Third Annual Conference on Regulatory Scrutiny in the EU

Programme

1. 19 Sep 2019, 08:00 - 09:00 (CEST)

   Registration and welcome coffee

2. 09:20 - 09:45 (CEST)

   Welcome address

   • Veronica Gaffey, European Commission, Chair, RSB

   "Three years of the RSB: Taking stock and looking forward"
   Documents
   Opening remarks

3. 09:45 - 11:00 (CEST)

   Panel I — How regulatory scrutiny helps
   Outline: The RSB has exercised quality control over Commission impact assessments and key evaluations since 2016. It has issued hundreds of written opinions, including many negative ones. Is scrutiny leading to better policy proposals? Is the process delivering higher quality EU regulation? What can still be improved?
   Moderator

   • Nils Björksten, European Commission, RSB

   Panellists

   • John Berrigan, European Commission Deputy Director General, DG FISMA
   • Anthony Teasdale, Director General of the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS)
   • Kai Härmand, Deputy Secretary General, Legislative Policy Department of Estonian Ministry of Justice

   Documents
   RSB Slides panel I and panel I proceedings

4. 11:00 - 11:30 (CEST)

   Coffee break

5. 11:30 - 13:00 (CEST)

   Panel II — Quantification, scope of impacts and proportionality
   Outline: The Board has observed very different degrees of quantification, both of impacts and of costs. The introduction of a quantification table has helped to improve impact assessments. It has in particular led to more quantification of benefits. Few people think that quantification is done “whenever possible,” as prescribed by the Better Regulation guidelines. The session will discuss limits to quantification. It will present the changing consensus on what are the best methods. It will consider the difficult question of what is ‘proportionate’ when assessing impacts.
   Moderator

   • Andreas Kopp, European Commission, RSB

   Panellists

   • Magda Kopczynska, European Commission, Director, DG MOVE
   • Hans Bruyninckx, Executive Director, EEA
   • Sofia Ranchordas, University of Groningen
   • Robert Hahn, University of Oxford

   Documents
   RSB Slides panel II and panel II main takeaways

6. 13:00 - 14:30 (CEST)

   Buffet Lunch

7. 14:30 - 16:00 (CEST)

   Panel III — Using stakeholder consultations better
   Outline: Systematic stakeholder consultation at various stages of EU policy development was a key innovation of the 2015 Better Regulation agenda. The OECD’s Regulatory Policy Outlook has given the highest rank to the Commission’s new stakeholder engagement system. However, the Commission’s Better Regulation stocktaking found that the system, while advanced, is not delivering to its potential.Well-conducted public and targeted consultations are an important source of information for impact assessments and evaluations. The RSB sees the end result of the consultation and how it is used in impact assessments and evaluations. The Board has sometimes noted insufficient participation in public consultations and incomplete coverage of targeted consultations. It has also found that reports have not always fully reflected or made maximum use of consultations. What further steps could be taken to get still more out of consultations?
   Moderator

   • Bernard Naudts, European Commission, RSB

   Panellists

   • Adriana Bunea, University of Bergen
   • Petra van Nierop, ICF Brussels
   • Artur Runge-Metzger, European Commission, Director, DG CLIMA
   • Sile Lane, Sense about Science

   Documents
   RSB Slides panel III and panel III main takeaways

8. Show 2 more items
9. 16:00 - 16:30 (CEST)

   Closing remarks

   • Pascal Leardini, European Commission, Deputy Secretary General
   • Veronica Gaffey, European Commission, Chair, RSB

Practical information

Description