On May 19, 2015, the European Commission launched its Better Regulation Agenda. Through this package, the Commission aims to: (i) enhance transparency in the EU decision-making process by introducing a new web portal where initiatives can be tracked and by providing more opportunities for stakeholders to comment throughout the policy lifecycle, including allowing for feedback after the Commission has adopted a legislative proposal or, for secondary legislation, before adoption by the Commission or Member States; (ii) improve the quality of new laws through better impact assessments of draft legislation and amendments by: (a) transforming the current Commission Impact Assessment Board into an independent Regulatory Scrutiny Board with an expanded role; and (b) ensuring that impact assessments are carried out throughout the legislative process; and (iii) improve the review of existing EU laws by amending the Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (known as REFIT) so that it is more targeted, looks at the most serious sources of inefficiency and quantifies costs and benefits whenever possible. The European Commission also announced that it will enter into negotiations with the European Parliament and Council on a proposed new Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-making, endeavoring to reach an agreement by the end of 2015. The US federal bank regulatory agencies are also currently reviewing potential outdated or unnecessary regulations.
The Better Regulation documents are available at: http://ec.europa.eu/smart-regulation/better_regulation/key_docs_en.htm#_br.
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