{"id":4199,"date":"2020-02-29T13:36:35","date_gmt":"2020-02-29T13:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sportsnewsforyou.com\/?p=4199"},"modified":"2020-02-29T13:36:35","modified_gmt":"2020-02-29T13:36:35","slug":"eu-strikes-better-regulation-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/?p=4199","title":{"rendered":"EU strikes &#8216;better regulation&#8217; deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"art\"><figcaption>\n<p>The man spearheading better regulation, Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans | EPA<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<header>\n<h1>EU strikes &#8216;better regulation&#8217; deal<\/h1>\n<p class=\"subhead\">Timmermans gets agreement on program of reforms to slash regulatory red tape.<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<footer class=\"meta\">\n<p>\n\t\t\tBy\t\t\t<span class=\"byline\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"vcard\">Quentin Ari\u00e8s<\/span>\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"timestamp\">12\/11\/15, 12:43 PM CET<\/p>\n<p class=\"updated\">Updated 12\/14\/15, 12:34 PM CET<\/p>\n<\/footer>\n<p>After six months of talks, EU institutions have struck an agreement on the European Commission&#8217;s &#8220;better regulation&#8221;\u00a0agenda to slash red tape and improve the lawmaking process, a key part of Jean-Claude Juncker&#8217;s presidency ambitions.<\/p>\n<p>In the final version of the agreement, seen by POLITICO, the Commission, European Parliament and Council of Ministers\u00a0\u201crecognize their joint responsibility in delivering high quality\u00a0legislation\u201d in order to strengthen\u00a0the\u00a0EU\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n<p>But the deal also includes new promises to ensure the transparency of the better regulation process \u2014 a change from the proposal\u00a0unveiled\u00a0in May by the man spearheading better regulation, Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans.<\/p>\n<p>After attacks from trade unions and NGOs on the Commission&#8217;s plans to streamline its work in a bid to cut red tape, Timmermans assured detractors that\u00a0&#8220;better regulation is about making sure we deliver on the ambitious policy goals we have set ourselves in the most efficient way.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, Timmermans promised\u00a0internal reforms\u00a0in the Commission, with the creation of a regulatory scrutiny board\u00a0to conduct impact assessments on\u00a0any initiatives before they are allowed to make their way through the legislative process.<\/p>\n<p>Although negotiations ended on time \u2014 before a self-imposed deadline of Christmas \u2014 the Council and Parliament had expressed concerns about a\u00a0power-grab by the Commission, which would be conducting impact assessments on planned legislation before the other institutions had a chance to get involved.<\/p>\n<p>The final text says\u00a0impact assessments can\u00a0have\u00a0\u201ca positive contribution \u2026 in improving the quality of Union legislation,\u201d and says there\u00a0can be\u00a0&#8220;substantive amendments.&#8221; That term is not defined in the agreement \u2014\u00a0meaning that the Council and the Parliament could make as many changes as\u00a0they want.<\/p>\n<p>Negotiators also agreed to create\u00a0a centralized platform to &#8220;facilitate traceability of the various steps in the legislative process,&#8221; an effort to answer critics who said the initiative sacrificed\u00a0transparency in the name of streamlining regulation.<\/p>\n<p>Improvements in transparency between the institutions and greater access to documents was included in the text, at the request of the Parliament&#8217;s Liberal group leader, Guy Verhofstadt.<\/p>\n<p>MEPs and the Council will also get to have a say on the Commission&#8217;s annual work program, a check-list of annual priorities. In October, the Commission\u00a0proposed 10\u00a0priorities and\u00a023 legislative initiatives for 2016.<\/p>\n<p>Asked about the agreement, NGOs and trade union representatives broadly approved of it, but said they are concerned about\u00a0the impact on\u00a0environmental, social and\u00a0health standards.<\/p>\n<p>Christina Colclough, the head of EU affairs at UNI Europa, a trade union federation, said she was\u00a0disappointed by the main goal of the agreement, to focus on cutting red tape, saying that it could come at the expense of important\u00a0regulations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are following the negative narrative of somehow the EU being\u00a0over-regulated, and are making no reference at all on the benefits of being a member of the EU,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Colclough, who founded the Better Regulation Watchdog \u2014\u00a0an alliance of more than 60\u00a0NGOs and trade unions\u00a0critical of the Commission&#8217;s plans\u00a0\u2014\u00a0also pointed out a\u00a0lack of transparency on\u00a0impact assessments, which won\u2019t be made public if they are rejected by the regulatory scrutiny board.<\/p>\n<p>EU ambassadors approved the agreement Thursday, and European\u00a0affairs ministers are likely to give their green light next Tuesday.\u00a0The College of Commissioners is likely to approve the final agreement\u00a0on the same day.<\/p>\n<p>In the Parliament, the agreement will be on the agenda of the political group leaders\u00a0next week, with\u00a0a vote by all MEPs likely in February.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<footer class=\"content-credits\">\n<h6>Authors:<\/h6>\n<dl class=\"vcard\">\n<dt class=\"credits-author\"><span class=\"vcard\">Quentin Ari\u00e8s<\/span>&nbsp;<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/footer>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The man spearheading better regulation, Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans | EPA EU strikes &#8216;better regulation&#8217; deal Timmermans gets agreement on program of reforms to slash regulatory red tape. By Quentin Ari\u00e8s 12\/11\/15, 12:43 PM CET Updated 12\/14\/15, 12:34 PM CET After six months of talks, EU institutions have struck an agreement on the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4199\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}