Better Regulation stocktaking (Communication)

The EESC:

• points out that better regulation is not a substitute for political decisions and must on no account lead to deregulation or reduce the level of social, environmental and consumer protection and protection of fundamental rights;
• calls on the Commission to review the guidelines and criteria in its Better Regulation toolbox, with a view to incorporating into evaluation processes the sustainable development goals (SDGs) set out in the Horizon 2030 programme. A "sustainability check" should be explicitly included in the Better Regulation toolbox;
•  calls for the European impact assessment and evaluation ecosystem to keep evolving in order to strengthen its quality and encourage the active participation of organised civil society in designing and implementing legislation;
• The EESC would like a vigorous SME-friendly initiative (Act Small First) to be implemented with a view to achieving this objective, and calls for the Think small first principle and the SME test to be evaluated. The goal here will be to make these tools more effective and to design SME-compatible legislation so that SMEs can develop within the single market on the basis of complete legal certainty.
• The Regulatory Scrutiny Board (RSB), which is responsible for quality control, is a valuable body that has proven its worth in the impact assessment system. It should play a greater role in developing an integrated approach.
• Finally, the EESC considers that the innovation principle has no legal basis and it therefore follows that its use should be envisaged only where this will yield added value, except in relation to the efficient operation of the single market and social, environmental, consumer and health protection.

For more information please contact the INT Section Secretariat.