STRUCTURE
We live in a regulated world. Regulation is everywhere and affects our choices and behaviour, as well as those whose services and products we use. The course provides a unique educational opportunity to understand how regulation is shaped and implemented and how to improve it as citizens or as L&E experts. The course deals specifically with the notion of better regulation and with the tools necessary to attain it. It covers all stages of the regulatory process and examines not merely how regulation ought to be carried out and evaluated, but also how it may be enriched to draft effective regulation.
Better Regulation is a multidisciplinary course of 20 hours. The course suggests an original and contemporary approach to better regulation tools, re-framed in the light of behavioral insights, as well as by embracing artificial intelligence as a tool to improve the quality of regulation. A transnational approach is followed, which adopts the EU experience as the main model, adequately improved for national and sub-national decision-makers. The instruments of better regulation are addressed theoretically and through specific exercises, and their pros and cons are discussed. Moreover, throughout the course, participants will be exposed to real regulatory problems and better regulation tools by participating in consultation processes and encountering leading better regulation experts in the field.
PROGRAM
Lectures: Better regulation tools; Impact assessment; Cognitive based regulation; Regulatory offsetting and assessment; Regulation and Competition; Stakeholders’ consultation; Drafting; Risk-based regulation; Enforcement strategies.
Lectures will be enriched by seminars on current regulatory challenges, given by highly qualified experts will join the class, sharing their field experience on better regulation
TEACHING METHODS AND ASSESSMENTS
Students took part in interactive lessons, based on in-class exercises and regulatory clinics a moot or real drafting, participation to an open consultation, or to an impact assessment.
Exercises concerning the solution of regulatory problems are assigned at the end of most of the lectures. For instance, students might be asked to write a fictional impact assessment concerning a real regulatory proposal, to analyze normative proposals from the drafting point of view, or to take part in a real consultation proceeding. In 2021, the class participated in the EC Consultation on the "Declaration of Digital Principles - the European way for the digital society". The contribution of the class has been published (reference number F2636378) in the “have your say” single access point and is listed among the contributors in the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and Council on establishing a European declaration on Digital Rights and Principles (p. 37). Each evaluation is carried out in the light of an evaluation grid, which is uploaded into Google Classroom before each exercise. Exercises concerning the solution to regulatory problems are assigned at the end of the majority of the lectures. These exercises are uploaded on google classroom, graded 0-3, and proportionally weighted according their complexity. The answers are discussed at the beginning of the following class
Final assessment. Students are asked to solve problems related to major class topics. It is written and is meant to verify the understanding and acquisition of the critical thinking skills. It is graded from 0 to 10.
Final mark: 75% final assessment + 25% in-class exercises
FINAL THESIS (FOR EMLE STUDENTS ONLY)
Hereafter is a list of topics for which the final thesis can be requested to the course holder or experts from the university teaching staff or partners.
- Artificial intelligence for rule-making and law-making.
- Artificial intelligence regulation.
- Behavioural regulation.
- Regulatory delivery.
- Risk-based regulation.
- Digital markets regulation.
- Corruption prevention.
- Lobbying.
- Consultations and stakeholders’ inclusion tools
- Ex post evaluation.
- Regulatory Impact Assessment.
- Drafting.
- Participative and deliberative democracy.
- Simplification.
- Regulatory sandboxes.
- Regulatory and administrative burden measurement.
- Soft regulation.
- Competition advocacy and enforcement.
- Transparency.
Additionally, each year, EMLE associated partners can propose topics/titles on which they have an interest in supervising theses through their representatives. The topics/titles will be shared in November/December.
GENERAL AND INTERACTIVE CALENDAR
The following calendar can be added to your personal google calendar by clicking at the bottom right-hand corner.
REFERENCES
- Baldwin R., M. Cave, M. Lodge (2023), Understanding regulation, OUP (forthcoming)
- Baldwin R., Cave M. (2021), Taming the corporation. How to regulate for success, OUP
- Blanc F. (2020), Regulation, Regulatory Delivery, Trust and Distrust, in De Benedetto M., Lupo N., and Rangone N. (eds.), The crisis of confidence in legislation (Nomos/Hart)
- Thaler R.H., Sunstein C.R. (2021), Nudge. The final edition, Penguin
- Zamir E, Techman D. (2021), Behavioural law and economics, OUP
(a final reference list of papers is provided at the beginning of the course)
INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Excellent professional contacts are provided thanks to internship opportunities with EMLE associated partners, i.e. AGCOM (the Italian authority for electronic communication regulation and supervision), CONSOB (the Italian authority for financial markets regulation and supervision), GSE (the Italian public-owned company responsible for the promotion of renewable resources); LEAR (a specialized economic consultancy that offers services in the field of competition policy, regulation and procurement); CIMEA - Centro Informazioni Mobilità Equivalenze Accademiche
Students might also profit from other internship opportunities related to the Jean Monnet Chair on EU approach to better regulation
Job opportunities might come from invited experts as well. For instance, four EMLE students are currently working for the OECD and at the ASTRID foundation.
CONTACTS
CHAIRHOLDER
Nicoletta Rangone
(n.rangone@lumsa.it)
