Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on Better lawmaking 2005 and 2006
Date: 2007-10-11
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU law, EU law - national law, impact study, national implementing measure, simplification of legislation

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Better lawmaking 2005 and 2006’

(2007/C 305/08)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

— believes that the work of the European Union, the Member States and the regional and local authori-
ties must be reinforced by means of a real partnership, in order to respond more effectively to the
economic, social, environmental and democratic challenges facing Europe, all the time respecting the
competences of the various tiers of authority;

— takes the view that priority should be given to improving the regulatory environment, simplifying the
Community acquis and applying the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality as well as strength-
ening consultation and impact evaluation methods with a view to promoting genuine governance at
multiple levels within the European Union;

— regrets the paucity of references to the local and regional dimension in the ‘Better lawmaking’
package, whereas the White Paper on European Governance adopted in 2001 stressed the need to
build a better partnership between the various tiers of authority, in the knowledge that local and
regional authorities are to a large extent responsible for implementing and sometimes even trans-
posing Community legislation, depending on their powers;

— hopes that the institutional regulation in the context of the current IGC will preserve the provisions
set out in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe when it comes to the local and regional
authorities and the Committee of the Regions and, more specifically, the provisions relating to the
definition, implementation and monitoring of the subsidiarity and proportionality principles;

— is in favour of the Commission and the national and regional parliaments setting up a mechanism for
monitoring the subsidiarity principle as soon as possible, so as to submit EU legislative proposals to
detailed scrutiny at a very early stage in the process;

— while arguing in favour of strengthening its involvement in evaluating the territorial impact of major
Community policies, offers to place its expertise at the service of the European Commission so as to
contribute to the impact analyses for all new legislative proposals having a major local or regional
impact;

— hopes that the ‘Better lawmaking’ initiative will be accompanied by adequate information and commu-
nication initiatives regarding the players involved in implementing Community legislation — in the
majority of cases the local and regional authorities — and the beneficiaries of Community legislation,
in particular the European public.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Reference documents

Report on Better lawmaking 2005

COM(2006) 289 final; SEC(2006) 289

A strategic review of Better Regulation in the European Union

COM(2006) 689 final

Commission working document: First progress report on the strategy for the simplification of the regula-
tory environment

COM(2006) 690 final

Commission working document: measuring administrative costs and reducing administrative burdens in
the European Union

COM(2006) 691 final

Action Programme for Reducing Administrative Burdens in the European Union

COM(2007) 23 final; SEC(2007) 84; SEC(2007) 85

Better Lawmaking 2006 Report

COM(2007)286 final; SEC(2007) 737

Rapporteur: Mr VAN DEN BRANDE, Member of the Flemish Parliament (BE/EPP)

Policy recommendations

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

General recommendations

that

believes

the work of

the European Union,

1.
the
Member States and the regional and local authorities must be
reinforced by means of a real partnership, in order to respond
more effectively to the economic, social, environmental and
democratic challenges facing Europe, all the time respecting the
competences of the various tiers of authority;

2.
takes the view that priority should be given to improving
the regulatory environment, simplifying the Community acquis
and applying the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality
as well as strengthening consultation and impact evaluation
methods with a view to promoting genuine governance at
multiple levels within the European Union;

underlines that, in the context of the Commission's drive
3.
to codify and recast legislative proposals,
‘better lawmaking’
should not simply mean ‘less lawmaking’ and that any with-
drawal of legislation by the Commission should be justified by
an assessment of the European value added of the legislative
proposal; it therefore calls on the European Commission to exer-
cise its role as a driving force within the European integration
process fully from now on, recalling that a coherent long-term
political vision translating into tangible political action is a
necessary condition for ‘better lawmaking’ and ‘better regu-
lation’;

supports the European Commission's efforts to promote
4.
better lawmaking by withdrawing on-going legislative proposals
whenever appropriate in the interests of the subsidiarity prin-
ciple, and calls on the Commission to continue along this path;

5.
regrets the paucity of references to the local and regional
dimension in the ‘Better lawmaking’ package, whereas the White
Paper on European Governance adopted in 2001 stressed the
need to build a better partnership between the various tiers of
authority, in the knowledge that local and regional authorities
are to a large extent responsible for implementing and some-
times even transposing Community legislation, depending on
their powers, and should therefore be more closely involved
throughout the ‘Better lawmaking’ initiative, not least through
CoR participation in the various interinstitutional coordination
groups;

6.
hopes to see local authorities, regional parliaments and
regional assemblies involved in the preparation and finalisation
of Community legislation, to a degree commensurate with their
powers, so as to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the
decision-making process;

endorses the priority given by the European Commis-
7.
sion's 2007 work programme to improving the regulatory envir-
onment not least to serve the Lisbon strategy objectives of
competitive growth, employment and sustainable development,
thus promoting a better quality of life for the European public;

8.
warmly welcomes the Better Lawmaking 2006 Report,
which gives consideration to its wish to be consulted and
involved in the pre-legislative phase, particularly when it comes
to upholding principles of subsidiarity and proportionality in
the context of impact analyses; but would nevertheless stress the
need in future to bolster these efforts with regard to coordina-
tion among the various tiers of authority, communication on
the Community decision-making process and the scope of Com-
munity legislative intervention and its financial and administra-
tive impact on local and regional authorities;

