From Impact Assessment to the Policy Cycle

Renda7 distinguishes between three main “eras” in the EU better-regulation agenda, and more specifically in the use of impact assessment: (i) the early years (2003—2005); (ii) the re-launch of the system and the “plateauing era” (2006-2009); and (iii) the consolidation era (2009-2014), which led to the transition towards smart regulation and then the regulatory fitness (REFIT) agenda. [...] All in all, however, the smart-regulation era of the European Commission was heavily affected by a slowdown in the impact-assessment activity of commission directorate generals (only 51 IAs were concluded in 2010, against the 135 initially planned) and also by a growing tension between the approach advocated by the secretariat general, centred around the use of cost-benefit analysis and the need — [...] The main criticisms referred to the lack of quality of some impact-assessment documents; uncertainties over the methodology to be applied; the lack of an independent oversight body; the lack of consultation on draft impact assessments; and the short life of impact assessment documents, due to the absence of real evaluation capacity in the Council of the EU. [...] Transaction costs relate to many different aspects of a transaction: from the search of a counter- party to the acquisition of information related to the transaction, to the opportunity cost of the time spent negotiating the agreement, the costs related to the strategic behaviour of the parties in a contract, etc. [...] The Commission expected that the outcome of this consultation would provide a clearer understanding of the interaction of the individual rules and cumulative impacts of the legislation as a whole, including potential overlaps, inconsistencies and gaps.