SOLIDAR: Setting the table for Better Regulation?
Today [19 May] Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Better Regulation, Interinstitutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights presented the long awaited Better Regulation Package in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
By using the analogy of refurbishing a kitchen, Commissioner Timmermans said it is not important for those who eat a meal how the kitchen is furnished but rather how the food tastes in the end. Sticking to this metaphor, SOLIDAR wants not only that the food tastes good but also that each and every one can afford a meal and has place at the table.
Who is the waiter, who is the cook?
Vice President Timmermans mentioned repeatedly that stakeholders often complained about the administrative burdens and the complexity of European Union (EU) legislation. One of the most important groups of stakeholders according to the Vice-President are Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Just as in President Juncker’s Jobs, Growth and Investment Package, SMEs enjoy the privilege of having the highest priority (“Think Small First” principle) in the Better Regulation Package whereas the concerns of the Civil Society and other stakeholder groups have not been mentioned in particular. So is the main reference for Mr Timmermans’s Better Regulation Package the burdens SMEs are facing?
One of the main reforms in Mr Timmermans’s package is the establishment of a Regulatory Scrutiny Board consisting of three members from the European Commission, three independent experts and a chairperson. The board shall be able to scrutinise new legislative acts and also existing legislation. SOLIDAR is specifically concerned by the foreseeable isolation of the Council and in particular the European Parliament when it comes to scrutiny. The members of the Scrutiny Board should not only have a say on what will be cooked in Mr Timmermans’s kitchen, but should also decide how the meals will be prepared.
The (solvent) customer is king
Vice-President Timmermans also announced the installment of a platform, where representatives from all member states, stakeholders from the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the Committee of the Regions (CoR), civil society organisations (CSOs) and businesses will have the opportunity to actively participate in consultation processes concerning planned REFIT actions to optimise EU regulation. Stakeholders shall also have the opportunity to assess new legislative acts from the beginning of the legislative procedure and to place their expertise. Article 11 of the Treaty of Lisbon guarantees equal consideration of CSOs and the public in consultation processes, but the reality is otherwise. SOLIDAR is concerned that the new instruments proposed by Vice-President Timmermans which have yet to be agreed on and implemented by the European Parliament and Council will further increase the influence of corporate lobbyists.
In Vice-President Timmermans’s restaurant the most solvent customers not only get the better tables but may also have a say on what they want to have on the menu. An inclusive, European restaurant should serve meals that are affordable and digestible for everyone.
Vice-President Timmermans stressed that in the end it will be politicians who decide whether or not a new law will be implemented, and SOLIDAR will take the Vice-President of the Commission by his word and further observe if the democratic process within EU lawmaking processes will not be narrowed.
Some restaurant critics are just not right
SOLIDAR is concerned about Vice-President Timmermans’s statement that he “is not angry about Eurosceptics but about the fact that they are right in many cases”. Self-criticism and the willingness to improve one’s work are very welcome, but wrong critics cannot lead to right politics. CSOs like SOLIDAR criticise the Commission’s work in a constructive way by calling for an inclusive Europe, whereas Eurosceptics use populism to evoke fear and further drive people away from the idea of European integration.
For SOLIDAR Better Regulation does not mean deregulation, but improving legislature in regards to the European treaties, our basic, common values and fundamental rights, and therefore should be beneficial for everyone.
