For about fifteen years, the European Commission has taken initiatives to provide better regulation. Since the introduction of the early warning mechanism, enabling the national parliaments to have a say on whether or not the legislative proposals comply with the principle of subsidiarity, it is arguably even more important that the legislative proposals maintain a high degree of quality.
The European Semester of policy coordination, which is the core of EU’s new institutional architecture for economic and social governance, introduced since the beginning of the Euro crisis, has prompted questions about the nature and dynamics of the EU’s emerging socio-economic governance architecture. In this report, Jonathan Zeitlin and Bart Vanhercke argue that since 2011, there has been a partial but progressive ‘socialization’ of the European Semester.
Through the Lisbon Treaty, the national parliaments were entrusted with the task of reviewing proposals of EU legislation in the light of the principle of subsidiarity, a task which in the special protocol on subsidiarity is called the Early Warning Mechanism. In this analysis the author argues that the review should be seen as a constitutional dialogue and not as a narrow legal control.
During the past months, we have witnessed increasing activity regarding the establishment of a European External Action Service (EEAS) – one of the most emblematic innovations that the Treaty of Lisbon introduces to strengthen the EU external action. While the details of the EEAS organisation and functioning are still under (intense) discussion, this Analysis sheds light on the political and legal contexts in which the EEAS is being set up, and raises some questions as to its possible contribution to the development of a common European diplomacy.
The Stability and Growth Pact must be reinforced, have greater automaticity and entail graduated sanctions. Fiscal surveillance must be improved through the establishment of a European Fiscal Stability Agency and the European Financial Stability Facility must be made permanent.
The recent financial and economic crisis had particularly severe employment and welfare implications for newly flexible labour markets. Only a coherent approach to the integration of markets and market-correcting policies may in the future prevent uncoordinated social and employment policies from endangering the political sustainability of economic integration, writes the author of this analysis.
Often presented as the "most successful EU policy", enlargement has undoubtedly been one of the most significant undertakings of the European Union over the last two decades. The recent admission of numerous states to the Union has however exposed various shortcomings in the way that policy is carried out.
Is it permissible, according to EU law, to take social considerations into account in the field of public procurement? Could one, for instance, promote gender equality, integration of disabled persons and good working conditions? The authors of the report Public Procurement and Labour in the EU believes that this is the case, but argues that Sweden could use this scope better than today. The report is in Swedish, but contains a summary in English.
Improved quality of regulation and legislation is now a pronounced objective at European as well as national level. The European Commission have for some years now tried to convince EU member states to reduce the administrative burdens – especially for companies – and make regulatory impact assessment an integrated part of their regulatory process.
The Open Method of Coordination is a relatively new form of cooperation within the European Union. It is used to adjust the policies of the member states in order to reach common goals.