The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Commission communication of 5 June 2002 on impact assessment (COM(2002)0276),

–   having regard to the Commission communication of 5 June 2002 entitled "Action plan 'Simplifying and improving the regulatory environment'" (COM(2002)0278),

–   having regard to the Commission communication of 11 December 2002 on better monitoring of the application of Community law (COM(2002)0725),

–   having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2003 on better law-making(1) concluded between Parliament, the Council and the Commission,

–   having regard to its resolution of 20 April 2004 on the impact of Community legislation and the consultation procedure(2),

–   having regard to the conclusions of the Competitiveness Council of 25 and 26 November 2004,

–   having regard to the Commission communication of 16 March 2005 entitled "Better Regulation for Growth and Jobs in the European Union" (COM(2005)0097),

–   having regard to the Commission report of 21 March 2005 entitled "Better lawmaking 2004" (COM(2005)0098),

–   having regard to the Commission's Impact Assessment Guidelines of 15 June 2005, and the annexes thereto (SEC(2005)0791),

–   having regard to the European Economic and Social Committee opinions on "Better lawmaking" and on "How to improve the implementation and enforcement of EU legislation" of 28 September 2005(3),

–   having regard to the Commission communication of 27 January 2005 entitled "Second Implementation Report of the Internal Market Strategy 2003-2006" (COM(2005)0011),

–   having regard to the Commission communication of 25 October 2005 entitled "Implementing the Community Lisbon programme: A strategy for the simplification of the regulatory environment" (COM(2005)0535),

–   having regard to the relaunching of the Lisbon Strategy on 22 and 23 March 2005,

–   having regard to the internal market scoreboard reports,

–   having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and the opinion of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (A6-0083/2006),

A.   whereas in the above mentioned Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2003 Parliament, the Council and the Commission gave a commitment to the better regulation agenda,

B.   whereas in the relaunched Lisbon Agenda the Commission put better regulation at the heart of the drive for jobs and growth in the European Union,

C.   whereas deregulation and reducing the amount of red tape arising from EU legislation are vital preconditions for attaining the Lisbon objectives,

D.   whereas improved European lawmaking should lead to a more competitive edge in the global economy, fair competitive conditions between companies, the stimulation of growth and the strengthening of social cohesion,

E.   whereas pursuit of the objective of better regulation must not lead to the undermining of environmental, social or consumer standards,

F.   whereas citizens and businesses will benefit from good, clear and simple internal market laws, which will facilitate implementation and enforcement,

G.   whereas stakeholders have raised concerns regarding difficulties experienced as a result of unclear or incomplete concepts, definitions or provisions in Community legislation,

H.   whereas problems of transposition and implementation often result from poorly drafted legislative texts; whereas the European legislative bodies have an important responsibility in this matter and should therefore avoid complicated and unclear compromises in negotiations,

I.   whereas textual ambiguities generate legal uncertainties and discrepancies when texts are transposed into national law, with the potential for distortion of competition and fragmentation of the internal market,

J.   whereas successive internal market scoreboard reports indicate that, despite improvements in some Member States, transposition and implementation of Community legislation continue to be a problem,

K.   whereas the better regulation agenda must prioritise the implementation and transposition of existing legislation in order to avoid discrepancies undermining Europe's competitiveness, employees" and consumers" rights and consumers" and businesses" ability to take full advantage of the internal market,

L.   whereas successive internal market scoreboard reports show that transposition continues to be a serious problem in several Member States,

M.   whereas better regulation requires both ex ante and ex post impact assessments to test whether objectives can be or have been achieved,

N.   whereas Parliament, Council and the Commission have recognised the need to use alternative means of regulation in suitable cases and in cases where the EC Treaty does not specifically require the use of a legal instrument,

O.   whereas under the above mentioned Interinstitutional Agreement, such means of regulation will not be applicable where fundamental rights or important political options are at stake or in situations where the rules must be applied in a uniform fashion in all Member States,

P.   whereas no formal mechanism exists to inform Parliament before it is proposed to use alternatives to legislation or to consult Parliament on the results that will be delivered by alternative regulation; whereas, this absence of checks and balances undermines the democratic prerogative of Parliament,

Q.   whereas it is vital that all three institutions invest resources and staff in establishing 'better regulation' task forces,

