Clarifying gold-plating- Better implementation of EU Legislation

Commission - Swedish Better Regulation Council

• To review proposals for legislation affecting businesses

• To assess the quality of the impact assessments.• To follow the better regulation agenda and provide

advice that can promote cost-conscious and effective regulation.

• Provide assistance to committees of inquiries, ministries and government agencies in their work on regulatory impact assessments.

Work for better EU-legislation and implementation

• Cooperation with other “watchdogs”• Study of Government Offices routines for influencing the

formation of EU legislation for the purpose of identifying opportunities for improvement

• Publication “From EU-proposal to government agency regulation - achieving simple and effective rules”

• Examining Impact Assessments done at EU-level when requested by a Ministry at the Government Offices of Sweden

• Clarifying gold-plating – Better Implementation of EU-legislation

Examining Impact Assessments from EU

• The Council examines, when requested by a Ministry, the impact assessment done at the EU-level.

• The Council suggests to what extent a supplementary Swedish Impact Assessment should be carried out.

• So far, the IAs of two of the “Top ten most burdensome legislative acts for SMEs” as identified by the European Commission have been examined by the Council.

Clarifying gold-plating• A joint project with the Board of Swedish Industry

and Commerce for Better Regulation (NNR).• Different starting points but the same overall goal-

reducing the effect of regulations on business.

Overview• Analysis of the European legislative procedure.• Main questions addressed:

• Is there consensus within the Swedish business community, the Government and the central government administration as to which phenomena are covered by gold-plating and is it possible to find a generally applicable and usable definition of the concept?

• What can be done to avoid implementation of EU legislation creating unnecessary competitive disadvantages for companies?

Recommendations to the Swedish Government

• The minimum level for implementation of Directives should be determined in each individual case. The minimum level should serve as a guideline in the implementation, but if there are reasons to exceed, this should be clearly described and the impact on business analysed and reported in a public document.

• After consultation with stakeholders, a generally applicable definition for Sweden of the concept ‘gold-plating’ should be decided. One that is clear and usable in discussions of alternatives that exceed the minimum level in the implementation of EU legislation.

Using the national IA to clarify gold-plating

• The national IA should contain a description of the EU regulation’s scope and minimum level and it should also be stated whether the proposal entails:

• Adding regulatory requirements.• Extending the scope.• Not taking advantage of derogations.• Keeping national requirements which go beyond what is

required by the Directive.• Introducing national regulatory requirements, which fall

outside of the aim of the Directive.• Earlier implementation.• Stricter sanctions.

Thank you for your time!

More information:www.regelradet.se/en

The report can be found on:http://

www.regelradet.se/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Clarifying-Gold-Plating2.pdf