Published Tuesday, 01 November 2005
For Better or for Worse? The EU's 'Better Regulation' Agenda and the Environment
There are many different interpretations of ‘better regulation’. For some it simply means ‘less’ regulation, for others ‘cheaper’ regulation, while for yet others ‘more effective’ or ‘efficient’ regulation. At the EU level, the better regulation agenda was initially targeted at improving the effectiveness, efficiency and transparency of EU legislation and the way in which it is developed. More recently, however, its focus has been narrowed in order to align it more closely with the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy – to create more jobs and economic growth. This report investigates the impacts of ‘better regulation’ on the effectiveness of EU environmental legislation.