1.  Stresses the need for a common approach to better regulation, based on a core set of regulatory principles, namely subsidiarity, proportionality, accountability, consistency, transparency and targeting; stresses that this approach cannot bypass the rights of social consultation and must respect the principles of participative democracy;

2.  Stresses the need for Parliament, Council and the Commission to establish 'better regulation' task forces, to set up an interinstitutional working group to develop training, skills and quality control and to share and benchmark better regulation best practice;

3.  Urges the Commission to produce a short, clear guide to the better regulation process, outlining the key appraisal steps that should take place in the evolution, development and implementation of Community legislation including an ex-post evaluation on important issues, in cooperation with Parliament;

4.  Insists that all Commission proposals be accompanied by a "Better Regulation Check List" summarising the steps through which the proposal should proceed, and that this check list should be updated as each stage is completed, with cross-references to any relevant studies or impact assessments;

5.  Emphasises the fact that a strategic regulatory approach and stable framework will produce optimal results by enabling the affected sectors to plan and implement legislation in the most effective way; commends the Commission for the CARS 21 initiative, which is a good example of a strategic approach to regulation;

6.  Requests that the Commission carry out both ex ante and ex post impact assessments on legislation to assist in identifying whether key policy objectives have been met and to assist with the regulatory review process;

7.  Considers it essential, in the interests of the consistent use by the Commission of impact assessments, in particular in relation to internal market legislation, that their quality be monitored by a dedicated quality control function;

8.  Insists that all legislative proposals forwarded to Parliament include an executive summary of the impact assessment;

9.  Stresses that Member States must ensure that they are not causing new implementation problems by imposing additional requirements at national level when transposing Community legislation ("gold-plating"), and confirm this by means of a formal declaration to the Commission;

10.  Insists that the Commission must continue to consolidate, simplify and codify Community legislation so as to improve accessibility and legibility;

11.  Requests that the Commission come forward with new proposals for more transparent and effective stakeholder consultation; takes the view that the social partners must be involved in this on an equal footing and that consumer and environmental organisations must be consulted;

12.  Urges the Commission to improve the effectiveness of the ex ante scrutiny of national draft technical regulations under Directive 98/34/EC on the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations and of rules on Information Society services(4), inter alia by increasing public access to objections raised by the Commission and other Member States;

13.  Insists that the Commission establish a transparent fast-track infringement procedure for internal market test cases and that it inform Parliament on how its priority criteria for infringement handling, as announced in its above mentioned communication on better monitoring of the application of Community law, are in practice screened and brought to the attention of complainants;

14.  Urges the Council and the Commission to improve monitoring of the implementation of and compliance with Community law; is of the opinion that this is likely to assist in improving transposition rates and the sharing of best practice between the Member States, as well as in introducing sanctions for non-compliance; insists that the Commission's reports on implementation must not be confined to a legal analysis of the implementing instruments but must also evaluate the application of the legislation in question in practice;

15.  Insists that Parliament be provided with a list of policy measures in which the Commission has used alternative means of regulation that includes an evaluation of the failure or success of such means of regulation, their impact on the situation in practice – and more specifically on employees" and consumers" rights, social cohesion, fair competition, the stimulation of growth and the EU's competitive position – and on best practice, and lessons learned from the process; insists that this information be incorporated in the Commission annual report on better law-making;

16.  Recognises that the classic method of regulation is not always the appropriate way to achieve a policy objective;

17.  Insists on the central role of Parliament, and particularly of the rapporteur responsible, in monitoring Member States" implementation of and compliance with Community law and the supervision thereof by the Commission;

18.  Recognizes the potential of the Lamfalussy process to achieve a single market in financial services, but regrets the slow progress in reaching an interinstitutional agreement which fully recognises the Parliament's role in the implementation process;

19.  Insists that, in the Annual Work Programme, the Commission provide a list of those proposals which may be the subject of alternative regulation;

20.  Insists that alternative regulatory proposals include clear objectives and defined deadlines for action, as well as sanctions for non-compliance;

21.  Proposes that Parliament's committees set up robust review mechanisms to evaluate and monitor the implementation and use of alternative means of regulation with a view to ensuring legal redress for consumers where operators fail to meet their commitments under such alternative regulatory proposals;

22.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.

(1) OJ C 321, 31.12.2003, p. 1. (2) OJ C 104 E, 30.4.2004, p. 146. (3) 3 OJ C 24, 31.1.2006, p. 39 and p. 52. (4) OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p. 37.