[pic] | COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES |

Brussels, 28.09.2005

COM(2005) 466 final

COMMISSION WORKING DOCUMENT

Better Regulation and the Thematic Strategies for the Environment {SEC(2005) 1197}

In the course of the last four years, the EU has launched and pursued a broad agenda to improve the regulatory environment.

The next generation of environment policy, the thematic strategies, are being prepared in line with the principles of this ‘Better Regulation’ agenda. This document describes how these principles are being applied and will serve as background to the policy debate on ‘Better Regulation and the Thematic Strategies’ scheduled for the October 2005 Environment Council.

1. INTRODUCTION

The European Commission has been actively engaged in improving its law making practices for a number of years as a follow-up to the White Paper on European Governance[1] so as to ensure that legislative proposals are of a high quality - simple, relevant and effective. This has involved improving the quality of legislative proposals through improving the knowledge base[2], engaging in extensive consultation in preparation of legislative proposals[3] and requiring comprehensive impact assessment of all major policy and legislative proposals[4]. The Commission is also simplifying EU law[5] and cutting red tape both by ensuring that administrative costs[6] are examined in the impact assessments underpinning proposals, by amending existing laws to take account of practical experience and by withdrawing pending proposals which may not be in line with the Commission’s Lisbon Strategy priorities and which may not fully conform to Better Regulation standards. Part of the ‘Better Regulation’ exercise has involved improved explanation of the need and value added of intervention at Community level, through i.a. improving the content of the explanatory memorandum attached to proposals. Flexibility to revise legislation in line with scientific and technological developments has been introduced through systematic inclusion of review and revision clauses in legislative acts.

As the Commission has stressed on many occasions, ‘Better Regulation’ is not the same thing as ‘deregulation’. It means improving European policies and delivering policy goals to the benefit of all economic actors (business actors, public authorities) in the least burdensome and most cost effective way possible. It requires that policies in different areas be mutually supportive and coherent, and that trade-offs be clearly identified. ‘Better Regulation’ is aimed at facilitating growth and job creation, while maintaining high levels of both social and environment protection, in line with the EU’s Sustainable Development Strategy. This was underlined in the March 2005 communication on “Better Regulation for Growth and Jobs in the EU”[7], a contribution to the effective implementation of the Lisbon strategy.

European environment policy, which dates back some thirty years, has progressively applied concepts that have now become standard practice in ‘Better Regulation’. A process of modernisation and simplification is reflected in the adoption of the Water Framework Directive[8] in 2000 which rationalised the Community's water legislation by replacing seven earlier directives addressing surface water, fish water, shellfish water, groundwater and dangerous substances discharges.

A major effort in ‘Better Regulation’ in the environment field will be reflected in the seven Thematic Strategies which will be presented in coming months. The following examines how this is being done, looking in particular at impact assessment, consultation and simplification.

2. THE SEVEN THEMATIC STRATEGIES

The 6th Environment Action Programme[9] calls for the preparation of seven Thematic Strategies on:

- Air pollution

- The marine environment

- The sustainable use of resources

- Waste prevention and recycling

- The sustainable use of Pesticides

- Soil protection

- The urban environment

The Air, Waste and Pesticides strategies review and will revise policy and/or legislation in areas where there is a longstanding and extensive body of Community law. The others will take up new environmental challenges in an integrated perspective. The Resources Strategy will provide an analytical framework for sustainable production and consumption policies, including waste management. The Soil and Marine strategies will complement air and water policy to cover the primary environment media. The Urban Strategy will examine the specific problems of the urban environment and looks at sustainable transport, sustainable construction and integrated environmental management. The thematic strategies will be the key delivery mechanisms under the 6th Environment Action Programme, which itself represents the environment contribution to the EU Sustainable Development Strategy. (see Annex)

The thematic strategies will provide a broad analysis of issues by theme, looking at pressures and impacts on specific environment themes (for example, air pollutants such as particulate matter leading to negative health effects, loss of biodiversity), impacts which cut across environment themes (climate change, biodiversity loss) and links between the environment impacts and sector policies (such as the impact of transport, energy, agriculture on air, soil, water etc). They aim to strike the right balance between environment protection and the Lisbon objectives of growth and jobs. They will look at a broad range of options and a varied policy mix, including the use of market based instruments, technology deployment and innovation to deal with the identified problems in a strategic and effective manner. They will take a longer term perspective, setting the framework for Community and Member States action for the next two decades, i.e. proposing strategic objectives as well as exploring short and medium term measures that will have been thoroughly examined in impact assessments. They will aim to contribute to fulfilling the EU’s global commitments. This should help to provide greater legal and regulatory certainty and a stable framework within which the public sector, companies and individuals can better plan.

