by  amending  existing  laws  to  take  account  of 
practical experience and by withdrawing pending proposals which may not be in line with 
the  Commission’s  Lisbon  Strategy  priorities  and  which  may  not  fully  conform  to  Better 
Regulation  standards.  Part  of  the  ‘Better  Regulation’  exercise  has  involved  improved 
explanation of the need and value added of intervention at Community level, through i.a. 
improving the content of the explanatory memorandum attached to proposals. Flexibility to 
revise  legislation  in  line  with  scientific  and  technological  developments  has  been 
introduced through systematic inclusion of review and revision clauses in legislative acts. 

As  the  Commission  has  stressed  on  many  occasions,  ‘Better  Regulation’  is  not  the  same 
thing as ‘deregulation’. It means improving European policies and delivering policy goals 
to  the  benefit  of  all  economic  actors  (business  actors,  public  authorities)  in  the  least 
burdensome and most cost effective way possible. It requires that policies in different areas 
be  mutually  supportive  and  coherent,  and  that  trade-offs  be  clearly  identified.  ‘Better 
Regulation’ is aimed at facilitating growth and job creation, while maintaining high levels 
of both social and environment protection, in line with the EU’s Sustainable Development 
Strategy. This was underlined in the March 2005 communication on “Better Regulation for 

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COM  (2001)  428  final  (“White  Paper  on  European  Governance”);  COM  (2002)  275  final  (“European 
Governance:  Better  Lawmaking”);  COM  (2002)  278  (“Action  Plan  for  Simplifying  and  Improving  the 
Regulatory Environment”); COM (2003) 71 final (“Updating and simplifying the Community acquis”)  
COM (2002)713 (“Collection and use of expertise by the Commission – principles and guidelines- Improving 
the Knowledge Base for Better Policies”) 
COM (2002) 277 final (“Towards a reinforced culture of consultation and dialogue - General principles and 
minimum standards for consultation of interested parties by the Commission”) 
COM (2002) 276 final Impact assessment 
COM (2003) 71 final Updating and simplifying the Community acquis 
In the Commission staff working paper « Minimising administrative cost imposed by legislation» (SEC (2005) 
16  March  2005)  the  Commission  announced  the  launch  of  a  pilot  phase  in  view  of  developing  a  common 
methodology for measuring administrative burdens. 

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Growth and Jobs in the EU”7, a contribution to the effective implementation of the Lisbon 
strategy. 

European  environment  policy,  which  dates  back  some  thirty  years,  has  progressively 
applied concepts that have now become standard practice in ‘Better Regulation’. A process 
of  modernisation  and  simplification  is  reflected  in  the  adoption  of  the  Water  Framework 
Directive8  in  2000  which  rationalised  the  Community's  water  legislation  by  replacing 
seven earlier directives addressing surface water, fish water, shellfish water, groundwater 
and dangerous substances discharges.  

A major effort in ‘Better Regulation’ in the environment field will be reflected in the seven 
Thematic  Strategies  which  will  be  presented  in  coming  months.  The  following  examines 
how  this  is  being  done,  looking  in  particular  at  impact  assessment,  consultation  and 
simplification.  

2. 

THE SEVEN THEMATIC STRATEGIES  

The  6th  Environment  Action  Programme9  calls  for  the  preparation  of  seven  Thematic 
Strategies on: 

•  Air pollution 

•  The marine environment 

•  The sustainable use of resources 

•  Waste prevention and recycling 

•  The sustainable use of Pesticides 

•  Soil protection 

•  The urban environment 

The Air, Waste and Pesticides strategies review and will revise policy and/or legislation in 
areas where there is a longstanding and extensive body of Community law. The others will 
take up new environmental challenges in an integrated perspective. The Resources Strategy 
will provide an analytical framework for sustainable production and consumption policies, 
including  waste  management.  The  Soil  and  Marine  strategies  will  complement  air  and 
water  policy  to  cover  the  primary  environment  media.  The  Urban  Strategy  will  examine 
the  specific  problems  of  the  urban  environment  and  looks  at  sustainable  transport, 
thematic 
sustainable  construction  and  integrated  environmental  management.  The 
strategies  will  be  the  key  delivery  mechanisms  under  the  6th  Environment  Action 

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Cf. COM (2005) 97. 
Directive  2000/60/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  23  October  2000  establishing  a 
framework for Community action in the field of water policy 
Decision No 1600/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 July 2002 laying down the 
Sixth Community Environment Action Programme. OJ L 242 10/09/2002 

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Programme,  which  itself  represents  the  environment  contribution  to  the  EU  Sustainable 
Development Strategy. (see Annex) 

