At the end of October, the European office of the German Bertelsmann Stiftung foundation made recommendations to ensure that the process of simplifying the European Union’s rules achieves tangible and politically acceptable results, by analysing the shortcomings observed in the ongoing simplification of the ‘CSRD’ Directive on sustainable reporting (see EUROPE 13741/11).
The foundation sets out four principles to remedy certain weaknesses, such as the vagueness of the goals pursued, the haste in drawing up ‘omnibus’ proposals, particularly the weakness of consultations with stakeholders, and the political deadlock delaying the adoption of measures.
These internal weaknesses and divisions mean that the EU is vulnerable to external pressures, note the authors of the analysis. They cite, for example, the EU-US trade agreement, which states that sustainable development standards must not impose “undue restrictions” on transatlantic trade.
The four principles are as follows: - setting clear goals: simplification must not be deregulation in disguise; - selecting the European rules to be simplified on the basis of evidence, focusing on those that entail high costs for limited benefit; - designing rules based on facts, using the Better Regulation Toolbox approach (stakeholder consultation, evaluation of the existing regulatory framework, impact studies); - encouraging political consensus by agreeing in advance with the Council and the European Parliament on the goals and scope of regulatory simplification.
See the recommendations of the Bertelsmann Stiftung: https://aeur.eu/f/j9r (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)