The EU Better Regulation Agenda

Better Regulation in the EU is a perennial and topical question which has important implications for the future direction of EU law. While actions directed at improving the quality and accessibility of EU regulation are not novel, in recent years the Better Regulation Agenda has significantly affected the structural organisation and day-to-day operation of the EU legislative process. Yet, many questions about the future of the Agenda remain, not least in light of Brexit. Exploring the Better Regulation Agenda (and its relation to the overall EU legal and political order) necessitates an integrated, interdisciplinary approach. This edited volume presents insights from economics, political science and legal scholarship. Furthermore, to allow full understanding, it examines institutional practice, where the Agenda is made and shaped on a daily basis. Hence, the book features contributions from the perspective of the work of the main EU institutions: the European Commission, the Parliament, the Council and the Court of Justice. This results in a seminal overview of the subject, of interest to scholars and practitioners alike.

Part I: Introduction and State of Play
1. The Multi-faceted Nature of Better Regulation
Sacha Garben and Inge Govaere
2. Integrating Regulatory Governance and Better Regulation as Reflexive Governance
Colin Scott

Part II: A Critical Assessment of the Main Elements of the Better Regulation Agenda
3. Improving the Quality of EU Legislation: Limits and Opportunities?
Helen Xanthaki
4. Cost-Benefit Analysis and EU Policy: Limits and Opportunities
Andrea Renda
5. The Better Regulation Agenda and the Deactivation of EU Competences: Limits and Opportunities
Robert Zbíral

Part III: Views from EU Institutional Practice
6. The European Commission and its Better Regulation Agenda
Ben Smulders and Jean-Eric Paquet
7. The European Parliament and the Better Law-Making Agenda
María José Martínez Iglesias
8. The Council: Some Historical and Practical Aspects to the Better Regulation Agenda
Jeno Czuczai
9. The Member States and the Better Regulation Agenda: The Case of Belgium/Flanders
Jan de Mulder
10. From Better Regulation to Better Adjudication? Impact Assessment and the Court of Justice's Review
Julian Nowag and Xavier Groussot

Part IV: Broader Perspectives on the Better Regulation Agenda
11. Eurolegalism and the Better Regulation Agenda
R Daniel Kelemen
12. An 'Impact Assessment' of EU Better Regulation
Sacha Garben

“The EU Better Regulation Agenda: A Critical Assessment offers a multi-faceted analysis of the legal and regulatory developments of the Agenda by highlighting the main elements of the EU legislative process, the role of member state governments, and institutional approaches that demonstrate the legal principles of the regulatory process… As the EU legislative framework evolves to meet new societal demands, this analysis will allow scholars and practitioners to better understand the institutional perspective and the Agenda's impact on Europe. Scholars and practitioners interested in the developments of the EU legislative process and its regulatory implications will benefit from reading The EU Better Regulation Agenda: A Critical Assessment.” –  Marcus Walsh-Führing, University of Bremen, Journal of Common Market Studies

“To fully grasp the breadth and depth of the better regulation agenda, insights from all these different fields need to be taken seriously. Recognizing this, Garben and Govaere have edited a book that people interested in the EU's better regulation agenda have been waiting for: a book that aims to take seriously the interdisciplinary nature of this peculiar field of study, and in one comprehensive volume tries to present and perhaps build bridges between often competing disciplines and perspectives to foster new insights. That ambitious attempt alone makes it a book worthy of recommendation.” –  Morten Jarlbæk Pedersen, Common Market Law Review