Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions – Active subsidiarity: a fundamental principle of the EU better regulation agenda (own-initiative opinion)
Date: 2024-06-20
Institutions: Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs, European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU strategy, administrative transparency, application of the law, drafting of EU law, interinstitutional cooperation (EU), legislative procedure, principle of subsidiarity, regulatory policy, transparency in decision-making








C_202405366EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/5366


17.9.2024






Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions – Active subsidiarity: a fundamental principle of the EU better regulation agenda

(own-initiative opinion)

(C/2024/5366)














Rapporteur



:


Mark SPEICH (DE/EPP), Secretary of State for Federal, European and International Affairs and Media, North Rhine-Westphalia









POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS (CoR),








1.


notes that the upcoming new institutional mandate of the EU will have to respond to key strategic, democratic and institutional challenges. At all levels, our European democracy faces the threat posed by geopolitical instability and needs to actively address the challenges of the digital and green transitions while enhancing economic competitiveness and resilience; it is therefore extremely important that EU decision-making and legislative processes keep pace with those challenges and ensure the EU’s capacity to meet its objectives efficiently and transparently;












2.


considers that active subsidiarity and better regulation are key components of a functioning and accountable European democracy that delivers, even more so in light of these strategic challenges. Therefore, better regulation should be a shared objective of all EU institutions. As highlighted in its opinion on Better regulation: Joining forces to make better laws (1), the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) calls for the EU better regulation system to incorporate the EU’s multilevel governance structure;












3.


is convinced that greater involvement of the CoR and the regions in all phases of the European legislative process – from the preparation of draft legislation to the implementation, assessment and revision of adopted legal acts – and in strategic policy processes can ensure more efficient decision-making and implementation of EU policy; this is based on the fact that regional and local authorities, being responsible for implementing more than 70 % of EU legislation, are better placed than any other level of public administration to recognise the specific difficulties and challenges involved in implementing and communicating EU law. By properly applying multilevel governance and active subsidiarity principles, EU legislation and policies would not only be closer to the needs of European citizens, but would also be more evidence-based and effective;












4.


points out that the proposals of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFE) on multilevel governance and active subsidiarity acknowledge the link between adherence to these principles and a strong European democracy. They represent an important starting point on which EU institutions should continue to follow up, including in a conventional process of Treaty reforms;












5.


notes that the revised cooperation agreement between the CoR and the European Commission signed on 20 March 2024 provides new ways to structure and consolidate cooperation on better regulation and active subsidiarity; welcomes that the revised cooperation agreement with the European Parliament, signed on 14 May 2024, is making similar improvements and considers it therefore even more important to also reach an understanding with the Council on closer cooperation in order to promote better regulation and active subsidiarity among all governance levels;












6.


considers that the Commission should prioritise collaboration with local and regional authorities, particularly those with legislative powers, throughout the policy cycle; this collaboration is essential to effectively bring the exercise of implementing powers closer to citizens as much as possible, in accordance with the proximity principle set out in Article 10(3) of the TEU. Additionally, it calls for the establishment of transparent mechanisms to regularly report on the progress and impact of such collaborations to the public. At the same time, this collaboration is necessary to improve the decision-making and action capacities of the Member States from the regional and local levels, to achieve the objectives of an action sufficiently, effectively and with full attention to territorial particularities;












7.


regrets, that, while the Commission explicitly states in its Communication on pre-enlargement reforms and policy reviews of 20 March 2024 (2) that the prospect of enlargement is also an opportunity to simplify EU rules and better apply the subsidiarity and proportionality principles, it fails to recognise and mention the potential that strengthening active subsidiarity and better involvement of the sub-national level would have in this respect;












8.


takes note that the High-Level Report on the future of the Single Market published in April 2024 identifies the challenges of simplifying the regulatory framework as the main hurdle for the future Single Market, proposes several better regulation initiatives in all phases of law-making and emphasises the crucial importance of proportionality and subsidiarity for the future Single Market Strategy to be drafted by the European Commission (3). The CoR supports the conclusions of the report, which explicitly mention its advisory role as an institution ensuring that the legislative process is guided by a comprehensive and practice-oriented analysis, and affirms in this context its willingness to cooperate closely with the other institutions in providing input to the future Single Market Strategy;





A forward-looking approach to legislation: the territorial dimension of strategic foresight









9.


believes that a local and regional perspective should be incorporated into interinstitutional programming and therefore encourages the Commission to request more often that the CoR draw up ‘outlook opinions’ on future Union policies before action is taken at Union level or on the evaluation and implementation of a policy, and to provide proper follow-up. This would allow the CoR to better contribute to EU agenda setting and policymaking;












10.


stresses that, as highlighted in its opinion on Strategic foresight as an instrument of EU governance and better regulation (4), a stronger culture of strategic foresight with a focus on better governance at local and regional level is integral to building resilience and anticipatory and participatory governance across the EU;












11.


