European Legislation
Directives and regulations agreed in Brussels, by members of the European Union (EU), form an integral part of the British regulatory environment.
The UK Government works closely with other member states to reduce the burdens of legislation agreed at this level. It actively engages with other countries to share best practice and learn lessons from abroad. A key part of this has been the introduction of the Standard Cost Model (SCM), which several countries – including the UK – now use to measure the impact of regulation. You can read more on the SCM Network website.
The Government has also welcomed the European Commission’s (EC) efforts to introduce better regulation principles and practices into its own work over the last few years.
EU target for reducing the administrative burden
In March 2007, EU Heads of Government agreed a target to reduce the administrative burden resulting from EU law by 25%, by 2012. The EC estimates that this could save European businesses a total of €150 billion (£100 billion). The UK Government was delighted with this agreement, which complements its own work on own national legislation.
On 22 July 2008, the Government published the report 25 ideas for simplifying EU law which puts forward suggestions to the Commission, the Council and the European Council on how to realise savings worth an estimated €937 million for the UK and €6.6 billion for the EU as a whole.
Find out what the EU is doing to reduce administrative burdens from the European Commission: Administrative Costs page.
Impact Assessments
The EC has comprehensive guidelines for its officials on how to assess the economic, social and environmental impacts of its policy interventions.
Recognising the need for greater internal quality control, it recently set up an Impact Assessment (IA) Board, consisting of senior officials. The Board’s role is to scrutinise IAs and make recommendations for improvements. You can read about the work of the Board from the European Commission: Impact Assessment Board page
Simplification
Simplifying existing EU legislation is also a key priority. In 2005, the EC announced an annual rolling simplification programme, listing around 50 laws to be simplified every year. The Europa site has details of these plans. (See European Commission: Simplification)
Davidson Review
For many years, UK businesses have complained that the Government “gold-plates” EU legislation. This means adding extra requirements when it is implemented in the UK, which put industry at a competitive disadvantage.
In 2005, the Chancellor asked Lord Davidson QC to review the stock of EU-sourced legislation in the UK, and identify measures where unnecessary burdens could be reduced – or the system simplified.
Read more about Simplifying EU Legislation (Davidson Review)
EU Transposition Guide
This Transposition Guide sets out how formal and informal consultation should inform policy decisions of UK Government departments both at the negotiating stage and when considering implementation options. Just like consultations on purely domestic policy, consultations on EU policy should follow the Consultation Code of Practice.
(459KB)Related Links
Related Documents
- 25 ideas for simplifying EU law
(535KB)