Caught in the Act : how the European Better Regulation agenda is evolving. A multi-level approach

Abstract

It concerns a master thesis on the implementation of the EU's Better Regulation agenda, an ambitious policy agenda, launched in 2002, to cut down bureaucracy and improve the quality of legislation. Since then, the Better Regulation agenda has been presented as a remedy to all kinds of challenges the EU is facing: boosting the European economy, restoring the EU's credibility, promoting sustainable development, producing more effective policies, etc. However, the implementation of the Better Regulation agenda cannot be accelerated in the same gear as can political ambitions and expectations. For the Better Regulation measures (like the introduction of an integrated impact assessment system) to crystallize and bring about real change, it will require adjustments in the administrative structures and procedures that influence the day to day working methods of policy-makers and decision-makers. To complicate matters even more, one should take into account that the EU is a multi-level governance system. That is to say that the EU's decision-making and policy-making process involves a lot of actors, operating at different levels: the Commission, the European Parliament, the Council, 27 Member States. Each player represents in itself a complex bureaucratic organisation as well. Thus, to alter the entire European decision-making process by means of Better Regulation policies, will not only require adjustments at all these levels, but also sufficient coordination and interaction between these levels. This thesis tries to explore to what extent the implementation of the Better Regulation agenda has been successful so far. What institutional adjustments have been carried through by the different actors, and has this had an effect on decision-making and policy-making? What about the interaction between the European level and the national level (using the Netherlands as a case study)? What can be said about the prospects of the Better Regulation campaign?