is committed to including foresight in its programming framework and strategic planning – for instance by developing a strategic foresight toolbox to identify good practices at local and regional level and support scenario-building for local and regional concerns, using participatory foresight tools such as stakeholders’ and citizens’ consultations where possible and appropriate; and to being actively involved in the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS) to represent regional and local voices in foresight processes; in particular, it calls for support from the Commission with regard to strengthening the initiatives aimed at continuing to improve the integration of territorial foresight analyses within the instruments of the EU’s better regulation agenda, in line with the principle of active subsidiarity;





Consultations and assessments in the pre-legislative phase: importance of territorial impact









12.


stresses the importance of using diverse better regulation tools like assessments concerning subsidiarity, proportionality, territorial impact and rural proofing more systematically, consistently and continuously throughout the decision-making cycle;












13.


calls for the creation of specific, binding tools dedicated to consultations of local and regional authorities and their associations, including through dedicated hearings organised by the relevant Commission departments;












14.


also requests that the European Parliament systematically consult the CoR, including by organising dedicated hearings, when preparing impact assessments and drafting reports on issues with a territorial dimension and, in particular, reports on regulatory fitness, subsidiarity and proportionality;












15.


stresses that such consultations also have a considerable value in terms of feeding into strategic foresight exercises aimed at improving EU legislation and implementing multilevel governance;












16.


considers that territorial impact assessments (TIAs) are the best tool for implementing the ‘do no harm to cohesion’ principle, ensuring that EU policies and pieces of legislation do not have different impacts in different regions, which could aggravate regional disparities and fuel discontent in the EU (5); highlights the Council’s call for the Commission to make wide use of TIAs (6); suggests exploring mechanisms allowing the CoR to flag initiatives for which territorial impacts should be looked into and to carry out TIAs for the Commission and other EU institutions, under the condition that it be provided with adequate resources;












17.


believes that, where appropriate, impacts on rural areas should also be systematically evaluated when assessing EU legislation, as part of TIAs (7);












18.


calls for the EU institutions to systematically use the subsidiarity grid as proposed by the Task Force on Subsidiarity, Proportionality and Doing Less More Efficiently in 2018;












19.


notes that assessments concerning subsidiarity, proportionality, territorial impact and rural proofing often need to be updated or reviewed in the course of the legislative process, after amendments from the co-legislators; encourages the co-legislators to assess the impacts of their amendments, in line with the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making (IIA). In this context, in order to provide inputs to these updated assessments, the CoR should be involved as an observer in the trilogue negotiations;












20.


reiterates that it has always been in favour of a stronger role for regional parliaments with legislative powers in the EU decision-making system. Therefore, the CoR calls for their positions to be taken into account in reasoned opinions of national parliaments on legislative drafts; and for a ‘green card mechanism’ to be set up to enable national or regional parliaments with legislative powers to make legislative proposals so that EU law can better meet local and regional needs (8);





Taking stock from experience: fitness checks and evaluations









21.


acknowledges that, by establishing the Fit for Future (F4F) Platform, the Commission has taken an important step towards reducing bureaucracy and simplifying EU legislation, and calls for the continuation of its activities in the next institutional term of office; is already committed to actively participating in the platform’s work in the future;












22.


is of the opinion that the F4F Platform can only make a significant contribution if its members are independent and autonomous with regard to selecting topics, setting the platform’s work programme and drafting their opinions;












23.


calls for the F4F Platform working methods to be extended to the pre-legislative phase, thus guaranteeing an evidence-based, place-based and consistent approach throughout the legislative cycle – from ex ante assessments to ex post evaluations;












24.


calls on the Commission to pave the way for the future F4F Platform, implementing measures to make it easier to contribute to the new platform and more actively involving the contact points of the CoR Network of Regional Hubs (RegHub). This would include the Commission following up on consultations in more detail, providing dedicated training courses and information sessions on consultation topics, organising high-level meetings with RegHub representatives and improving IT/digital tools to help hubs carry out consultations. Service-level agreements with the Commission might be the best way of achieving these goals;





More transparent legislation to make the added value of EU action more evident









25.


shares the Commission’s overall objective of avoiding overregulation and streamlining existing regulation, in order to make EU legislation more user-friendly and easier for individuals, businesses and local and regional authorities to understand and implement;












26.


considers that the ‘One In, One Out’ principle put forward by the Commission contributes to meeting the above-mentioned objectives and promoting positive changes in the legislative and administrative culture and in mindsets; it aims at avoiding additional unnecessary administrative burdens when designing, transposing and implementing EU legislation, whereby it is understood that the ‘One In, One Out’ principle does not prevent Member States from maintaining or taking more ambitious measures and adopting higher social, environmental and consumer protection standards in cases where only minimum standards are defined by Union law; however, to avoid jeopardising the EU’s high economic, social and environmental standards, the implementation of legislative initiatives needs to be grounded in an evidence-based approach and accompanied by impact assessments, including evaluating whether the initiative will have a different impact in different regions and assessing the costs of not acting (9);












27.


in the same spirit, is concerned that the Commission initiative of reducing burdens associated with reporting requirements does not sufficiently take into account its impact on local and regional authorities;












28.