The  thematic  strategies  will  provide  a  broad  analysis  of  issues  by  theme,  looking  at 
pressures and impacts on specific environment themes (for example, air pollutants such as 
particulate  matter  leading  to  negative  health  effects,  loss  of  biodiversity),  impacts  which 
cut  across  environment  themes  (climate  change,  biodiversity  loss)  and  links  between  the 
environment  impacts  and  sector  policies  (such  as  the  impact  of  transport,  energy, 
agriculture  on  air,  soil,  water  etc).  They  aim  to  strike  the  right  balance  between 
environment protection and the Lisbon objectives of growth and jobs. They will look at a 
broad  range  of  options  and  a  varied  policy  mix,  including  the  use  of  market  based 
instruments, technology deployment and innovation to deal with the identified problems in 
a  strategic  and  effective  manner.  They  will  take  a  longer  term  perspective,  setting  the 
framework  for  Community  and  Member  States  action  for  the  next  two  decades,  i.e. 
proposing strategic objectives as well as exploring  short  and  medium  term  measures  that 
will have been thoroughly examined in impact assessments. They will aim to contribute to 
fulfilling  the  EU’s  global  commitments.  This  should  help  to  provide  greater  legal  and 
regulatory certainty and a stable framework within which the public sector, companies and 
individuals can better plan. 

Each strategy will take the form of a package comprising of  

•  an  overall  approach  towards  the  thematic  issue  presented  in  a  Communication, 

highlighting issues and proposed solutions ; 

•  legislative proposals for some of the strategies; 

•  an impact assessment 

3. 

APPLYING BETTER REGULATION 

The  Thematic  Strategies  are  based  on  impact  assessments  and  are  being  prepared  with 
particular attention to stakeholder consultation, simplification and cross-cutting issues and 
linkages. 

3.1. 

Impact Assessment 

Impact  assessments  have  been  conducted  or  are  underway  for  all  of  the  Thematic 
Strategies to ensure that decisions are taken on the basis of the best available information. 
The  impact  assessments  analyse  the  issues,  causal  relationships  and  linkages,  who  is 
affected  and  the  appropriateness  of  EU  level  intervention.  This  analysis  is  intended  to 
deepen  the  understanding  of  the  issues  and  the  underlying  causes  of  the  environment 
problems and social and economic consequences of proposed measures. 

A  range  of  possible  policy  options,  including  no  change  scenarios,  is  being  assessed. 
Alternatives  to  regulation  are  being  examined  as  is  the  use  of  market-based  instruments. 
For  example,  as  regards  the  use  of  pesticides,  a  detailed  analysis  of  both  taxation  and 
charges for packaging disposal was carried out. The strategies will look at different means 
that can be used in the policy mix, including research and technological development. 

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The principles of subsidiarity and proportionality will be taken into account in the choice 
of options. For example, under the resources and waste prevention and recycling strategies, 
given the significant differences in resource use and production patterns across the EU, it 
will  be  up  to  Member  States  to  choose  the  most  appropriate  way  to  achieve  desired 
objectives. The marine strategy will be tailored to take the diversity of the various seas into 
account and suggests a regional eco-system approach. 

The economic  including impacts on the competitiveness of EU industry, social and 
environmental impacts of the policy options are being examined. This includes cost-benefit 
analysis.  The  extent  of  quantification  of  impacts  and  monetisation  of  costs  and  benefits 
varies from strategy to strategy. Some strategies (Resources, Urban) will set out principles 
and  suggest  new  approaches  and  the  analysis  of  their  impacts  is  of  a  qualitative  nature 
because there are no binding implementing measures presented. Others such as Marine and 
Soil will set medium to long term objectives, but leave the detailed definition of specific 
measures and quantification of their impact to the most appropriate level of governance at 
a future date. 

In contrast, the impact assessments for the Air and Pesticides strategies will include more 
quantitative  analysis,  with  costs  and  benefits  monetised.  The  integrated  modelling 
undertaken, for example, during the preparation of the air thematic strategy has facilitated 
the  identification  of  a  number  of  long  term  scenarios  with  differing  impacts  on  human 
health, the environment and competitiveness, each with corresponding costs and benefits.  

The  impact  assessment  work  being  done  in  preparing  the  strategies  will  allow  for  the 
choice of preferred options in which expected benefits outweigh costs. Given that costs of 
taking remedial action can be higher than taking timely innovative, preventative action, the 
costs of inaction are also being examined. In addition, the impact assessments are taking 
into  account  the  role  that  well  designed  environment  regulation  can  play  in  triggering 
innovation and developing clean technologies.  

3.2. 

Stakeholder consultation 

The preparation of the strategies involves major efforts to consult and exploit the expertise 
of  a  vast  range  of  stakeholders.  Each  strategy  is  the  result  of  a  thorough  consultation 
process – first a “Green Paper” type of document was presented, setting out the issues and 
possible  approaches  to  dealing  with  them.  These  documents  were  thereafter  subject  to 
extensive consultation in expert working groups, in the impact assessment process and on 
the internet – a process stretching over a number of years. Both the European Parliament 
and the Council discussed these documents and conclusions were adopted.  

