Mixed reaction to EU changes

Proposals to change the way the EU draws up its legislation to involve stakeholders more has been welcomed by business but criticised by worker and civil society groups.

Chambers Ireland praised the proposal and said the principles could be applied at national level to ensure Irish SMEs are not overburdened by domestic legislation.

Under the plans an expert panel of six, with three from outside the European Commission, would in future check the quality of the impact assessment of any new rules before they are sent to the European Parliament and the Council, representing the member states.

Existing legislation under what is called the Refit scheme, will be scrutinised to ensure they fulfil their objective and whether they are in fact needed at all. There will be a lighter regime for SMEs and micro-businesses will be exempt.

A panel that includes civil society such as employers, NGOs, trade unions, consumers groups and national politicians and representatives who are members of EU advisory bodies would be asked to comment.

The public too will be able to give their views during a four week period when the legislation is open for discussion on-line. For the first time the implementing and delegated acts that decide the detail and how laws will be put into effect will also be open to public scrutiny.

Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans announcing the proposals also appealed to the Parliament and the Council to assess the effect of their changes on legislation through the amendments they make when negotiating the final document between them.

Currently while the Commission carried out an impact assessment on their drafts, the final law can be radically different after national governments and the MEPs finish agreeing it.

“I’m trying to introduce more transparency — we want to move it into the public arena where everyone can know what we are doing,” he said.

He said the regulatory scrutiny board when reviewing existing legislation will look at the economic, social and environmental effects of legislation.

However the European Business Alliance, while welcoming the draft, was critical that just half, three people, on the regulatory scrutiny board will be external experts and will only assess the quality of the impact assessments.