The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It proposes new initiatives and legislation, which are adopted by the European Parliament and the Council. With its 2015 Better Regulation Package, the EC has introduced significant changes to its Better Regulation policy, further refined in 2017.
Ex ante impact assessments continue to be carried out for major primary laws and subordinate legislation. Since 2015, Inception Impact Assessments, including an initial assessment of possible impacts and options to be considered, are prepared and consulted on for 4 weeks, before a full RIA is conducted. Following this initial feedback period, the EC conducts public consultations of 12 weeks during the development of initiatives with an impact assessment. Legislative proposals and the accompanying full RIA are then published online for feedback for 8 weeks following approval of the proposal by the College of Commissioners. Draft subordinate legislation is consulted on publicly for 4 weeks. Transparency could be further improved by making RIAs on subordinate legislation available at this stage with the opportunity to comment on the analysis.
The ex post evaluation system, combining systematic evaluations of individual regulations with comprehensive “Fitness checks” of policy sectors, has been improved by providing the opportunity to comment on evaluation roadmaps for 4 weeks and on the main elements of all evaluations for 12 weeks. A REFIT Platform brings together representatives of the Commission, Member States and non-government stakeholders, to make suggestions for simplification and review of EU legislation.