The EU and "better" regulation

The impact on PA strategies for comitology and delegated acts

Dieselgate and the creation of a European Border and Coast Guard are just two very recent examples demonstrating that comitology and delegated acts are pivotal, yet often go unnoticed, in EU affairs. They prove that implementing measures are an integral part of key EU political developments and are not just measures to regulate the size of cucumbers or ski instructor training as some will have you believe.

2015 was the year of better regulation with the launch of the package in May including a draft Inter-institutional agreement. The package foresees in a number of changes to make EU decision-making more inclusive and more transparent. Just before the Christmas break a deal was struck on the inter-institutional agreement.

Let’s take a close look at the changes made by the better regulation package, especially with regard to comitology and delegated acts. Although decision-making has to a certain extent become more transparent and inclusive, it has however, not become more stream-lined or simpler.

Well-intended but vague commitments

  • Alignment or ‘lisbonisation’ of existing EU legislation is back on the table. The Commission will propose the alignment by the end of 2016. Relying on Mr. Verhofstadt’s comments on the negotiations, this will possibly be done via thematic Omnibus proposals. Will this new alignment process be successful when it failed last time around? If it is successful what are the repercussions for existing legislation?
     
  • The role of expert groups is strengthened whilst ensuring equal access to information for the European Parliament (EP) and Council (documents) and access to meetings of expert groups. De facto it will be very hard to guarantee an equal access to the EP, primarily because members of parliament (MEPs) and to a certain extent EP staff lack a similar technical competence to Member States (MS) experts. So far the participation of MEPs to expert groups has been extremely limited to not existent.
     
  • A joint functional register of delegated acts will be set up at the latest by end of 2017. This raises the question of who is in charge of what, who is the ultimate coordinator? Hopefully the register will be kept up to date better than e.g. the comitology register and will the number of genuinely accessible documents be significant.
     
  • The entire setting of criteria to distinguish delegated from implementing acts has been removed from the agreement and referred to separate negotiations once the IIA enters into force. By doing so, the negotiators removed one of the main obstacles to finding a compromise. The discussions on this point will be intense in the course of 2016 given the fact that the three Institutions have very diverging views.

Besides looking into the repercussions in terms of public affairs these changes will have, the goal is to provide participants with food for thought and practical pointers on how to integrate the better regulation package in their strategies notably when it comes to comitology and delegated acts and how to avoid pitfalls.

Better regulation, comitology and delegated acts may still seem quite distant for many practitioners but they are the bottom-line of virtual every legislative or policy action at EU level and therefore everyone’s business.

Image: Flickr / Thijs ter Haar


Vicky Marissen will explore the latest developments in comitology and delegated acts at the EU Public Affairs Conference, held on March 17 and 18 in Brussels. Now in its sixth year, the EU Public Affairs Conference discusses the latest public affairs strategies and recent changes in EU Institutions with speakers from L'Orèal, Nike Inc., The Volkswagen Group, The Permanent Representation of Denmark to the EU and many more. To reserve your place at this event and take advantage of the early bird fee up until February 19, register here.

 

Vicky Marissen

Vicky Marissen is managing director of PACT European Affairs. She has a legal background and has been active in EU Public Affairs for 15 years. Over this period she has built up expertise and experience with regard to comitology and delegated acts and EU decision-making procedures in general. She is also visiting professor at the College of Europe, Bruges on secondary legislatio.