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Application of the subsidiarity and proportionality principles

diarity principle,
competences are shared between national and regional level;

to be drawn up in Member States where

renews its commitment to the constitutional dimension of
9.
the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality and,
in the
absence of a Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe,
underlines the importance for regional and local authorities and
for the Committee of the Regions of implementing the proto-
cols or their respective content concerning the role of national
parliaments in the EU and the application of the subsidiarity
and proportionality principles, as soon as possible;

10.
hopes that the institutional regulation in the context of
the current IGC will preserve the provisions set out in the
Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe when it comes to
the local and regional authorities and the Committee of the
Regions and, more specifically, the provisions relating to the
definition, implementation and monitoring of these two princi-
ples;

stresses that according to the Treaty in its current form,
11.
the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality are the levers
for multiple-level governance, which means responsibility for
their application must be shared, and a genuine culture of subsi-
diarity must be established in the European Union;

12.
warmly welcomes the Berlin Declaration of 25 March
2007, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the
Treaties of Rome, which stresses the need to share tasks out
between the European Union,
the Member States and their
regional and local authorities, and thus gives recognition to
multi-tiered governance;

13.
calls upon the other European institutions to take regular
and systematic account of the local and regional dimension of
the subsidiarity and proportionality principles at all stages of
the legislative process;

wishes, to this end, to make its expertise available, not
14.
least through the subsidiarity monitoring network,
in accord-
ance with the assessments made and conclusions drawn by the
two pilot tests conducted to date;

15.
urges the regional parliaments to set up parliamentary
committees to monitor the application of the subsidiarity prin-
ciple and become preferred contacts in the above-mentioned
network;

welcomes

the European Commission's

initiative of
16.
informing national parliaments directly of all new legislative
proposals and consultation documents, and inviting them to
inform it of their reactions so as to improve the policy-making
process, particularly with regard to the subsidiarity and propor-
tionality principles and the actual content of proposals; and
calls for this practice to be extended to sub-national legislative
bodies,
in accordance with the distribution of competences
within each Member State;

17.
calls for binding internal agreements on the procedures
for early warning systems to monitor application of the subsi-

18.
consequently calls on the European Commission to set
up a computerised system to give local and regional authorities
access to appropriate information at all stages of the legislative
process;

19.
is in favour of the Commission and the national and
regional parliaments setting up a mechanism for monitoring the
subsidiarity principle as soon as possible, so as to submit EU
legislative proposals to detailed scrutiny at a very early stage in
the process; and insists that provision should be made for the
Committee to cooperate in the establishment of this mechanism,
so as to make the most of existing synergies, the Committee
being prepared to share the experience it has gained from its
subsidiarity monitoring network;

Consultation process and structured dialogue

20.
underlines the importance of it being consulted during
the legislative process, in its capacity as the institutional repre-
sentative of the local and regional authorities of the European
Union and as the European Commission's official consultative
partner; strengthening this consultation will make the decision-
making process more open,
inclusive, operational and demo-
cratic, and bring it back to the level closest to the European
public;

21.
reiterates the commitments made under the cooperation
protocol signed in November 2005 with the European Commis-
sion, which stipulated that ‘Under the good governance prin-
ciple the Committee must play to the full its role as a link in the
dialogue with local authority organisations. The Commission
shall ensure that the Committee is fully involved in the political
preparation of jointly organised meetings’, and welcomes the
involvement since 2004 of nine European Commissioners in a
structured dialogue, along with nearly 80 European and national
associations representing regional and local authorities;

believes that

the structured dialogue with local and
22.
regional authority associations is a tool that should be used in
the preparation phase for the European Commission's legislative
work programme in particular;

23.
offers a number of suggestions for future discussions
with the social dialogue partners with a view to improving the
procedures involved and securing the initial objectives of this
dialogue, while also strengthening the political and institutional
role of the Committee of the Regions:

— hold a structured dialogue session at an appropriate time of
the year so that the associations of local and regional autho-
rities and the Commission can have a proper discussion on
the work priorities before the Commission adopts its annual
legislative work programme;

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— prepare the annual programme and meeting agendas for the
structured dialogue by means of close cooperation between
the Committee and the European and national associations
of local and regional authorities;

— develop the interface with local and regional media in coop-
eration with the associations of local and regional authori-
ties;

— provide the opportunity for local and regional authorities to
submit comments in writing and to raise issues of interest
in accordance with the European Union agenda,
to them,
and receive a reply;

— provide minutes, prepared by the relevant Commission

services, after each meeting;

— put an emphasis on strengthening the follow-up to struc-
tured dialogue by means of regular evaluation in close coop-
eration with the Committee and the national and European
associations that represent local and regional authorities;

defined jointly between the local, regional and European levels;
recourse to this instrument should remain voluntary;