A  broad  range  of  stakeholders  -  Member  State  experts,  academics,  business  and  trade 
associations,  individual  companies,  NGOs,  other  representatives  of  civil  society  and  the 
general public – have been consulted. Means of consultation included regular meetings of 
experts,  conferences,  specialised  workshops  and  internet  consultations  for  all  the 
Strategies.  The  latter  attracted  considerable  interest,  with  more  than  11,000  responses 
submitted for the air strategy alone. 

This  extensive  consultation  has  allowed  the  Strategies  to  be  prepared  on  the  basis  of  the 
best available science and to take into account the concerns of practitioners which should 
facilitate improved implementation in the future.  

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3.3. 

Simplification 

In  those  areas  where  there  is  existing  policy  and  legislation,  such  as  Air  and  Waste,  the 
thematic  strategies  aim  at  simplification.  They  will  simplify  existing  legislation,.  clarify 
definitions,  remove  ambiguities  and  suggest  ways  to  facilitate  improved  implementation. 
The air pollution strategy, for example, will consolidate five existing separate pieces of air 
quality  legislation  in  one  single  directive,  aligning  definitions,  repealing  and  revising 
outdated provisions and cutting away duplication.  

To  the  extent  possible,  the  thematic  strategies  will  use  existing  instruments  and  policies, 
rather  than  new  policy  proposals,  to  bring  about  new  policy  goals.  For  example,  the 
pesticides  strategy  is  being  designed  in  close  co-operation  with  the  revision  of  Directive 
91/414/EEC  on  the  approval  of  pesticide  active  substances.  Where  the  strategies  require 
action to be taken on particular products, these will be taken primarily on a voluntary basis 
under  the  framework  of  Integrated  Product  Policy,  and  where  eco-efficient  innovations 
need to be promoted, the Environmental Technologies Action Plan10.  

With  a  view  to  both  simplification  and  reducing  administrative  costs,  the  consolidation, 
modernisation and streamlining of monitoring and reporting requirements in environment 
legislation  is  also  being  examined  in  preparing  the  thematic  strategies.  The  way  forward 
lies in modernisation - moving towards shared information systems which meet the needs 
of Community environmental policies, policy makers and of the public, whilst minimising 
administrative  burden.  In  the  preparation  of  each  thematic  strategy,  existing  systems  and 
requirements  are  being  examined  and  any  new  initiatives  are  tailored  to  move  towards 
providing  readily  accessible  data  which  will  give  a  picture  of  the  actual  state  of  the 
environment at the European level and contribute to improved policy making.  

3.4. 

Exploiting linkages and synergies  

The  concurrent  development  of  the  Thematic  Strategies  has  provided  the  opportunity  to 
examine  linkages  between  policy  areas  in  detail  and  more  systematically  plan  and 
programme  changes  to  other  environmental  legislation.  With  an  improved  understanding 
of linkages, it will be possible to exploit synergies and adopt mutually supporting measures 
in  the  various  strategies.  For  example,  ground  level  ozone  is  an  air  pollutant  affecting 
human  health,  particularly  in  urban  areas  and  biodiversity.  It  is  also  a  direct  greenhouse 
gas. So, measures that reduce its concentration will help meet air quality, climate change 
and  urban  environment  policy  goals.  The  air  pollution  thematic  strategy  will  suggest 
changes  in  air  quality  monitoring  such  that  it  can  also  serve  environment  and  health, 
biodiversity, soil, urban, marine information needs. 

The preparation of the Thematic Strategies highlights that solving environment problems 
requires  integration  of  environment  concerns  into  other  sector  policy  areas,  such  as 
agriculture,  transport,  energy  and  research.  This  is  essential  to  ensure  contribution  of  the 
strategies to the broader aims of sustainable development. The thematic strategies will set 
the framework for integration efforts for the years to come – they will provide clarity on 
where  integration  efforts  are  most  needed  in  a  long  term  perspective.  The  thematic 
strategies  will  also  provide  a  coherent  policy  context  for  Community  funding  under  the 

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COM(2004)38  Stimulating  Technologies  for  Sustainable  Development:  an  Environmental  Technologies 
Action Plan for the EU 

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next  Financial  perspectives.  For  example,  the  research  priorities  in  the  various  thematic 
areas  will  be  supported  through  the  7th  Research  Framework  Programme,  environmental 
technologies through the latter programme as well as the Competitiveness and Innovation 
Programme.  

4. 

CONCLUSION 

In  the  preparation  of  the  Thematic  Strategies,  attention  is  being  paid  to  improving  the 
design of regulatory measures so as to facilitate effective implementation, minimisation of 
costs and optimisation of benefits. The Thematic Strategies will thus rise to the challenge 
of the Better Regulation priority of this Commission11. They aim to set the foundation for 
achieving a healthy European environment in a cost effective manner such that the pursuit 
of  environment  goals  can  go  hand  in  hand  with  sustained  growth  and  job  creation, 
improving  the  quality  of  life  and  the  health  of  European  citizens,  thus  fulfilling  our 
commitment towards sustainable development. 

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COM(2005)97 final Better Regulation for growth and jobs in the European Union. 

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