Each strategy will take the form of a package comprising of

- an overall approach towards the thematic issue presented in a Communication, highlighting issues and proposed solutions ;

- legislative proposals for some of the strategies;

- an impact assessment

3. APPLYING BETTER REGULATION

The Thematic Strategies are based on impact assessments and are being prepared with particular attention to stakeholder consultation, simplification and cross-cutting issues and linkages.

3.1. Impact Assessment

Impact assessments have been conducted or are underway for all of the Thematic Strategies to ensure that decisions are taken on the basis of the best available information. The impact assessments analyse the issues, causal relationships and linkages, who is affected and the appropriateness of EU level intervention. This analysis is intended to deepen the understanding of the issues and the underlying causes of the environment problems and social and economic consequences of proposed measures.

A range of possible policy options, including no change scenarios, is being assessed. Alternatives to regulation are being examined as is the use of market-based instruments. For example, as regards the use of pesticides, a detailed analysis of both taxation and charges for packaging disposal was carried out. The strategies will look at different means that can be used in the policy mix, including research and technological development.

The principles of subsidiarity and proportionality will be taken into account in the choice of options. For example, under the resources and waste prevention and recycling strategies, given the significant differences in resource use and production patterns across the EU, it will be up to Member States to choose the most appropriate way to achieve desired objectives. The marine strategy will be tailored to take the diversity of the various seas into account and suggests a regional eco-system approach.

The economic ( including impacts on the competitiveness of EU industry(, social and environmental impacts of the policy options are being examined. This includes cost-benefit analysis. The extent of quantification of impacts and monetisation of costs and benefits varies from strategy to strategy. Some strategies (Resources, Urban) will set out principles and suggest new approaches and the analysis of their impacts is of a qualitative nature because there are no binding implementing measures presented. Others such as Marine and Soil will set medium to long term objectives, but leave the detailed definition of specific measures and quantification of their impact to the most appropriate level of governance at a future date.

In contrast, the impact assessments for the Air and Pesticides strategies will include more quantitative analysis, with costs and benefits monetised. The integrated modelling undertaken, for example, during the preparation of the air thematic strategy has facilitated the identification of a number of long term scenarios with differing impacts on human health, the environment and competitiveness, each with corresponding costs and benefits.

The impact assessment work being done in preparing the strategies will allow for the choice of preferred options in which expected benefits outweigh costs. Given that costs of taking remedial action can be higher than taking timely innovative, preventative action, the costs of inaction are also being examined. In addition, the impact assessments are taking into account the role that well designed environment regulation can play in triggering innovation and developing clean technologies.

3.2. Stakeholder consultation

The preparation of the strategies involves major efforts to consult and exploit the expertise of a vast range of stakeholders. Each strategy is the result of a thorough consultation process – first a “Green Paper” type of document was presented, setting out the issues and possible approaches to dealing with them. These documents were thereafter subject to extensive consultation in expert working groups, in the impact assessment process and on the internet – a process stretching over a number of years. Both the European Parliament and the Council discussed these documents and conclusions were adopted.

A broad range of stakeholders - Member State experts, academics, business and trade associations, individual companies, NGOs, other representatives of civil society and the general public – have been consulted. Means of consultation included regular meetings of experts, conferences, specialised workshops and internet consultations for all the Strategies. The latter attracted considerable interest, with more than 11,000 responses submitted for the air strategy alone.

This extensive consultation has allowed the Strategies to be prepared on the basis of the best available science and to take into account the concerns of practitioners which should facilitate improved implementation in the future.

3.3. Simplification

In those areas where there is existing policy and legislation, such as Air and Waste, the thematic strategies aim at simplification. They will simplify existing legislation,. clarify definitions, remove ambiguities and suggest ways to facilitate improved implementation. The air pollution strategy, for example, will consolidate five existing separate pieces of air quality legislation in one single directive, aligning definitions, repealing and revising outdated provisions and cutting away duplication.

