2 EU Regulatory Fitness
| (35346)
13920/13
COM(13) 685
| Commission Communication: Regulatory Fitness and Performance (REFIT) — Results and Next Steps
|
| Legal base | —
|
| Document originated | 2 October 2013
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| Deposited in Parliament | 7 October 2013
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| Department | Business, Innovation and Skills
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 18 October 2013
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| Previous Committee Report | None, but see footnotes
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| Discussion in Council | October 2013
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | For debate in European Committee C
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Background
2.1 Although the Commission believes that EU legislation
is essential to achieve the objectives of the Treaty, it recognises
that concerns have been expressed about its complexity and the
administrative burden involved, and that national administrations
have found it difficult to keep up with its transposition and
application. It has therefore sought to respond to these concerns
— first, by putting forward in October 2010 a Communication[1]
on smart regulation, and secondly, by the Communication[2]
it issued in December 2012, launching a Regulatory Fitness and
Performance Programme (REFIT) which aims at a more tailored approach
by identifying, assessing, adopting and monitoring the implementation
of initiatives which will result in significant regulatory cost
reduction or simplification.
The current document
2.2 In this latest Communication, the Commission
identifies where it will take action, and where, in the interests
of regulatory fitness, it has decided that no action is needed
for the time being; identifies the challenges faced in the first
course of implementation of the REFIT programme; and provides
an outlook on the next steps.
Progress to date
2.3 The first section of the Communication summarises
the Commission's progress to date on its broader better regulation
agenda. It says that impact assessment, stakeholder consultation
and evaluation are used consistently across all areas as an integral
part of the policy cycle; that its Administrative Burden Programme
has cut red tape at EU level in priority areas by 25% (equivalent
to savings of €30.8 billion),[3]
for example by promoting e-invoicing and special regimes for small
and medium sized enterprises (SMEs); and that it is now working
with Member States to examine whether red tape reduction savings
are being realised in full by businesses on the ground. The Commission
adds that burden reduction for SMEs is at the forefront of REFIT,
and it recalls that the results of the "Top Ten" consultation
were published in March 2013,[4]
identifying the most burdensome pieces of EU regulation for SMEs,
with simplification proposals having been made in six cases (and
with two more planned in 2013).
Programme for forthcoming regulatory reform
2.4 These measures are divided into four categories:
· Twenty-two legislative initiatives for
burden reduction currently under consideration by the Council
and the European Parliament;
· Twenty-three new initiatives for simplification,
regulatory cost reduction and legislative consolidation;
· Seven legislative measures which will
be repealed, nine proposals which will be withdrawn (and one potential
withdrawal), and five proposals which will no longer be tabled;
· Fifteen ongoing "Fitness Checks"
(comprehensive policy evaluations which cover more than one piece
of legislation) and evaluations of thirty six individual items
of legislation;
These items are set out in the Annex.
The next steps
2.5 These involve the other EU Institutions and Member
States, where the Commission proposes that adjustments should
be made within the existing legal framework to reduce the burden
of regulation (for example, by reducing requirements for reports
or inspections, and lowering fees). Where legislative amendments
are required, it suggests exploring, with the Council and the
European Parliament, the possibility of introducing a fast track
procedure. The Commission also highlights the need for continued
close cooperation with Member States, including working together
to overcome methodological difficulties in cost-benefit analysis;
sharing best practice in reducing regulatory burdens; and ensuring
burden reduction initiatives are properly transposed and implemented.
Finally, it has undertaken to track the regulatory fitness of
proposals throughout the legislative cycle, and to publish its
findings in an annual REFIT scoreboard: this will include tracking
all initiatives related to REFIT, the Administrative Burden Reduction
programme, and the SME "Top Ten" consultation.
The Government's view
2.6 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 18 October 2013,
the Minister of State for Business and Energy (Michael Fallon)
says that the Government has engaged extensively with the Commission
on better regulation issues in recent months, and that, working
with other Member States, it has pressed for a reduction in unnecessary
regulatory burdens, especially for SMEs. He notes that the publication
of this Communication has been timed to inform the October European
Council, in response to a request it made in June that the Commission
should produce further concrete proposals for reducing the overall
burden of regulation, and fostering competitiveness.
2.7 The Minister welcomes REFIT as a step towards
reducing the burden of European regulation on business and eliminating
barriers to growth, and says that, whilst the initiatives outlined
in REFIT will have varying degrees of significance for businesses,
the Government particularly welcomes:
· the Commission's new initiative for the
simplification and consolidation of food hygiene measures;
· its commitments not to table proposals
on occupational health and safety for hairdressers, and muscular
skeletal disorders and screen displays; and to consider withdrawing
the Soils Framework Directive proposal (all of which would have
introduced substantial and unnecessary costs for UK businesses);
and
· the increase in the number of Fitness
Checks and evaluations.
2.8 However, the Government believes that this Communication
should be just the beginning of an ambitious programme to reduce
the European regulatory burden on businesses, and to build a more
competitive EU, and the Minister regrets the absence of a comprehensive
timetable for the reforms set out in the Communication, believing
a further substantive reduction in the regulatory burden is urgently
needed, especially for small businesses. At the same time, he
cautiously welcomes the possibility of the Commission, together
with the Council and European Parliament, considering fast track
legislative procedures to remove burdensome regulation, though
he believes that any such procedure should be narrowly prescribed
to restrict it to better regulation measures, and should not limit
the opportunity for national parliamentary scrutiny.
Conclusion
2.9 The Regulatory Fitness Programme (REFIT) is
an important means of identifying measures which will lead to
regulatory simplification and to a reduction in costs, and for
that reason, we have reported previous Commission Communications
on this subject. This latest Communication reviews progress to
date and looks ahead to the further action which is needed, and
we think this would be a timely moment for the House to consider
further some of the issues to which it gives rise. We are, therefore,
recommending the document for debate in European Committee C,
along with a further Commission Communication[5]
on the evaluation of EU legislation.
1 (32067) 14421/10: see HC 428-ix (2010-11), chapter
11 (24 November 2010). Back
2
(34457) 17784/13: see HC 86-xxvii (2012-13), chapter 7 (16 January
2013). Back
3
The Commission points out that the proposals it has tabled, not
all of which have so far been adopted, would produce a burden
reduction of €41 billion. Back
4
(34750) 7268/13: see HC 86-xxxvii (2012-13), chapter 1 (26 March
2013). Back
5
(35347) 13291/13: see chapter 3 of this Report Back
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