Documents
Better Regulation
European Court of Auditors (2019)
Ex-post review of EU legislation: a well-established system, but incomplete
About ex-post review of legislation and better regulation
I. The ex-post review of legislation is a key part of the Commission’s Better Regulation
policy. It is aimed at facilitating the achievement of public policy objectives at minimum cost
and improving the added value of EU interventions. In 2015, the Commission strengthened
its better regulation policy by launching the Better Regulation Agenda.
How we conducted our audit
II. In our audit, we assessed whether the EU system of ex-post review of legislation had
been properly planned, implemented, managed and quality-controlled, thereby contributing
effectively to the Better Regulation cycle.
III. The audit covered ex-post reviews of legislation carried out between 2013 and 2016 by
four directorates-general of the Commission as well as all legislation and ex-ante impact
assessments within the remit of those directorates-general adopted between 2014 and
2016.
What we found
IV. Overall, we concluded that the Commission’s current ex-post review system compares
well to the situation in the majority of Member States. Regarding more specifically the
evaluations, the Commission has designed a system which is, as a whole, well-managed and
quality-controlled, thereby contributing effectively to the Better Regulation cycle. However,
when it comes to reviews other than evaluations, we identified weaknesses.
V. We found that review clauses and, to a lesser extent, monitoring clauses are widely
used in EU legislation. However in the absence of common inter-institutional definitions and
drafting guidelines, their content and therefore their expected outputs are not always clear.
VI. While evaluations are generally carried out in line with legal requirements and good
practices, this is less the case for the other reviews, to which the Better Regulation
guidelines did not apply until 2017. We also identified shortcomings in the presentation of
the methodology used and in the recognition of data limitations when applicable.
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VII. We also found that ex-post reviews are publicly available and accessible and that the
vast majority of them provide a clear conclusion and indicate next steps to be taken. The
Commission systematically forwarded its reports on the ex-post reviews to the co-legislators
(European Parliament and Council); the latter, however, seldom react to the Commission
directly. Also, the ex-post reviews are not always used by the Commission when preparing
ex-ante impact assessments. The inter-institutional agreement between the European
Parliament, the Council and the Commission on better law-making, which provides provision
on the review of existing laws, is not binding.
VIII. Finally, we found that the rationale of the REFIT programme is unclear, as are the
criteria by which individual initiatives have been labelled as REFIT. At the same time, the
guidelines present REFIT as a specific programme. This raises questions as to its current
nature and added value.
What we recommend
IX. On the basis of these observations, we make several recommendations to the
Commission and one to the Regulatory Scrutiny Board.