To the extent possible, the thematic strategies will use existing instruments and policies, rather than new policy proposals, to bring about new policy goals. For example, the pesticides strategy is being designed in close co-operation with the revision of Directive 91/414/EEC on the approval of pesticide active substances. Where the strategies require action to be taken on particular products, these will be taken primarily on a voluntary basis under the framework of Integrated Product Policy, and where eco-efficient innovations need to be promoted, the Environmental Technologies Action Plan[10].

With a view to both simplification and reducing administrative costs, the consolidation, modernisation and streamlining of monitoring and reporting requirements in environment legislation is also being examined in preparing the thematic strategies. The way forward lies in modernisation - moving towards shared information systems which meet the needs of Community environmental policies, policy makers and of the public, whilst minimising administrative burden. In the preparation of each thematic strategy, existing systems and requirements are being examined and any new initiatives are tailored to move towards providing readily accessible data which will give a picture of the actual state of the environment at the European level and contribute to improved policy making.

3.4. Exploiting linkages and synergies

The concurrent development of the Thematic Strategies has provided the opportunity to examine linkages between policy areas in detail and more systematically plan and programme changes to other environmental legislation. With an improved understanding of linkages, it will be possible to exploit synergies and adopt mutually supporting measures in the various strategies. For example, ground level ozone is an air pollutant affecting human health, particularly in urban areas and biodiversity. It is also a direct greenhouse gas. So, measures that reduce its concentration will help meet air quality, climate change and urban environment policy goals. The air pollution thematic strategy will suggest changes in air quality monitoring such that it can also serve environment and health, biodiversity, soil, urban, marine information needs.

The preparation of the Thematic Strategies highlights that solving environment problems requires integration of environment concerns into other sector policy areas, such as agriculture, transport, energy and research. This is essential to ensure contribution of the strategies to the broader aims of sustainable development. The thematic strategies will set the framework for integration efforts for the years to come – they will provide clarity on where integration efforts are most needed in a long term perspective. The thematic strategies will also provide a coherent policy context for Community funding under the next Financial perspectives. For example, the research priorities in the various thematic areas will be supported through the 7th Research Framework Programme, environmental technologies through the latter programme as well as the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme.

4. CONCLUSION

IN THE PREPARATION OF THE THEMATIC STRATEGIES, ATTENTION is being paid to improving the design of regulatory measures so as to facilitate effective implementation, minimisation of costs and optimisation of benefits. The Thematic Strategies will thus rise to the challenge of the Better Regulation priority of this Commission[11]. They aim to set the foundation for achieving a healthy European environment in a cost effective manner such that the pursuit of environment goals can go hand in hand with sustained growth and job creation, improving the quality of life and the health of European citizens, thus fulfilling our commitment towards sustainable development.

[1] COM (2001) 428 final (“White Paper on European Governance”); COM (2002) 275 final (“European Governance: Better Lawmaking”); COM (2002) 278 (“Action Plan for Simplifying and Improving the Regulatory Environment”); COM (2003) 71 final (“Updating and simplifying the Community acquis”)

[2] COM (2002)713 (“Collection and use of expertise by the Commission – principles and guidelines- Improving the Knowledge Base for Better Policies”)

[3] COM (2002) 277 final (“Towards a reinforced culture of consultation and dialogue - General principles and minimum standards for consultation of interested parties by the Commission”)

[4] COM (2002) 276 final Impact assessment

[5] COM (2003) 71 final Updating and simplifying the Community acquis

[6] In the Commission staff working paper « Minimising administrative cost imposed by legislation» (SEC (2005) 16 March 2005) the Commission announced the launch of a pilot phase in view of developing a common methodology for measuring administrative burdens.

[7] Cf. COM (2005) 97.

[8] Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy

[9] Decision No 1600/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 July 2002 laying down the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme. OJ L 242 10/09/2002

[10] COM(2004)38 Stimulating Technologies for Sustainable Development: an Environmental Technologies Action Plan for the EU

[11] COM(2005)97 final Better Regulation for growth and jobs in the European Union.