30.
stresses that there can be no real partnership without a
financial contribution from each of the parties to the agreement;
and proposes that discussions on the financing of the European
for synergy
territorial pacts should focus on the potential
between existing budget headings in the areas concerned and
the Structural Funds on the European side, and the budget head-
ings available at
levels, without
local, regional and national
creating another financial instrument for Community regional
policy or requesting additional funds to this end;

considers

consultation should be

31.
that
stepped up
the
between the European Commission,
European Union, the European Parliament and the Committee
of the Regions with regard to the definition and implementation
of the European territorial pacts;

the Council of

24.
would also like to have greater responsibility for orga-
nising the structured dialogue and to see a more transparent
process established;

32.
assures the European Commission of its desire to play a
proactive role to encourage the conclusion of European terri-
torial pacts and to be a reliable partner to all
the players
concerned;

‘Better

lawmaking 2004’

reiterates the recommendations it made in its opinion on
25.
the
calling for
systematic consultation of local and regional authorities at an
early stage in the preparation of European legislation; and
believes that it is essential to ensure that the consultations are
effective and that they are taken into account;

report,

annual

33.
calls, nevertheless, for greater support from the European
Commission with regard to initiatives from local and regional
authorities; also stresses on the need to give greater attention to
existing projects, which must not be abandoned once the test
phase is over;

Improved transposition and application of Community legislation and
policies at local and regional level

Impact analysis and evaluation of
burden

the administrative and financial

recalls that

local and regional authorities are,

26.
in the
main, hostage to the quality of transposition of Community
legislation at national level; and emphasises the importance of
improved coordination between the national level and local and
regional authorities;

reiterates the need to put the partnership principle into
27.
practice during both the preparation and the implementation
phase of Community legislation and policies;

recalls that

the European Commission launched and
28.
developed the idea of tripartite contracts and agreements on
objectives; repeats its proposal that these instruments should be
revised and proposes the establishment of European territorial
pacts, drawing on the results of the test phase initiated by the
European Commission for tripartite agreements;

29.
like
underlines the fact that European territorial pacts,
the European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation, would
boost territorial coherence and the flexibility of policies with a
high local impact, owing to structured cooperation between the
various levels of governance in order to implement objectives

34.
in accordance with the recommendation set out in its
opinion on ‘Better Lawmaking 2004’, welcomes the European
Commission's proposal to set up an independent impact assess-
ment board under the authority of the president in order to
strengthen monitoring;

35.
argues in favour of strengthening the involvement of the
Committee of the Regions in evaluating the territorial impact of
major Community policies; also stresses the key role that local
and regional authorities can play in transposition and imple-
mentation if they are properly involved in the preparation of
legislation;

36.
supports the search for a common impact analysis
method and a joint methodology for assessing the administra-
tive costs engendered by European legislation; recommends
tailoring this methodology to local and regional level so as to
be able to evaluate as effectively as possible the financial and
administrative burdens shouldered by local and regional authori-
ties; and wishes to be fully involved in interinstitutional coop-
eration in this area;

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37.
welcomes the European Commission's action programme
for reducing administrative burdens in the European Union and
the objective proposed to the European Council of 8 and
9 March 2007 of a 25 % reduction in the burden to be reached
jointly by the European Union and the Member States by 2012;
recalls nevertheless the need to take into account the local and
regional dimension as well as the role of
local and regional
authorities in implementing this objective;

38.
in the spirit of the cooperation agreement of November
2005, offers to place its expertise at the service of the European
Commission so as to contribute to the impact analyses for all
new legislative proposals having a major local or
regional
impact;

39.
on this note, undertakes to carry out a pilot test in the
context of its Lisbon strategy monitoring platform, with a view
to contributing both to making the consultation of local and
regional authorities on European legislation systematic in the
preparation phase and to searching for a common method for
analysing the resulting impact of the said legislation for local
and regional authorities; believes in this respect that it would be
useful and tie in well with its commitment to the success of the
the spring
Lisbon objectives were it
European Council meeting;

to be represented at

Simplification of Community legislation, transparency and information

repeats its request for a regional strand to be added to

40.
the national action plans for the simplification of legislation;

Brussels, 11 October 2007.

41.
welcomes the Commission initiative aimed at promoting
transparency, and points out in this respect that if the EU genu-
inely wishes to increase its democratic legitimacy, it must also
do more to involve local and regional players in its legislative
and decision-making processes; regrets therefore that no refer-
ence is made to the local and regional dimension in this initia-
tive and calls on the Commission to give greater consideration
to this matter;

that

hopes

the ‘Better

lawmaking’

42.
initiative will be
accompanied by adequate information and communication
initiatives regarding the players involved in implementing Com-
munity legislation — in the majority of cases the local and
regional authorities — and the beneficiaries of Community
legislation, in particular the European public; Community legis-
lation cannot be properly implemented if it is not understood
by the players concerned; this means that in addition to involve-
ment in the pre-legislative process, there is a need to develop
information and communication;

43.
on this note, draws the Commission's attention to the
need to arrange for the translation of all the legislative proposals
it has adopted into all the official languages of the European
Union, before the official start of the Community's legislative
stage and before referral to the Committee of the Regions;

stresses

the potential of

subsidiarity monitoring
44.
network to become an effective tool
information and
communication in the context of the Community's legislative
process.

for

its

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Michel DELEBARRE