considers that the Commission should better exploit legislative techniques aiming to streamline and simplify legislation, such as: legislation allowing for the consideration of alternative, less burdensome solutions; legislation focusing on the outcomes, instead of prescribing the exact mechanisms by which compliance is obtained; legislation including a ‘right to challenge’ enabling public authorities, local and regional governments and possibly even Member States to apply for exemptions; ‘sunset clauses’, where appropriate, so that a law ceases to exist unless further action is required; regular checks that existing pieces of legislation are not in contradiction with each other and are bringing a real European added value, also taking into account legislation adopted across several policy domains; against this background, the CoR calls on the Commission to commission an independent evaluation of the mechanism of ‘regulatory sandboxes’ introduced since 2022;












29.


calls for the Commission’s Regulatory Scrutiny Board to more carefully consider the territorial impact of legislation when it advises on draft impact assessments, fitness checks and major evaluations of existing legislation; to this end, calls for the Board to identify ways of cooperating with the CoR and, in particular, to include a permanent member designated by the CoR;












30.


welcomes the appointment of a dedicated EU SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) Envoy and appreciates the Commission’s determination to take action in support of SMEs; appreciates in particular the fact that the SME Envoy will advocate addressing SMEs’ specific concerns and needs in line with the Commission’s better regulation agenda, including working towards reducing red tape and identifying upcoming EU legislation meriting close attention from an SME perspective, while engaging in a regular dialogue with the Regulatory Scrutiny Board. The CoR believes that the active subsidiarity framework has great potential to foster closer cooperation with the SME Envoy and the SME Envoys Network and utilise synergies;





Way forward: towards a coordinated and effective better regulation agenda









31.


proposes bringing together the subsidiarity and better regulation focal points/bodies already established in the institutions in a single interinstitutional ‘subsidiarity platform’, which would serve as an advisory board of experts to further develop the subsidiarity grid, support subsidiarity and proportionality assessments and identify the system’s strengths and weaknesses; the CoR is willing to actively cooperate in this platform;












32.


considers, with a view to the next multiannual financial framework, that cooperation with the Commission should be extended to include extra funding so that the CoR can manage a bigger network of regional hubs and increase their contributions to relevant policy files under the future F4F Platform. This would allow the CoR to assist the Commission and other institutions with their TIAs and to further contribute through its other better regulation tools; this cooperation with the Commission and the other European institutions will facilitate a more active involvement of local and regional entities in the preparation and implementation of Union policies;












33.


believes that options for further funding should be explored, via a pilot project or preparatory action that the European Parliament could introduce during the annual EU budgetary procedure;












34.


thinks that any revision of the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better law-making (IIA) should take into consideration the above-mentioned proposals, thus incorporating the multilevel dimension of the EU regulatory process, as further specified in the following points;












35.


requests to be actively involved in the negotiations for any future revision of the IIA and to be included in the IIA framework through ad hoc protocols or implementation agreements;












36.


considers that most of the above-mentioned proposals can be implemented in the current Treaty framework or by optimising it. Nevertheless, the CoR supports the European Parliament’s call for the European Council to convene a convention in accordance with the ordinary Treaty revision procedure provided for in Article 48 TEU as soon as possible;












37.


highlights the proposals and recommendations set out in its resolution on The outcome and follow up of the Conference on the Future of Europe adopted on 30 June 2022 and reiterates its call for the CoR’s position in the EU’s interinstitutional structure to be strengthened. The future Convention should therefore also consider ways to reform the CoR in order to enhance its impact in the law-making process where matters with a territorial impact are concerned and ensure its involvement in the European Council’s work;












38.


has taken note of the European Parliament’s proposal to invite the CoR to take part in the Convention only as an observer and therefore repeats its request that the Convention fully involve members of the CoR to ensure that the voices of the over 1 million regionally and locally elected politicians in Europe are heard, also taking into consideration the fact that some of these politicians represent regions with legislative powers.






Brussels, 20 June 2024.


The President


of the European Committee of the Regions

Vasco ALVES CORDEIRO
               





(1)  Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions — Better regulation: Joining forces to make better laws (OJ C 97, 28.2.2022, p. 10).

(2)  Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council of 20 March 2024 on pre-enlargement reforms and policy reviews (COM(2024) 146).

(3)  Letta Report ‘Much more than a market – Speed, Security, Solidarity – Empowering the Single Market to deliver a sustainable future and prosperity for all EU Citizens’, April 2024.

(4)  Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions — Strategic foresight as an instrument of EU governance and better regulation (OJ C, C/2023/1327, 22.12.2023, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2023/1327/oj).

(5)  Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions on ‘Do no harm to cohesion – A cross-cutting principle contributing towards cohesion as an overall objective and value of the EU’ (OJ C 257, 21.7.2023, p. 1).

(6)  Council conclusions of 30 November 2023 on the future of cohesion policy.

(7)  Declaration of the Bureau of the European Committee of the Regions on Ensuring the development of thriving and vibrant rural areas, Logroño, 31 October 2023.

(8)  P9_TA(2023)0427 – Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties – European Parliament resolution of 22 November 2023 on proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties (2022/2051(INL)) (OJ C, C/2024/4216, 24.7.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/4216/oj).

(9)  Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions — Better regulation: Joining forces to make better laws (OJ C 97, 28.2.2022, p. 10).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/5366/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)